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Political role models are people that voters form a connection with, and who provoke them to think differently about and engage with politics. Inspired Citizens examines the impact role models have in American politics through the lens of political psychology. Jennie Sweet-Cushman investigates how citizens, especially marginalized ones, can be influenced by the presence of political role models. She asks critical questions: Do role models increase political participation and strengthen American democracy? Do role models encourage candidate emergence?

Sweet-Cushman develops Inspired Citizenship Theory to show that political role models can have motivating effects on one’s political citizenship and may, in some case, insulate those who have been traditionally marginalized in American politics. Moreover, she asserts that citizens who have political role models possess very different political behaviors and attitudes than those who do not.

Inspired Citizens also considers the often-conflicting pressures and messages political role models project to citizens. Sweet-Cushman posits that role models inspire political action most effectively when they fulfill highly individualized expectations for role model identity, spurring deeper connection and a desire to emulate.

Inspired Citizens strengthens our understanding of what we should (and should not) look to political figures for in guiding democratic behaviors and inspiring productive citizenship.

All young people need good role models, and black youth especially need positive and real examples beyond the famous and wealthy people they see on SportsCenter highlights and MTV Cribs. While success as a celebrity athlete or entertainer may seem like an achievable dream, the reality is that young African Americans have a much greater chance of succeeding in the professions through education and hard work—and a mentor to show them the path. Real Role Models introduces high school and college-age African Americans to twenty-three black professionals who have achieved a high level of success in their chosen fields and who tell their stories to inspire young people to pursue a professional career and do the work necessary to achieve their dreams.

Some of the individuals profiled by Joah Spearman and Louis Harrison, Jr., include Leonard Pitts, Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist for the Miami Herald; Melody Barnes, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council; Danyel Smith, editor-in-chief of Vibe; and Dr. Tim George, Chief of Pediatric Neuroscience at Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas. They and other interviewees describe their backgrounds, career paths, and desire to give back by helping others reach their goals. Representing a wide range of occupations, these real role models prove to African American youths that a whole world of successful, rewarding careers awaits them.

The Real Role Models

• Rufus Cormier, JD, Partner at the Baker Botts Law Firm, Houston, Texas
• Melody Barnes, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Washington, D.C.
• Eric Motley, PhD, Managing Director of the Aspen Institute's Henry Crown Fellowship Program, Aspen, Colorado
• James McIntyre, Spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, D.C.
• Tracie Hall, Assistant Dean and Librarian at Dominican University, River Forest, Illinois
• Kimberlydawn Wisdom, MD, Surgeon General of the State of Michigan, Lansing, Michigan
• Timothy George, MD, Chief of Pediatric Neuroscience at Dell Children's Medical Center, Austin, Texas
• Victoria Holloway Barbosa, MD, Ethnic Dermatologist and Former Executive for L'Oreal, Chicago, Illinois
• Bill Douglas, White House Correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers, Washington, D.C.
• Leonard Pitts, Jr., Columnist for the Miami Herald, Miami, Florida
• Danyel Smith, Editor of Vibe Magazine, New York, New York
• Ed Stewart, Managing Director of External Communications for Delta Airlines, Atlanta, Georgia
• Lynn Tyson, Vice President of Investor Relations for Dell, Austin, Texas
• Willie Miles, Jr., Founder and CEO of Miles Wealth Management, Houston, Texas
• Horace Allen, Founder and CEO of TeamPact, Atlanta, Georgia
• Deavra Daughtry, President and CEO of Excellent Care Management, Houston, Texas
• Je'Caryous Johnson, Founder and CEO of I'm Ready Productions, Houston, Texas
• Steve Jones, Cofounder of a graphic design company, Oakland, California
• Isiah Warner, PhD, Chemistry Professor at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Gloria Ladson-Billings, PhD, Professor of Education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
• Bernard Muir, Athletic Director at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
• Craig Littlepage, Athletic Director at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
• Beverly Kearney, Women's Track Coach at the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

The tendency of ancient Romans to look to mythical and historical figures for role models is everywhere evident in their surviving literary and material culture. This book broadens the horizon of the long-standing scholarly interest in role models in several ways, looking beyond the more familiar famous heroes---such as Achilles and Alexander the Great---and the paternal figures, both mythological and historical, that gave inspiration to later leaders and authors. From the adoption of specific aspects of a favored role model, to the creation of new visual languages for different social groups, to the deliberate counter of common models, this collection demonstrates the importance of exemplary figures in inspiring imitation and assimilation in the creation of new identities. Featuring world-renowned scholars and essays from a broad range of fields, including literature, art, and historiography, Role Models in the Roman World is a groundbreaking collection at the cusp of the newest scholarship of the classical world. "Role Models in the Roman World is an exciting collection, striking for the interdisciplinary range of its contributors and for their vigorous debates---indeed, strong disagreements---about ideas that are currently of fundamental importance in Roman studies: identity construction, exemplarity, memory, monumentality. In framing these crucial issues, and in displaying the range and diversity of current approaches to them, this collection will be useful to every student of the Roman world." ---Matthew Roller, Professor of Classics, Johns Hopkins University "This collection covers a full range of topics, from how the Romans interpreted their origins from the ashes of Troy on through themes in Roman literature, historiography, declamation, and art, ending with how Christians may have defined their self-presentation in part through reference to earlier, non-Christian models. The editors have shown themselves wonderfully adept at their task, and the result is a uniformly fine volume that will be widely consulted." ---Anthony Corbeill, Professor and Graduate Advisor, Department of Classics, University of Kansas "Significant essays by leading archaeologists, philologists, and art historians on a theme of central importance in the Roman world." ---Barbara Kellum, Professor and Chair, Department of Art, Smith College Jacket illustration: Side view of statue of Togato Barberini © Araldo de Luca/CORBIS