In “Racism, Sexism and Class in Trump-Era Politics: 2016, 2018 and the Future,” Brian Schaffner will address the divisions caused by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and presidency. The 2016 presidential election witnessed the largest divide in vote patterns between whites with and without college degrees in over fifty years. Prof. Schaffner will argue that Donald Trump’s campaign helped to produce this divide by increasing the galvanization of voters on issues related to racial and gender equality and show how his  presidency has increased the degree to which people express prejudice towards women and racial minorities, codifying the divisions from the election. His talk will conclude with a discussion of the midterm elections and what the results might mean for the future of Trump-era politics. Newhouse Professor of Civic Studies at Tufts, his wideranging, influential  writings on American politics include Campaign Finance and Political Polarization (2015, with Raymond La Raja), Politics, Parties, and Elections in America (2011), and “Understanding White Polarization in the 2016 Vote for President: The Sobering Role of Racism and Sexism” (2018, with Matthew MacWilliams, and Tatishe Nteta). His lecture is the third in the 2018-19 Ethics and Public Life series, “Politics and Justice in the Era of Donald Trump.”