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. Keep up with our work and sign up for our newsletter 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.
If you are interested in presenting or serving as a discussant for future sessions, please email us at jawspolisci@gmail.com. In addition to article-length manuscripts, we also encourage the submission of well-developed pre-analysis plans and research designs. Submissions may be solo-authored or collaborative; if the submission is collaborative, we will give preference to those with junior scholars as coauthors. If you have a dream discussant you’d like for your paper, please tell us and we will do our best to make it happen!
Join us at our MPSA meet-up!
Come and go as you can: Friday, April 24, 7-9 pm at the Chicago Athletic Association Game Room (12 S Michigan Ave)
Spring 2026 Research Workshop Schedule
All Spring 2026 JAWS workshops will be held on Wednesdays, 1:00-2:30pm Eastern Time unless otherwise noted.
January 21–Voting and Elections
- Anna Mikkelborg, “Ready or Not? Analyzing the intersection of race, gender, and partisanship across 24 candidate choice conjoint experiments”
- Alex Snipes, Which Extremist Nominees Are Punished? Evaluating the Effect of Ideology and Gender in General Elections
- Register Here
February 18: Coalitions in Congress
- Jacob Ausubel, “Strategic Silence: Why Republican Politicians Avoided Making Statements about the 2020 Election”
- Discussant: Ruth Bloch Rubin, University of Chicago
- Andre Van Parys, “The Shadow of Influence: Agenda Setting, Vote Buying, and Legislative Coalitions”
- Discussant: Jesse Crosson, Purdue University
- Register Here
March 4: Public Opinion
- Daniella P. Alva, “The Role of Personal Experience in Uncovering and Shifting Inequality Beliefs and its Link to Inequality Attitudes and Redistribution”
- Discussant: Meghan Condon, Loyola Univesity Chicago
- Eric G. Scheuch, “From Impact to Attitude: Untangling the Mechanisms Between Climate Shocks and Climate Attitudes”
- Discussant: Sara Hughes, RAND
- Register Here
March 18: Executive Politics
- Karla Magana, “Racialization and Perceived Institutional Ideology” (with Devin Judge-Lord)
- Discussant: Mark Richardson, Georgetown University
- Lauren Mattioli, “Appointments and Influence: Judicial Agenda Setting Across Three Presidential Administrations”
- Discussant: Michael Nelson, Penn State
- Register Here
April 1: State and Local Elections
- Zach Baum, “When QTPOC Run, QTPOC Win: Intersectional Ambition and the Fight for State Legislative Power in America”
- Discussant: Jenn Lawless, University of Virginia
- Joshua Ferrer, “Partisanship in Local Bureaucratic Appointments: Evidence from Election Administration”
- Discussant: Jake Grumbach, UC Berkeley
- Register Here
April 15: Identity in Congress
- Isaiah C. Johnson, “Measuring Racial Competence with Machine Learning: Evidence from Congressional Committees”
- Discussant: Matthew Hayes, Washington University St. Louis
- Songeun Emily Lee, “What Longer Survival Conceals: Race and Women’s Congressional Tenure”
- Discussant: Paru Shah, Rutgers University
- Register Here
May 6: Endorsements and Interest Groups
- Irene Barrios, “The Allyship Gap: Racial Trust and Representation in the Aftermath of Black Lives Matter”
- Discussant: Julian Wamble, George Washington University
- Jack Eicholz, “Primed for Success: Party Elite Endorsement Effects in House Primary Elections”
- Discussant: Seth Hill, University of California, San Diego
- Register Here
Contact Us
Please reach out to any one of the organizing committee with any comments or questions at jawspolisci@gmail.com
Chief Organizers:
- David Miller (American University)
- 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:
- 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)