Since 2018, Yoshiko Herrera, Cara Wong, and I have organized a working group at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA). Our goal has been to bring scholars of identity from across the sub-fields of political science -- American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory -- into conversation with one another.
Each year, we solicit self-nominations for paper presentations and organize these into panels that include faculty and graduate students, as well as perspectives from different subfields. We also host a luncheon and cocktail hour for participants.
See below for the agendas from each of our previous meetings and information about our upcoming conference-within-a-conference.
MPSA 2024
Keep an eye on this space for an opportunity to indicate your interest in joining next year's conference-within-a-conference. We'd love to have you join us, whether you're presenting a paper and/or would like serve as a discussant or chair.
MPSA 2023
Panel 1: Identity & Conflict (Location TBD)
Saturday, 15 April 9:45 - 11:15 AM CDT
Chair: Danny Choi (Brown University)
“Compulsory Military Service Reduces Affective Polarization: Evidence from Conscription Reforms in Europe”
Chagai M. Weiss (Stanford University)
“Social Avoidance in Public Spaces”
Joshua Corona (Northwestern University)
“Reducing Citizen Support for State Violence against Undocumented Immigrants Through Victims’ Testimonies and Information Campaigns”
Abby Córdova (University of Notre Dame)
Natán Skigin (University of Notre Dame)
“Does UN Peacekeeping Protect Civilians? Evidence from the Border between Burkina Faso and Mali”
William Nomikos (Washington University in St. Louis)
İpek Ece Sener (Washington University in St. Louis)
Rob Williams (Independent Researcher)
Discussants: Wendy Pearlman (Northwestern University) and Cara Wong (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Panel 2: Identity & Measurement (Location TBD)
Saturday, 15 April 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM CDT
Chair: Will Nomikos (Washington University in St. Louis)
“From Category to Meaning-Making: Toward a Concept of Narrative Political Identity”
Wendy Pearlman (Northwestern University)
“Virtue or Vice: Correlates and Consequences of Self-Labeled Extremism”
Ethan Busby (Brigham Young University)
“National Collective Narcissism and Perceptions of Racism in the United States”
Christopher Federico (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities)
Casey Griffin (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities)
“Recognition Paradox: The Adoption of the Minority Language by State Institutions Strengthens Ethnic Demands”
Sevinç Öztürk (Bitlis Eren University)
Aykut Öztürk (University of Glasgow)
Discussants: Yoshiko Herrera (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Avital Livny (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Panel 3: Identity Formation & Change (Location TBD)
Saturday, 15 April 3:00 - 4:30 PM CDT
Chair: Hannah Ridge (University of Chicago)
“Development of Politicized Identity in a Newly Acquired Group and Consequences for Participation”
Monica Schneider (Miami University)
Tim Callaghan (Boston University)
Steven Sylvester (Utah Valley University)
“Racial Differences in Rural Identity and Right-Wing Populist Support”
Kristin Lunz Trujillo (Harvard Kennedy School)
“Urbanization and the Decay of Ethnic Orientation: Evidence from Nairobi, Kenya”
Sohyeon Kim (Ohio State University)
Amanda L. Robinson (Ohio State University)
Rachel B. Riedl (Cornell University)
“Mobile Communication Technology and National Identity in Sub-Saharan Africa”
Donghyun Danny Choi (Brown)
Benjamin Laughlin (NYU Abu Dhabi)
Anna Schultz (Independent Researcher)
Discussants: Kathy Cramer (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Matt Simonson (University of Pennsylvania)
Panel 4: Identity-Based Coalitions (Location TBD)
Saturday, 15 April 4:45 - 6:15 PM CDT
Chair: Abby Córdova (University of Notre Dame)
“Cross-Group Friendships: Theory and Measurement”
Matthew D. Simonson (University of Pennsylvania)
“Mobilizing the Racial In-Between: The Impact of Discrimination on Asian American Coalition Building”
Stephanie Chan (Lafayette College)
Sonya Chen (Princeton University)
“Dilemmas of Accommodation”
Jasmine English (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
“Ethnodoxy in Egypt: Measurement and Validation”
Hannah Ridge (University of Chicago)
Discussants: Chris Federico (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities) and Chagai Weiss (Stanford University)
Poster Session: Frontiers of Research on Identity (Location TBD)
Saturday, 15 April 6:30 - 8:00 PM CDT
“Regional Integration and the Nation: Building a Regional Social and Political Identity”
Cameron Macaskill (Ohio State University)
“Intergroup Contact: How does Quality and Quantity of Intergroup Contact Affect the Development of Group Empathy and Intergroup Political Behaviors?”
