About Me

I grew up in a small town in rural Nebraska. As a high school debater, I was very excited about subjects related to politics and governance. But I thought very locally (something I still think is very important). I credit my experiences at Hastings College, a small liberal-arts college like Susquehanna, with expanding my horizons.

When I began my college career, I did not intend to study abroad. Several of my professors and faculty advisors encouraged me to consider spending time outside of the United States, an idea that really frightened me as I was not sure I could make it on my own in a strange, far-away place. With substantial support and encouragement from the faculty at Hastings, I spent a semester at the University of Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands. That experience was liberating both for my academic interests and for my self-image. I developed a strong interest in the political systems of Europe, ultimately learning far more about American politics by using it as a base of comparison with Europe.

More importantly, I developed a sense of independence and self-sufficiency. I do not believe that I would have embarked on such travels if I had attended another type of institution. I would have had opportunities for study abroad, but I would have been missing the kick in the pants that I needed from engaged and concerned faculty members. I was very drawn to Susquehanna for these reasons.

Susquehanna has an amazing resource in the GO program and in the faculty and staff that push students to consider new possibilities both on and off campus.

Professional Experience

EDUCATION:

Ph.D., Political Science, 2012. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
Fields of Concentration: Comparative Politics and International Relations.
Dissertation: Understanding Regional and Global Politics: The Public’s Political Knowledge of the European Union
Committee: Robert Rohrschneider (co-chair), Edward Carmines (co-chair), Beate Sissenich, and Tim Hellwig.

M.A., European Studies, 2004. Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany.
Advisor: Reinhard Meyers.

M.S., European Studies, 2004. Universiteit Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands.
Advisor: Jaap de Wilde. Graduated cum laude.

B.A., Political Science and Philosophy, 2002. Hastings College, Hastings, NE.
Advisor: Rob Babcock. Graduated with high distinction in both majors.

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS:

• Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Susquehanna University, August 2013-present
• Director of the Summer Session, Susquehanna University, January 2015-present
• Director of the Public Policy degree program, Susquehanna University, September 2015-present
• Affiliated Faculty Member, European Studies Center/European Union Center of Excellence, University of Pittsburgh, June 2015-present
• Visiting Lecturer, Department of International and Area Studies, University of Oklahoma, January 2013-May 2013
• Visiting Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Indiana University, August 2012-December 2012

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS:

• Barbara Sloan EU Archive Collection Visiting Scholar, University of Pittsburgh, Fall 2014
• Faculty Research Mini-Grant, Susquehanna University, 2014
• John H. Edwards Fellowship, Indiana University, 2011-2012
• Department of Political Science Associate Instructor of the Year Award, Indiana University, 2009-2010 and 2005-2006
• Political Economy of Democratic Sustainability (PEDS) Fellowship, Indiana University, 2009-2010
• Elinor Ostrom Fellowship, Indiana University, 2008-2009
• Department of Political Science Best Graduate Paper Award, Indiana University, 2010-2011
• West European Studies Bill Cohen Award for the best graduate student paper pertaining to Western Europe, Indiana University, 2010-2011 and 2005-2006
• West European Studies Center/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Travel Grant, Indiana University, 2010-2011 and 2009-2010
• Katharine Greenough Fellowship, Indiana University, 2010-2011, 2009-2010, 2008-2009
• European Union Center of Excellence Pre-Dissertation Summer Grant, Indiana University, Summer 2007
• Associate Instructor Fellowship, Indiana University, 2004-2010
• Research Assistant Fellowship, Indiana University, 2007-2008
• Hastings Noon Rotary Scholarship, 2003-2004
• Omicron Delta Kappa Foundation Scholarship, 2002
• Outstanding Achievement in Philosophy award, Hastings College, Spring 2002
• 2001 Centuria of Excellence award, Spring 2001
• Harry S. Truman Scholarship finalist, Spring 2001

PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES:

• “The Federalist Perspective in Elections to the European Parliament” Journal of Common Market Studies. 2015. 53(3): 524-541.
• “The EU’s Information Deficit?: Comparing Political Knowledge across Levels of Governance” Perspectives on European Politics and Society. 2014. 15(4): 445-463.
• “Explaining Low Turnout in European Elections: The Role of Issue Salience and Institutional Perceptions in Elections to the European Parliament” Journal of European Integration. 2014. 36(4): 339-356.
• “Information Effects and Mass Support for EU Policy Control” with Tim Hellwig. European Union Politics. 2012. 13(4): 535-557.
• “Second-Order Elections versus First-Order Thinking: How Voters Perceive the Representation Process in a Multi-Layered System of Governance” with Robert Rohrschneider. Journal of European Integration. 2009. 31(5): 613-632.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

• “The Role of Procedural Quality in an Informed Citizenry” revise and resubmit with Political Studies
• “Elucidating EU Engagement: Rethinking Dimensions of Supranational Participation” with K. Amber Curtis under review.
• “Simulating Informed Perceptions of the EU” under review.
• “The Effects of Economic Crises on Macro-Salience and EU Support” with Robert Rohrschneider.
• “Media Tone and Economic Voting” with Todd Makse.
• “The Functionalist Paradigm and EU Support”

BOOK CHAPTERS:

