The Department of Politics is pleased to announce its first grant recipient of the new Undergraduate Thesis Research Grant, Ms. Nicole Huffman. Nicole is a fourth year student in the Distinguished Majors Program and has been awarded $1,000 towards her research. The project investigates under what electoral conditions and how psychological identification with race, gender, and place identities affect policy support and evaluations of candidates. Nicole will analyze these effects for local and national policies as well as candidates in primary elections for state legislative, U.S. House, and Presidential races. This study is the first to consider all three of these identities simultaneously and builds on the young field of place psychology. Additionally, this expands race and gender studies to consider a multidimensional conception of race and primary contests, which few studies have considered.

This new, competitive funding opportunity will award grants of up to $1,000 to students in the Politics Honors and Department Majors Program for whom the money can enhance their project (i.e., costs associated with conducting original survey research, data access, travel)