About Me

I am an associate professor of political science and pre-law advisor at Susquehanna University.

With a Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis, I teach courses in American politics, political psychology, congress, campaigns and elections, and research methods. I am passionate about teaching and creating a classroom environment that is open, engaging and enriching for all students.

As pre-law advisor, I help students navigate the path to law school, whether they are just starting out or getting ready to apply to law schools.

My recent research on politics has been published in the Social Science Journal, Politics and the Life Sciences, and American Politics Research.

I was born and raised in Southeastern Idaho and earned my bachelor’s degree from the University of Idaho. I am also a member of Phi Beta Kappa as well as Pi Sigma Alpha honors societies.

Professional Experience

EDUCATION

University of California, Davis
Ph.D. Political Science (June 2010)
Primary Field: American Politics
Secondary Fields:Comparative Politics, Political Methodology
Dissertation Title: “Putting Voters in Context: Social and Cognitive Activation in Political Campaigns”
Committee: Robert Huckfeldt (chair), Walter Stone, Benjamin Highton

University of California, Davis M.A. Political Science (2009)

University of Idaho, Moscow B.A. Political Science (2003)

TEACHING AWARDS

Finalist (1 of 3) for the Associated Students of UC Davis Excellence in Teaching Award for Outstanding Instructor in the social sciences (Academic year 2010) Marvin F. Zetterbaum Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Instruction (2007)

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

Assistant Professor of Political Science, Susquehanna University (Fall 2016 to Present)

Assistant Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics, Mercyhurst University (Fall 2010 to Spring 2016) Courses Taught: Introduction to American Government, Political Behavior of the American Electorate, Media and Politics, Political Psychology, Research Methods, Campaigns and Elections, Congress, Political Parties and Interest Groups

Teaching Appointments California State University, Stanislaus: Introduction to American Government (Fall 2008) University Of California, Davis: Contemporary Problems in American Politics (Winter/Spring/Fall 2009; Winter/Spring 2010)

RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

Book Chapters & Peer Reviewed Journal Publications

“Halo Effects and the Attractiveness Premium in Perceptions of Political Expertise.” 2015. American Politics Research. (with Carl L. Palmer)

“Priming Assad: An Experiment of Ethnic Priming and Attitudes toward Military Action in Syria.” Forthcoming. Foreign Policy Analysis. (with Randy Clemons and Carl L. Palmer)

“The Same River Twice: Exploring Historical Representation and Simulation in the Total War, Civilization, and Patrician Franchises.” 2013. In Playing with the Past: Digital Games and the Simulation of History. Eds. Matthew Kapell and Andrew Elliot. Bloomsbury Academic (with Andrew Miller and Sean Fedorko).

“To Tweet or Not to Tweet: Exploring the Early Adoption of Twitter by House Members in the 111th Congress.” 2012. The Social Science Journal. 49, 430-438.

“Principled or Opportunist? Perceptions of Arlen Specter and His Party Switch during the 2010 Midterm Election.” 2012. American Politics Research. 40. (with Kevin A. Evans and Nathan Hadley)

“Glass Ceiling or Glass Elevator: Are Voters Biased in Favor of Women Candidates in California Elections?” 2011. California Journal of Politics and Policy: vol. 3: Issue 1, Article 9. (with Ronni Marie Abney)

“Candidate Entry, Voter Response and Partisan Tides in the 2002 and 2006 Elections.” 2009. In Fault Lines: Why the Republicans Lost Congress. Eds. Jeffrey Mondak and Dona-Gene Mitchell. Routledge. (with Walter J. Stone, Nathan Hadley, Cherie Maestas, Sandy Maisel)

Grants

“Personality and Resistance to Persuasion.” Time-Sharing Experiments in the Social Sciences Grant, National Science Foundation (with Carl L. Palmer). 2012.

Selected Conference Papers & Presentations

Rolfe Peterson and Carl Palmer. 2015. “Exploring the Underlying Facets of Openness to Experience in the Big Five Personality Traits.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago.

Clemons, Randy, Rolfe Peterson, and Carl Palmer. 2014. “Priming Assad: Ethnic Priming and Foreign Policy in the Syrian Conflict.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association in Seattle.

