Associate Prof. Weinschenk was in prestigious company at German think tank

UW-Green Bay Associate Prof. Aaron Weinschenk (Political Science) recently returned from Berlin, Germany, where he was invited by the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation — one of Germany’s leading political think tanks — to be one of four experts to discuss U.S. campaigns and elections, particularly the 2016 campaigns.

The Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation’s International Conference for Political Communication was designed to bring together campaigners, scientists and experts to present their findings, views and insights and to discuss those with participants from the media and politics, consulting firms and universities. His talk is published and available, here. Weinschenk is widely published on campaigns, elections, and voter mobilization techniques.

“It was an incredible opportunity to present alongside nationally known folks like Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager, Robby Mook (he may be able to make a trip to UWGB to speak!),” Weinschenk said.

Weinschenk had an audience of more than 250 members. Given the diverse background of the audience, all talks were translated into French, Spanish and German (using simultaneous translation—hence the headsets in one of the pictures).

Weinschenk’s talk focused on the role of campaign field offices during recent U.S. presidential elections (2008, 2012, and 2016). The Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation identified Weinschenk based on his previously published research on this topic.

The speakers were shown gratitude with a private tour of the German parliament (led by a Member of Parliament’s staffer).

“We were able to see parts of the German Bundestag that are off limits to the public (e.g., party meeting rooms, offices, etc.). Anyone would find the tour exciting, but it’s especially cool for me since I teach a class on the U.S. Congress and it’s always nice to learn more about how other countries operate their legislative institutions,” Weinschenk said.

Photos submitted.