Jair Moreira (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“The Role of Racial Identity and Shared Experiences in Structuring Attitudes Toward COVID-19”
Clinton Rooker (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
“Election Campaign Rallies in Multi-Ethnic Contexts: A Theory of Ethnic Identity Match & Evidence from India”
Shahana Sheikh (Yale University)
MPSA 2022
Panel 1: Identity Construction
Saturday, 9 April, 2022 - 9:45 AM - 11:15 AM CDT
Chair: Ashley Jardina (Duke University)
“The Construction of Latinx Identity in Presidential Elections”
Kennia Coronado (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“Anti-Americanism and Partisanship: The Limits of In-Group Love and Out-Group Hate”
Aleena Khan (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“Meso-level Democratic Backsliding and Identity-Driven Social Norm Diffusion”
Kaitlin Engelbrecht (The Ohio State University)
“White by Law but not in Practice: The Effects of Priming Middle Eastern-American and North African-American Identity on Political Attitudes”
Amanda Sahar d'Urso (Northwestern University)
Discussants: Ashley Jardina (Duke University) and Alex Scacco (WZB Berlin)
Panel 2: The Politics of Multiple Identities
Saturday, 9 April, 2022 - 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM CDT
Chair: Avital Livny (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“The Ideological and Religious Bases of Attitudes Toward Pope Francis in the United States”
Christopher Federico (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities)
“To Be or Not to Be a Chechen? The Second Generation of Chechens in Europe and Their Choices of Identity”
Marat Iliyasov (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“Well Integrated Immigrants Without a Sense of Belonging?”
Younghyun Lee (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“Dual Citizenship in the U.S.: Birthplace, Naturalization, and Political Participation”
Seyoung Jung (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Cara Wong (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Discussants: Yoshiko Herrera (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Cara Wong (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Panel 3: Identity and Measurement
Saturday, 9 April, 2022 - 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM CDT
Chair: Yoshiko Herrera (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“Ain't No Stopping Us Now: African Americans, Inequality and The Politics of Resilience”
Christine M. Slaughter (Princeton University)
“Measuring Group Empathy: How to Measure Empathy Felt by Members of One Group Towards Members of Other Groups?”
Jair Moreira (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“Colonial Crime Statistics and the Carceral State”
Kaden Paulson-Smith (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay)
“Shades of White: How White Identity Shapes Attitudes About Racial Politics”
Geneva Cole (University of Chicago)
Discussants: Chagai Weiss (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Avital Livny (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Panel 4: Identity & Representation
Saturday, 9 April, 2022 - 4:45 PM - 6:15 PM CDT
Chair: Cara Wong (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“From the Bench to the Ladder: Gendered Local Political Experience and Latina Success in State Legislatures”
Ricardo Ramirez (University of Notre Dame)
Victoria Velazquez (University of Notre Dame)
“Outgroup Trust and Cross-Ethnic Voting in New Democracies: Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa”
Hyo-Won Shin (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“Minority Underrepresentation in the Police: Causes, Consequences, and Remedies”
Chagai Weiss (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Kyle Peyton (Australian Catholic University)
Page Vaughn (Yale University)
“The Funded: Latino/a Advocacy and Identity in Nonprofit Organizations”
Ben Marquez (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Discussants: Kaden Paulson-Smith (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay) and Christopher Federico (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities)
MPSA 2021
Panel 1: Identity and Discrimination
Saturday, April 17 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM CDT
Chair: Yoshiko Herrera (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“How Inter-Group Contact Can Change Policy Views”
Jamie N. Druckman (Northwestern University)
Elizabeth A. Sharrow (University of Massachusetts-Amherst)
“Desegregating Digital Spaces: A Facebook Field Experiment in Jerusalem”
Alexandra Scacco (WZB Berlin)
Alexandra Siegel (University of Colorado Boulder)
Chagai M. Weiss (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“Causal Effect of Intergroup Contact on Avoidant Behavior”
Joshua Corona (Northwestern University)
“Positivity Breeds Positivity: Cross-National and Panel Survey Evidence that Positive In-Party Affective Evaluations Predict Positive Out-Party Affective Evaluations”
Noam Gidron (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
James Adams (University of California-Davis)
Will Horne (Princeton University)
Yair Amitai (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Discussants: Karen Ferree (University of California-San Diego) and Christopher Federico (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities)
Panel 2: National Belonging
Saturday, April 17 10:40 AM - 12:10 PM CDT
Chair: Jamie N. Druckman (Northwestern University)
“National Identity and Religiosity in Poland: Exploring the Roles of National Ingroup Satisfaction and Collective Narcissism”
Christopher Federico (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities)
Agnieszka Golec De Zavala (Goldsmith, University of London)
“Dressing Like a State: Kurdistan Fashion Week, Civil Society, and the Construction of National Identity”
Kimberly D. Tower (American University)
“Send Her Back: Ilhan Omar and the Exclusivity of National Knowledge Production”
Bianca Sofia Rubalcava (University of California-Irvine)
“Who Whites Think are White: How Religion and Country-of-Origin Determine Ethnoracial Assignment”
Amanda Sahar d'Urso (Northwestern University)
Discussants: Randy Besco (University of Toronto) and Tabitha Bonilla (Northwestern University)
Bring-Your-Own Lunch and Small Group Discussion
Saturday, April 17 12:35 PM - 1:35 PM CDT
Panel 3: Identity and Behavior
Saturday, April 17 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM CDT
Chair: Avital Livny (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“Choice and Choice Set in Ethnic Voting”
Karen Ferree (University of California-San Diego)
“Vying for Votes: How Group-based Appeals Change Voter Opinions”
Tabitha Bonilla (Northwestern University)
“Taking the Cloth: What Makes White Evangelicals Wear Masks”
Claire L. Adida (University of California-San Diego)
Christina Cottiero (University of California-San Diego)
Leonardo Falabella (University of California-San Diego)
Isabel R Gotti (University of California-San Diego)
Syeda ShahBano Ijaz (University of California-San Diego)
Gregoire Phillips (University of California-San Diego)
Michael Seese (University of California-San Diego)
Discussants: Nejla Asimovic (New York University) and Avital Livny (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Panel 4: In-Group Variation
Saturday, April 17 3:40 PM - 5:10 PM CDT
Chair: Claire L. Adida (University of California-San Diego)
“White Identity and Black Lives Matter: Amending and Defending Privilege in the Wake of the 2020 Uprising”
Geneva Cole (University of Chicago)
“The Work of Racism in Rural Consciousness”
Katherine Cramer (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“How Do Political Attacks Affect Racial and Ethnic Self-identities?”
Randy Besco (University of Toronto)
Sergio I. Garcia-Rios (Cornell University)
Nazita Lajevardi (Michigan State University)
Erin Tolley (Carleton University)
Discussants: Hakeem J. Jefferson (Stanford University) and Noam Gidron (Hebrew University of Jerusalem )
MPSA 2019
Light Breakfast and Coffee
Saturday, April 6 9:15 AM - 9:45 AM (TBA)
Panel 1: Identity and Discrimination
Saturday, April 7 9:45 AM - 11:15 AM (TBA)
Chair: Cara Wong (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
“Can Brief Intergroup Contact Affect Attitudes? A Natural Experiment in Israeli Medical Clinics”
Chagai Weiss (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“The Intersection of Racial and Partisan Discrimination: Evidence from a Correspondence Study of Four Year Colleges”
Richard Shafranek (Northwestern University)
Jamie Druckman (Northwestern University)
“How Nonnormative Gender and Sexuality Became a Threat to the State: Institutionalized Violence in Post-Colonial Africa”
Kaden Paulson-Smith (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“The Sunny Side of Essentialism: Race and Jazz in Contemporary Russia”
Yoshiko Herrera (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Sharon Clark (Independent Scholar)
Discussants: Jennifer Mitzen (The Ohio State University) and Cara Wong (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
Panel 2: Identity and Intersectionality
Saturday, April 6 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM (TBA)
Chair: Avital Livny (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“Why Can't You All Just Get Along?: Effects of Political Conflict among Outgroups”
Jacob Rothschild (Northwestern University)
“Multilingualism and Attitudes Toward the Out-Group”
Yuan-Ning Chu (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“Who is a Patriot in the United States?”
