Junior Americanist Workshop Series (JAWS)
A virtual workshop for American politics research.
Junior Americanist Workshop Series
A virtual workshop for American politics research.
Mission
The Junior Americanist Workshop Series provides opportunities for junior scholars (ABD grad students, post docs, and pre-tenure faculty) who study American politics (behavior or institutions) to present and get feedback on their work and to network with other scholars with similar interests. While we focus on showcasing work from junior scholars, we welcome everyone (all ages/ranks/experience levels) to attend our events.
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We are now accepting applications for our Fall 2026 workshop series!
This semester, we are seeking submissions of article-length manuscripts from all subfields within American politics. We are also accepting research designs for those preparing to field surveys for a special session on survey design. Submissions may be solo-authored or collaborative; if the submission is collaborative, we will give preference to those with junior scholars as coauthors. We are always looking for discussants (junior or senior) to provide feedback and guide discussion on presenters’ work.
If you would like to present your work at a future JAWS session or volunteer to serve as a discussant, submit your info here!
Format
The workshop provides the opportunity for junior Americanist scholars to present their work and receive feedback. We feature two papers per 90-minute session. Authors present their paper for 20-25 minutes, discussants offer comments for 5-10 minutes, and the balance of the time is reserved for audience questions. We strongly encourage participants to read the presenters’ papers in advance of the session.
Fall 2026 Schedule
All workshops are 1-2:30 ET on Zoom, unless otherwise noted.
JAWS September: Bureaucracies and Oversight
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Register here!
Quinn Bornstein, Georgetown University, “The Common Sense Part of it is Lacking: Agriculture Policy Feedback”
-Discussant: Ryan Dawkins, Carleton College
Benjamin Kinnard, University of Chicago, “Why Comment? Congressional Oversight and Agency Responsiveness in Notice-and-Comment Rulemaking”
-Discussant: Rachel Potter, UVA
JAWS October: Racial and Ethnic Politics
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Register here!
Zoe Walker, Rutgers University, “The American Dream and the American Dilemma: Racism, Opportunity and Redistribution in Black Public Opinion”
Kevin Russell, Emory University, “The (Limited) Role of Income in Racial Inequality in Campaign Finance”
JAWS November: Local politics
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Register here!
E. Grant Baldwin, UCLA, “Municipal Policy Knowledge and the Limits of Local Democratic Accountability”
JAWS December: Social Media
Wednesday, December 2, 2026
Register here!
Cecilia Y. Sui, Washington University at St. Louis, “Should Candidates Campaign Like Influencers? Evidence From 16,572 Instagram Reels and Two Generative AI Video Experiments”.
Past Programming
Previous JAWS programming and presented papers can be viewed here.
Contact Us
Please reach out to any one of the organizing committee with any comments or questions at jawspolisci@gmail.com
Chief Organizer:
- SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor (University of Virginia)
Associate Organizers:
- Raquel Centeno (California Institute of Technology)
- Amanda Sahar d’Urso (Georgetown University)
Organization Board Members:
- Erin Cikanek (Cornell University)
- Gabriel Foy-Sutherland (APSA Congressional Fellow)
- Hillary Style (Coastal Carolina University)
- Laura Uribe (University of California, San Diego)
Emeritus Organizers:
- Counselor to ExCom: David Miller (American University)
- Austin Bussing (Trinity University)
- Leah Christiani (Hunter College)
- Zander Furnas (Northwestern University)
- Christina Ladam (University of Oklahoma)
- Josh McCrain (University of Utah)
- Rachel Porter (University of Notre Dame)