I'm an assistant professor in the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University, where I teach various undergraduate and graduate courses on American politics. I received my B.A. from Hunter College and my M.A. and Ph.D. from the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics at the University of Virginia, where I was also an American Political Development fellow at the Miller Center of Public Affairs.

My research straddles the boundary between American and comparative politics to focus on social movements, democracy, and party politics in racially divided countries like the United States and South Africa. I'm currently working on a book project that investigates the factors that lead national governments to concede to social movement demands for racial democracy.