• “Explaining the Second Order Effect: The Role of Issues and Institutions in Elections to the European Parliament” in Susan Banducci, et al, eds., An Audit of Democracy in the European Union (European University Institute, 2012 http://www.piredeu.eu/Database/DOCS/PIREDEU_Audit_of_Democracy_2012.pdf)
• “Second-Order Elections versus First-Order Thinking: How Voters Perceive the Representation Process in a Multi-Layered System of Governance” with Robert Rohrschneider in Hermann Schmitt, ed., European Parliament Elections after Eastern Enlargement. (New York, NY: Routledge, 2010. Reprint of earlier publication)
• “The 2006 Indiana 9th Congressional District Race” with Marjorie Randon Hershey in David B. Magleby and Kelly D. Patterson, eds., The Battle for Congress: Iraq, Scandal and Campaign Finance in the 2006 Elections (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2008)

BOOK REVIEW:

• Review of Referendums and the European Union: A Comparative Inquiry by Fernando Mendez, Mario Mendez and Triga Vasiliki. European Union Studies Association (EUSA) Review (Fall 2014). 27(2): 22-23.

INVITED PRESENTATIONS:

• “Political Competence and Voting Behavior in Elections to the European Parliament” at the University of Pittsburgh, October 30, 2014
• “Political Knowledge and the Democracy Deficit of the European Union” presented as part of the Issues in a Dynamic Europe lecture series at the University of Oklahoma European Union Center, Norman, OK, October 18, 2012
• “European Integration: Looking Ahead” presented as part of the Great Decisions Series at the Meadowood Retirement Community, Bloomington, IN, November 11, 2008
• “The Opportunities and Obstacles of International Cooperation: The EU as an International Actor” presented at the Capital Forum Indiana Teachers’ Workshop, Indianapolis, IN, December 4, 2006

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:

• “The Effects of Economic Crises on Macro-Salience and EU Support” with Robert Rohrschneider at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA, September 3-6, 2015
• “Media Cueing and Economic Voting” with Todd Makse, Makayla Wendland and Meredith Crane presented at the 73rd Annual National Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 16-19, 2015
• “Elucidating EU Engagement: Rethinking Dimensions of Supranational Participation” with K. Amber Curtis presented at the European Union Studies Association 14th Biennial Conference, Boston, MA, March 5-7, 2015 and the 73rd Annual National Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 16-19, 2015
• “The Federalist Perspective in Elections to the European Parliament” presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C., August 28-31, 2014
• “Contextual Dynamics and Political Knowledge” presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C., August 28-31, 2014
• “Roundtable: Teaching Plato in Undergraduate Political Theory Courses” presented at the 68th Annual Conference of the New York State Political Science Association, New York, NY, April 25-26, 2014.
• “Voting in the European Parliament: Evidence from an Environmental Policy Dimension” with Robert Holahan presented at the 72nd Annual National Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 3-6, 2014
• “Europe’s Second‐Order Phenomena: Learning to Participate in Multi‐Level Political Systems” presented at the 55th Annual Conference of the International Studies Association, Toronto, Canada, March 26-29, 2014
• “Contextual dynamics and political knowledge: The role of procedural quality in an informed citizenry” presented at the 90th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, Selinsgrove, PA, March 21-23, 2014
• “The EU’s Information Deficit?: Comparing Political Knowledge across Levels of Governance” presented at the 71st Annual National Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 11-14, 2013
• “Differences across the Pond: Explaining differences in attitudes toward international organizations in Europe and the United States” with Nate Birkhead presented at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, New Orleans, LA, January 12-14, 2012
• “Complexity Breeds Suspicion: The Impact of Institutional Clarity on Citizens’ Confidence in Democratic Representation” with Dani Marinova presented at the 69th Annual National Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, March 31-April 3, 2011
• “Information Effects and Support for European Integration” with Tim Hellwig, presented at the 12th Biennial Meeting of the European Union Studies Association, Boston, MA, March 3-5, 2011
• “Explaining Low Turnout in Elections to the European Parliament: Voter’s Perceptions of the European Parliament” presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C., September 2-5, 2010 and the “Auditing Electoral Democracy in the European Union” PIREDEU Final User Community Conference, Brussels, Belgium, November 18-19, 2010
• “Understanding Regional and Global Politics: The Public’s Political Knowledge of the European Union” presented at Western US Graduate Student Research Workshop on the European Union, Seattle, WA, May 21-22, 2010
• “What Europeans Know About the European Union: Examining Levels of Political Knowledge Across Europe” presented at the 68th Annual National Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 22-25, 2010
• “Accountability in the Multi-Level Context: The Public’s Impact on Elite Behavior in the European Union Council of Ministers” presented at the 67th Annual National Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 2-5, 2009

COURSES TAUGHT:

• Susquehanna University: Introduction to Public Policy; Comparative Politics and Government; European Union; Theories of Democratic Citizenship; Senior Seminar
• University of Oklahoma: Understanding the Global Community; Contemporary Europe
• Indiana University: Introduction to Comparative Politics; Political Economy: Origins of the European Debt Crisis; Voting, Elections, and Public Opinion; West European Politics; Transnational Democracy; Model European Union; Controversies in the European Union; Politics in the European Union; American Politics through Fiction and Film (Distance Learning)
• Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth: International Politics

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:

• American Political Science Association
• Midwest Political Science Association
• European Union Studies Association
• Alpha Chi
• Omicron Delta Kappa
• Pi Gamma Mu
• Pi Sigma Alpha

Courses Taught