My name is Jennifer Chudy (pronounced Chu-dee) and I study American politics with an emphasis on public opinion, race and ethnicity, and political psychology. I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan and in the fall of 2017, I will be joining the faculty of Wellesley College as an Assistant Professor of Political Science.
I am generally interested in understanding the influence of racial attitudes on public opinion. Currently, my primary research goal is to introduce the phenomenon of racial sympathy to political science and demonstrate its relevance to American public opinion. To do so, my dissertation combines several methods including survey research, experimental work and participant observation. Through these analyses, I find that racial sympathy is a distinct and powerful racial attitude that shapes public opinion among a surprisingly large share of white Americans.
In addition to my research, I am a dedicated instructor. While at the University of Michigan, I received the John Kingdon Award for Outstanding Teaching and completed the requirements for the U-M Teaching Certificate. I am interested in offering courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level, including: introduction to American politics, public opinion and elections, race and politics, urban politics, representation, political psychology, persuasion, survey and research design.
If you have any questions about my teaching and research, feel free to send me an email at jchudy@umich.edu
