Biography
Hi! My name is Isaiah, and I am a 4th-year Ph.D. candidate studying American Politics. In my dissertation, I test whether affective polarization can be decreased by encouraging outpartisans to think about the nonpolitical aspects of each other, including shared identities or positive characteristics.
Research Interests
American Politics
- Political rhetoric
- Political attitudes
- Affective polarization
Interdisciplinary Research
- Political communications
- Political psychology
Mixed Methods
- Survey experiments
- Content analysis
- Qualitative coding
Research Description
Education
Master of Arts in Political Science | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | December 2021
Bachelor of Arts | Northwestern University | June 2018
Grants
Dean S. Dorman Scholarship (March 2023, May 2023)
Illinois Distinguished Fellowship (AYs 2020-2023)
Career Exploration Fellowship (Spring 2023)
George Yu Scholarship (March 2021, March 2022)
Constantine Curris Award (March 2021)
Awards and Honors
Career Exploration Fellowship | Spring 2023
Illinois Distinguished Fellowship | AY 2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023
Graduate College Mentoring Certificate | April 2022
The Rita and Leonard Ogren Prizes for Best Academic Performance | May 2021
Courses Taught
Instructor, PS 201: U.S. Racial & Ethnic Politics (Fall 2023)
Grader, PS 302: U.S. Constitution II (Spring 2023)
Additional Campus Affiliations
Strategic Marketing & Branding Fellow | The Graduate College
Research Mentor | Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP)
Research Team Member | Platforms, Politics & Local News In Illinois (PPLN-IL)
Recent Publications
Usher, N., Wong, A. T., Raynal, I. R., Bigman-Galimore, C., \& Maslowska, E. (2023). Localizing COVID-19 public health department outreach on digital platforms: The role of discoverability, reach, and moderation for Illinois' COVID-19 vaccination rates. American Behavioral Scientist. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00027642231166884