Rogers M. Smith (born September 20, 1953) is an American
political scientist
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
and author noted for his research and writing on American
constitutional and political development and
political thought, with a focus on issues of
citizenship
Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state.
Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...
and
racial
Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...
,
gender
Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
, and
class
Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...
inequalities.
His work identifying multiple, competing traditions of national identity including "liberalism, republicanism, and ascriptive forms of Americanism" has been described as "groundbreaking."
Smith is the Christopher H. Browne
Distinguished Professor of
Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
.
He was the president of the
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four ...
(APSA) for 2018–2019.
Education
Born in
Spartanburg, South Carolina
Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 11th ...
, and raised in
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...
,
Smith graduated with a
B.A. in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
from James Madison College,
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
in 1974, including
study abroad
International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own.
In 2022, there were over 6.9 million international ...
at the
University of Kent
The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...
in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. He attended
graduate school
Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
,
completing his
M.A. in 1978 and his
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
degree in
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
in 1980.
Career
Smith taught at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
from 1980 to 2001, as the Alfred Cowles Professor of Government and the co-director of the Center for the Study of Race, Inequality, and Politics.
In 2001 he moved to the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
, where he is the Christopher H. Browne
Distinguished Professor of
Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
.
Smith was the founding chair of the Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism, later the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy, from 2006 to 2017. Smith was also a co-founder of the Teachers Institute of Philadelphia, a partnership between the university and public schools.
He co-chaired its advisory council from 2006 until 2018. Smith was associate dean for the social sciences in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania from 2014 to 2018.
Smith was president of the Politics and History section of
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four ...
(APSA) for 2001–2002 and served on the APSA Council in 2005 and 2006. He was vice president of the American Political Science Association in 2008–2009 and co-president of the Migration and Citizenship section of APSA from 2013 to 2015.
He served as president of the American Political Science Association in 2018–2019.
Recognition
Smith's writings have received numerous awards. ''Civic Ideals'' (1997) was a finalist for the 1998
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
in
history
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
,
and won several awards from the
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four ...
(APSA), the
Organization of American Historians, and the Social Science History Association.
Smith was elected a
fellow
A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...
of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 2004; a fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science in 2011;
and a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 2016.
Selected publications
*''That Is Not Who We Are! Populism and Peoplehood'', 2020.
Yale University Press
Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...
.
*''Political Peoplehood: The Roles of Values, Ideas, and Identities''. 2015.
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...
.
*''Still a House Divided: Race and Politics in Obama's America''. 2011.
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large.
The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
. (With Desmond S. King).
*"Religious Rhetoric and the Ethics of Political Discourse: The Case of George W. Bush." 2008. ''
Political Theory
Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from d ...
'' 36: 272–300.
*"Racial Orders in American Political Development". 2005. ''
American Political Science Review
The ''American Political Science Review'' (''APSR'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf ...
'' 99: 75–92. (with Desmond S. King).
*''Problems and Methods in the Study of Politics''. 2004.
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
. (edited with
Ian Shapiro
Ian Shapiro (born September 29, 1956) is an American legal scholar and political scientist who serves as the Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University. He served as the Henry R. Luce Director of the MacMillan Center at Yale Univ ...
and Tarek Masoud).
*''Stories of Peoplehood: The Politics and Morals of Political Memberships''. 2003.
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
.
*''The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America''. 1999.
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...
. (with
Philip A. Klinkner).
*''Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History''. 1997.
Yale University Press
Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...
.
*"Science, Non-Science, and Politics: On Turns to History in Political Science." 1996. In ''The Historic Turn in the Human Sciences'', ed. T. J. McDonald.
University of Michigan Press
The University of Michigan Press is a university press that is a part of Michigan Publishing at the University of Michigan Library. It publishes 170 new titles each year in the humanities and social sciences. Titles from the press have earn ...
.
*"Beyond Tocqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The Multiple Traditions in America." 1993. ''
American Political Science Review
The ''American Political Science Review'' (''APSR'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf ...
'' 87: 549–566.
*"If Politics Matters: Implications for a New Institutionalism." 1992. ''
Studies in American Political Development
Studies in American Political Development (SAPD) is a political science academic journal, journal founded in 1986 and presently published by Cambridge University Press. It is the flagship journal of the American political development (APD) subfiel ...
'' 6(1): 1–36.
*''Liberalism and American Constitutional Law, 2nd ed''. 1990.
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou.
The pres ...
.
*''Citizenship Without Consent: the Illegal Alien in the American Polity''. 1985.
Yale University Press
Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...
. (with Peter H. Schuck).
*"Constitutional Interpretation and Political Theory." 1983. ''Polity'' 15: 492–514.
References
External links
University of Pennsylvania Profile*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Rogers
1953 births
Living people
Michigan State University alumni
Harvard University alumni
Alumni of the University of Kent
University of Pennsylvania faculty
Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor
American political scientists
Members of the American Philosophical Society