Welcome!

I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science and the Knafel Assistant Professor of Social Sciences at Wellesley College.

My research and teaching focus on the role of race in American politics. I am particularly interested in using large-scale surveys and experiments to examine white Americans’ racial attitudes. I often complement this work with qualitative methods, such as participant observation and long-form interviews. To date, most of my research has focused on racial sympathy in politics, defined as white Americans’ distress over Black Americans’ suffering. I explore this topic in my forthcoming book Some White Folks: The Interracial Politics of Sympathy, Suffering, and Solidarity (Chicago). The book will be released in August 2024. I have also examined the racial dimensions of political trust and efficacy.

I received my Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in political science from Brown. From 2022-23, I was a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation.