East Stroudsburg University Senior Participates in Northeastern Political Science Conference

Jessica E. Null, a senior at East Stroudsburg University majoring in political science and history, presented research at the Northeastern Political Science Association’s 53^rd Annual meeting. The meeting was held virtually, November 11-13.

Kimberly S. Adams, Ph.D., professor of political science, received ESU’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (S.U.R.E.) grant and selected Null to assist her in collecting and entering data on restrictive voter laws. The purpose of S.U.R.E. is to support faculty/student research pairs over the summer months. The goals are to develop the necessary skill set of undergraduate students to help them become student researchers and to provide faculty members with paid student research assistants. Undergraduate students selected for the program received summer pay for research tasks assigned by their faculty supervisor. By assisting faculty members in their research, students selected for the program learned the knowledge and skills necessary for conducting advanced research in their field. This grant is not intended to support students in their own thesis work. The project should be one primarily initiated by, and to support, a faculty member’s research.

The research conducted by Dr. Adams and Null examined 361 of the restrictive voter bills introduced in state legislatures as of March 24, 2021, identified by the Brennan Center. The research analyzed these bills in terms of their content, the sponsor, the state, and the region. They also explored race, party, and gender of the legislator introducing the measures.

Null took part in a panel titled Race and Gender in American Politics. “Jessica represented ESU admirably at the NPSA conference. Her research was thorough, and she provided great insight regarding the current restrictive voter laws,” Dr. Adams said. “I am so proud of her efforts.”

The panelists for the Race and Gender in American Politics included: Null, “An Examination of State Voter Laws That Negatively Affect Racial Minorities”; Devin Yingling, of Saint Joseph’s University – “Do Stereotypes Abound and Intersect? Unpacking Media Bias in the Coverage of the 2020 Harris and Booker Presidential Campaigns”; Megan McCormick, of Rutgers University – “How Race and Gender Influence Attitudes about Candidates in the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary”; Evelyn Aaron, of Walsh University – “The Gender Gap and Generational Differences in Ohio’s Political Bellwether”; Alexandra Sassaman, of Virginia Military Institute – “Women in Counterterrorism: Crucial to Combatting Women in Terrorism?”; and Dylan J. Thompson, of Utica College – “Conserving Oppression: Recycling Anti-Homosexual Laws to Target Transgender Individuals”

NPSA is one of the leading regional professional organizations in the United States for the study of politics. Every year, at its Annual Conference, NPSA brings together hundreds of political scientists from all fields of study and from all parts of the United States and the world for the purpose of enhancing and expanding their knowledge of politics. This year, there were approximately 310 members and 29 students registered for the conference. Four of the conference panels featured undergraduate students.

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