Palmer, Carl and Rolfe Daus Peterson. 2013. “Political Life in the Bubble: The Effects of Political Attractiveness on Worldview.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of The Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago

Palmer, Carl and Rolfe Daus Peterson. 2012. “Beauty and the Pollster: Interviewer Bias in Subjective Evaluations of Survey Respondents.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of The Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago

Peterson, Rolfe Daus and Carl Palmer. 2012. “Pieces of the Whole: Exploring Facets of the Big Five Personality Traits and Political Behavior.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association in Portland

Peterson, Rolfe Daus and Lena Surzkho-Harned. 2011. “To Tweet or not to Tweet: Comparative Analysis of Twitter Adoption in the United States Congress and the European Parliament.” Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, Annual Meeting in Seattle

Routh, Stephen and Rolfe Daus Peterson. 2011. “Should I Stay or Should I Go?: A Study of the Political Ambitions of Appointed US Senators and the Decision to Run for Initial Election.” Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, Annual Meeting in Seattle

Evans, Kevin, Rolfe Daus Peterson, and Nathan Hadley. 2010. “Principled or Opportunist: Perceptions of Arlen Specter and his Party Switch.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of The Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago

Peterson, Rolfe Daus. 2010. “To Tweet or Not to Tweet: That is the Question” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association in San Francisco, CA.

Working Papers

“Pieces of the Whole: Facet Measures of the Big Five Personality Traits and Political Behavior” with Carl Palmer.

“Should I Stay or Go: The Determinants of Retirement in the Face of Scandal in U.S. Senate” with Stephen R. Routh.

“Priming Assad” with Randy Clemons and Carl Palmer.

“We Can’t Wait: Unilateralism as a Presidential Campaign Tactic and the ‘Do Nothing Congress’” with Kevin Evans.

Public Scholarship

Research subject of The Economist Democracy in America blog in a post entitled “The Glass Elevator in American Politics.” January 11th, 2011. http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/01/women_american_politics

Research subject of The Monkey Cage political science blog in a post entitled “What Arlen Specter Taught Us about Party-Switching.” October 15th, 2012 http://themonkeycage.org/2012/10/15/what-arlen-specter-taught-us-about-party-switching/

Mercyhurst Center of Applied Politics Polls have been reported by the following organizations: Erie Times News, realclearpolitics.com, fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com, politico.com, nationalreview.com, TPM Poll Tracker, swingstateproject.com, uselectionatlas.org, electoral-vote.com, Patrick Henry Press, Daily Kos, USA Daily News, Manufacturers and Business Association, nationalpolls.com.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Primary Elections.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. March 2015.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. Wolf Agenda and 2016 Presidential Election.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. January 2015.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. 2014 Midterm Election, Congress’s Performance, and Concern about Ebola.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. Nov. 2014.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. Race for Governor and the Use of Force against ISIS.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. Oct. 2014.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. Politics and Policy: Erie County, Pennsylvania.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. April 2014.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. The Legalization of Marijuana.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. Feb. 2014.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. Approval, Favorability, and the State of the Economy.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. Nov. 2013.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. State of the Economy and the impact of Gas Extraction from Marcellus Shale Formation.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. Oct. 2013.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. Gun Violence and Mass Shootings.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. February 2013.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. Pennsylvania‟s 2012 Republican Presidential Primary.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. April 2012.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. Pennsylvania Women and the 2012 Presidential Election.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. January 2011.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. Fracking in Pennsylvania‟s Marcellus Shale Region: Public Opinion in Pennsylvania.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. October 2011.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. Pennsyvlanians‟ Perception of the Nation‟s Economy: How Bad Are Things and Who is to Blame?” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics. October 2011.

Joseph M. Morris and Rolfe Daus Peterson. “Poll. Erie County Pennsylvania Social Capital and Civic Engagement Benchmark Study.” Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics/Erie Community Foundation. February 2011.

HONORS AND AWARDS

Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society: inducted 2003

Pi Sigma Alpha (National Political Science Honor Society): inducted 2003 Department Fellowship to attend the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) in Ann Arbor, Michigan ($1,000) Summer 2006

ACADEMIC REFERENCES

Robert Huckfeldt, Professor, Department of Political Science, UC Davis (530) 752-0975, rhuckfeldt@ucdavis.edu

Walter Stone, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, UC Davis (530) 752-0976, wstone@ucdavis.edu

Steven R. Routh, Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, California State University

Stanislaus (209) 667-3363, srouth@csustan.edu

Randy Clemons, Professor of Political Science and Dean of Social Sciences, Mercyhurst University (814)824-2358, rclemons@mercyhurst.edu

Courses Taught