Research

I study how social identities shape political behavior, political communication, and democratic representation.

Currently, my work focuses on the intersection of American politics and religion. My dissertation explores the strategic use of religious rhetoric by U.S. presidents and members of Congress, arguing that elite religious communication is shaped by political context rather than employed uniformly. Across three essays, I examine how party leadership, international events, and patterns of American religiosity influence the use of religious language in political communication. A portion of this research has been published in Politics and Religion and receieved the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion’s 2025 Best Student Paper Award.

Building on this work, I am collaborating on a project that measures Christian nationalist rhetoric in congressional communiation using computational text analysis. By developing a novel dictionary of Christian nationalist language and applying it to two decades of congressional communication, my co-authors and I examine how this rhetoric has evolved over time.

Beyond political communication, I am co-authoring a book on the Christian Right in American politics with Mark Rozell and Clyde Wilcox (under contract with Oxford University Press). The book traces the movement’s influence on American politics from the local to the national level over the past fifty years. My broader research on religion and politics includes a chapter on Democratic Catholic senators and abortion politics in Religion and Congress: The Intersection of Faith and Politics (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2025), as well as an article on religious freedom around the world.

An additional line of research explores civic engagement and political ambition among collegiate student-athletes. Drawing on my experience as an NCAA student-athlete, I investigate whether athletic participation can serve as a pathway for reducing the gender gap in political ambition.

Dissertation

Book Project

  • Title: The Christian Right: What Everyone Needs to Know
  • With Mark J. Rozell (George Mason University) and Clyde Wilcox (Georgetown University)
  • Under contract with Oxford University Press

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Book Chapters

Public Scholarship

Under Review:

  • “Measuring Christian Nationalist Rhetoric in Congress: Evidence from Legislator E-Newsletters” with Cammie Jo Bolin (University at Albany) and Alena Smith (Stanford University)
  • “Youth Sports, Gender, and Pathways to Political Involvement” with Amanda Friesen (Western University), Noah Vanderhoeven (Western University), and Lachlan Fisher (Western University)

In Progress:

  • The Christian Right: What Everyone Needs to Know with Mark J. Rozell (George Mason University) and Clyde Wilcox (Georgetown University) - Under contract with Oxford University Press.
  • “Gendered Differences in Leadership and Political Ambition Among NCAA Student-Athletes” with Cammie Jo Bolin (University at Albany)
  • “Religion and War Termination” with Stephen Gailliot (George Mason University)
  • “How Proximity to National Parks Shapes Voting Behavior: Evidence from U.S. Counties, 2000-2024” with Stephen Gailliot (George Mason University)