avatar

Cole Edick

Cole Edick is a program assistant for both the Education Research and Anxieties of Democracy programs at the Social Science Research Council. He graduated from Harvard University with a BA in social anthropology and a secondary field in theater, dance & media. His honors thesis, "BINJworthy: Rethinking Truth as Authenticity in a Boston News Landscape" was an ethnography of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, a freelance journalism incubator. During his time at Harvard, Cole was an actor, director, and lighting designer for the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, as well as a volunteer for Harvard CIVICS, teaching a once-weekly 5th-grade civics curriculum in Boston Public Schools.

Latest posts

Rubberstamps in Robes: How Courts Legitimate Government Action during Crises

by and

Writing for the “Covid-19 and the Social Sciences” series, Jonathan S. Hack and Cole Edick examine the deference of the judiciary toward other branches of government during crises, such as the ongoing pandemic. How deferential will courts be toward broad government action by executives and legislatures that restrict rights and liberties in the name of ensuring public health and safety? Pointing to historical precedent and recent coronavirus-related cases brought before the judiciary in the United States, they argue that courts are likely to act as legitimating agents that promote and expand state police power in times of crisis.

Read more
May 7, 2020

The Subjects of History: Media, Technology, and Politics in Historical Context

by and

In light of the evolving Covid-19 pandemic, the Media & Democracy program has been forced to postpone two upcoming workshops until further notice. “News Coverage of US Elections,” which will address how changes in media, technology, and politics shape the way that elections are covered in the United States, and “Extreme Right Radicalization Online,” which will support research on the processes driving right-wing extremism and the distinct mechanisms by which such processes occur online, will be held later this year. As the program reorients toward an uncertain future, it offers this report on media and political change in historical context, the subject of a research workshop and public event held last spring.

Read more
April 7, 2020

Contemporary Challenges in the Study of Populism: A Workshop on Ideational Approaches

by

In this report, Cole Edick—program assistant for the Anxieties of Democracy program—outlines the ideation and theoretical principles that served as the basis of conversation at a research workshop, held at IE University in Segovia, Spain, entitled “The Ideational Approach: Consequences and Mitigation.” Edick highlights five key challenges discussed at the workshop for the contemporary study of populism, among them: how to define populism, what unites populism across different political systems, and can social media inform the study of populism. Future endeavors assessing the modern ascendance of populism will benefit from this report, which contextualizes extant as well as ongoing research seeking to understand populism in varying contexts.

Read more
November 12, 2019
Close