Research
As a child in India, Raj Chetty dreamed of coming to America, a place “where you could do anything.” He still believes that. But his Opportunity Atlas research also shows that the American Dream is far too elusive for many who grow up here, through no fault of their own except a geographical luck-of-the-draw that has prevented millions from accessing high opportunity resources.
Many Angelenos accustomed to traffic congestion will never forget the surreal images of their sprawling city’s vacant freeways and streets. In March of 2020, shortly after Los Angeles County imposed lockdown measures due to the coronavirus outbreak, once-crowded thoroughfares emptied of commuters. Meanwhile, similar scenes played out across the globe, as countries implemented their own lockdowns.
On a daily basis, the grim number of American deaths attributed to COVID-19 scroll across our screens and make headlines in the news. But how do we know those deaths were caused by COVID-19 and not by pre-existing conditions? What do those numbers really mean, and where do they come from? Do the data tell the full story? And, are they trust-worthy?
In June, CMC announced its Presidential Initiative on Anti-Racism and the Black Experience in America. As part of this ongoing effort, individual CMC faculty, departments, and institutes are addressing race and racism through various curricular and co-curricular actions. We asked faculty members to share their work in these areas, and what they will continue to do to promote sustained and substantive engagement with issues of racial inequality.
Are wrongful convictions more frequent among Black Americans? In their article, “What Can DNA Exonerations Tell Us About Racial Differences in Wrongful Conviction Rates?” CMC economics professors David Bjerk and Eric Helland focused on “one set of convicts for which we know innocence with certainty—those who were convicted for a crime but later exonerated via DNA evidence of innocence.”
In the race for president of the United States, Republican incumbent Donald Trump has expanded his support among key Latino voters in Florida and Texas, according to results from Claremont McKenna College’s Latino Religions and Politics National Survey 2020.
With less than six weeks to go before the general election, Democratic challenger Joe Biden has a healthy 2-to-1 advantage over Trump in every age demographic and is significantly leading Trump among Latina women.
From investigating the resiliency of young adults to turning back the clock on memory for older populations, four professors in CMC’s Psychological Sciences department are looking at how we mentally manage our world. And their outstanding work has been rewarded with five large, highly competitive, external grants—virtually unprecedented for professors at small liberal arts colleges, especially in a single year—to fund research and further teaching at CMC.
Every 10 years, CMC’s Rose Institute of State and Local Government hosts a conference that coincides with the U.S. Census, offering valued expertise to government professionals grappling with how to manage the redistricting process, as well as new laws and regulations.
In the modern era of redistricting, all district lines must be reviewed after the Census to meet strict requirements for population equality and voting rights protections.
Just a week after her lab wrapped up with CMC’s Summer Research Program, Jennifer Feitosa was feeling wistful about a routine that combined valuable work with genuine camaraderie amid an isolating pandemic.
How does loneliness affect our immune system? How does our personality influence the extent to which we engage in preventative health behaviors? With much of the world in the midst of a pandemic, questions like these have become urgent. Associate Professor Stacey N. Doan, a health psychologist at Claremont McKenna College is looking for answers — and she is trying to understand what we may learn from the existing global health crisis for the next one.