Cara Wong (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“Colonial Invention and Intra-Ethnic Inequality”
Noah L. Nathan (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)
Discussants: Avital Livny (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Katherine Cramer (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Lunch and Discussion
Saturday, April 6 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM (TBA)
Panel 3: Identity and Political Opinion
Saturday, April 6 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM (TBA)
Chair: Noah Nathan (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)
“Social Identity, the Vietnam War, and Contemporary Political Divides”
Katherine Cramer (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Larry Bartels (Vanderbilt University)
“The Joint Impact of Shared Identities and Shared Values on the Perception of Political Candidates”
Adam Howat (Northwestern University)
“A Constructivist Theory of Place-Based Identities”
Charles Harpole (The Ohio State University)
“Assessing the Impact of Rural Consciousness on Political Behavior”
Geoffrey Sheagley (University of Georgia)
Christina Farhart (Carleton College)
Discussants: Noah Nathan (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor) and Bernard Fraga (Indiana University-Bloomington)
Panel 4: Identity and Security
Saturday, April 6 4:45 PM - 6:15 PM (TBA)
Chair: Yoshiko Herrera (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“All Security is Ontological”
Jennifer Mitzen (The Ohio State University)
Catarina Kinnvall (Lund University)
“Humiliation and International Conflict”
Michael Masterson (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“The Persistence of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: The Role of Norms and State Identity”
Jacques EC Hymans (University of South Carolina)
Steven Wilson (University of Nevada-Reno)
Yoshiko Herrera (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Discussants: Yoshiko Herrera (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Avital Livny (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
Closing Reception
Saturday, April 6 6:15 PM - 7:00 PM (Palmer House Lobby Bar)
MPSA 2018
Light Breakfast and Coffee
Saturday, April 7 7:30 AM - 8:00 AM (TBA)
Panel 1: Elites and the Construction of Identity
Saturday, April 7 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM (TBA)
Chair: Yoshiko Herrera (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“Identity and Interest Group Politics: The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund”
Benjamin Marquez (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“Political Protesting, Race, and College Athletics: Why Diversity Among Coaches Matters”
Jamie Druckman (Northwestern University)
Adam Howat (Northwestern University)
Jacob Rothschild (Northwestern University)
“The Political Logic of Cultural Revivalsa”
Amanda Robinson (The Ohio State University)
“How States Make Cleavages: Evidence from Prussi”
Maayan Mor (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Discussants: Christopher Federico (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities) and Yoshiko Herrera (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Panel 2: Identity, Interactions, and Attitudes
Saturday, April 7 9:45 AM - 11:15 AM (TBA)
Chair: Cara Wong (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“I Hear You Loud and Clear -- And That’s the Problem”
Ethan Busby (Northwestern University)
“Casualties of the Culture Wars: Lifestyle Differences Between Democrats and Republicans”
Joshua Boston (Washington University in St Louis)
Jonathan Homola (Washington University in St Louis)
Michelle Torres (Washington University in St Louis)
Patrick Tucker (Washington University in St Louis)
Betsy Sinclair (Washington University in St Louis)
“An Experiment on Inequality and Social Comparisons”
Rebecca Morton (New York University)
Kai Ou (Florida State University)
Maggie Penn (University of Chicago)
“How Identity Aligns Preferences With Epistemic Needs”
Christopher Federico (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities)
Discussants: Noah Nathan (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor) and Cara Wong (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Lunch and Discussion
Saturday, April 6 11:35 AM - 1:00 PM (TBA)
Panel 3: Identity & Intergroup Relations
Saturday, April 7 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM (TBA)
Chair: Avital Livny (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“How Social Elites and Social Peers Moderate Social Learning”
Christopher Grady (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Jake Bowers (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“Perceived Skin Tone Differences and Anti-Immigrant Attitudes”
Kirill Zhirkov (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)
“Integrating Immigrants & Minorities: Cultural Homogenization Campaigns and National Identity”
Leyla Tosun (The Ohio State University)
“Non-political Advertisements, Political Repercussions? The Effects of Ethnic Cues on Attitudes Toward Immigration”
Rebeca Agosto Rosa (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
Discussants: Benjamin Marquez (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Avital Livny (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Panel 4: Identity and the State
Saturday, April 7 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM (TBA)
Chair: Maggie Penn (University of Chicago)
“What Drives Political Actors to Restrict the Rights of Marginalized Groups? Contemporary Evidence from Tanzania”
Kaden Paulson-Smith (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“Under Coyote's Mask: The Lakota Sioux, Federal Indian Law, and NODAPL”
Danielle Delaney (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“National Humiliation Narratives: Origins and Political Success”
Michael Masterson (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
“Institutionalized Resentment: Structural Rural Inequality and the Fantasy of an Appalachian ‘Silicon Hollow’”
Charles Harpole (The Ohio State University)
Discussants: Katherine Cramer (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Amanda Robinson (The Ohio State University)
Closing Reception
Saturday, April 7 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM