I am a professor of Government and of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University, where I also serve as the Dean of Social Science for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
My research interests are in the fields of American political behavior, public opinion, minority politics, and urban and local politics. My research has considered, among other issues, how the election of minority officeholders affects citizens' perceptions of their government and their interest in politics and public affairs; how neighborhood environments shape racial and political attitudes among Black Americans; the roots of competition and cooperation between minority groups, with a particular focus on relations between Black Americans and Latinos; processes of immigrant political incorporation; and the consequences of housing mobility programs for political participation among the poor, drawing on evidence from the Moving To Opportunity demonstration program. I bring many of these interests to my undergraduate and graduate advising and teaching, including my courses on Post-Civil Rights Black Politics; Democratic Citizenship; and Politics of Race, Ethnicity and Immigration (co-taught with Jennifer Hochschild).
Before joining the Department of Government in September 2006, I was an assistant professor of political science at Stanford University from 2000 to 2005, and an associate professor (tenured) from 2005 to 2006. From 1999 to 2000, I was a Visiting Fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California where I conducted research and published a monograph that examined voter participation in minority-dominated congressional districts. I earned my PhD from the Department of Government at Harvard University in 1998 and was awarded the department’s Toppan Prize for the best dissertation in political science. I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Stanford University, where I graduated in 1992 with Honors and Distinction and was awarded the Anna Laura Myers Prize for the best senior thesis in Economics.