April 27, 2009 — Brown University professor and former congressional candidate Jennifer Lawless will discuss "Why Women Don't Run for Political Office — and What Happens When They Do" Thursday in the University of Virginia's Clark Hall, room 107. The event is free and open to the public. The talk will follow a brief reception at 5 p.m. in the Clark Hall Mural Room and Foyer.

Lawless is an assistant professor of political science and public policy at Brown University. Her studies focus on public opinion, statistics and women in politics.

She is the author with Richard L. Fox of "It Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don’t Run for Office." In 2006, she ran for the Democratic nomination in Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District.

The event is sponsored by the U.Va. Department of Politics, the Women's Center, the Studies in Women and Gender program and the Center for Politics.