CURRICULUM VITAE 

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academic position  

Harvard University, Postdoctoral Fellow, Inequality in America Initiative, 2021-present

Education      

Ph.D. University of Chicago. Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science, 2016-2021

M.A.   University of Chicago. Master of the Arts in Political Science, 2016-2018.

M.A. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Master of the Arts in Higher Education and Public Policy, 2012-2013.

B.A. Colgate University, Hamilton, New York. Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Education, Magna Cum Laude, 2007-2011. 

Dissertation    

“How She Reconfigures the State: Intersectional Advocacy & the Movement Against Violence” Committee: Cathy J. Cohen, Michael Dawson, (co-chairs) William Howell, Dara Strolovitch (Yale University), Jamie Druckman (Northwestern University)

Graduate Honors & Fellowships

•  Pozen Doctoral Fellow, Pozen Family Center for Human Rights, June 2020-June 2021

• Best Graduate Student paper award, Midwest Association for Public Opinion, November 2019

• APSA Minority Fellowship, American Political Association, January 2017

•  Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, March 2016

•  Urban Doctoral Fellowship, University of Chicago, May 2016- May 2017

•  Research Fellowship, University of Michigan, August 2013- December 2013

•  Rackham Merit Fellowship, University of Michigan, August 2012- December 2013

Publications

Journal Articles

• Michener, J. & Brower, Margaret T (2020). What’s Policy Got to Do with It? Race, Gender and Economic Inequality in the United States. Daedalus, 149(1).

• McNaughtan, J.L. Brower, Margaret T & Overton, B. (2019). Student Choice and Social Mobility through Institutional Policy: An Examination of Loan Repayment Assistance Programs. International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership 15(16).

• Thomas, N., & Brower, Margaret T (2018). Conceptualizing and assessing campus climates for political learning and engagement in democracy. Journal of College and Character, 19(4), 247-263.

Book Chapters

• Thomas, N. & Brower, Margaret T (2017). Politics 365: Fostering Campus Climates for Student Political Learning and Engagement: Teaching Civic Engagement across the Disciplines in the Twenty-First Century. Edited by McCartney, Bennion, Matto & Simpson.  

• Thomas, N & Brower, Margaret T (2017). The Politically Engaged Classroom: Teaching Civic Engagement across the Disciplines in the Twenty-First Century. Edited by McCartney, Bennion, Matto & Simpson.

• Thomas, N. & Brower, Margaret T, and Benenson, J (2016). Political Citizenship: Whether and why college students vote: Why Don’t Americans Vote? Causes and Consequences. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara California.

Academic Magazine Articles

• Thomas, N., & Brower, Margaret T (2018). Promising Practices to Facilitate Politically Robust Campus Climates. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 50(6), 24-29.

• Brower, Margaret T & Jodi Benenson (2015). Practicing Democracy in the Classroom: Equalizing Opportunities to Engage with Public Policies and Issues. Diversity & Democracy, (2) 19.

 Public Scholarship

• Brower, Margaret T (2019). “Chicago’s Racial Economy” in Race & Place: Young Adults and the Future of Chicago. GenForward at the University of Chicago, 30-51. 

• Brower, Margaret T (2019). “Political Inequalities and Reimagining Democracy” in Race & Place: Young Adults and the Future of Chicago. GenForward at the University of Chicago, 30-51. 

• Thomas, Nancy, Margaret T. Brower, Ishara Casellas Connors, Adam Gismondi, and Kyle Upchurch (2017). Election Imperatives: 10 Recommendations to Increase College Student Voting and Improve Political Learning and Engagement in Democracy. The Institute for Democracy and Higher Education. 

• Thomas, Nancy and Margaret T. Brower (2016). Why Elections Matter and What You Can do Now. The Institute for Democracy and Higher Education Research Report. 

 Public Commentary

• Brower, Margaret T & Jamila Michener (2021). Latina and Black Women Lost Jobs in Record Numbers. Policies Designed for All Women Don’t Necessarily Help. The Washington Post, Monkey Cage.

Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistant, University of Chicago, Chicago, 2017-present

• Policy Implementation, 2020 (undergraduate course)

• African American Politics, 2019 (undergraduate course)

• Race and Politics, 2018 (undergraduate course) 

• Introduction to American Politics, 2017 (undergraduate course)

Guest Lecturer, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska, February 2021 

• Invited to teach a class on public policy, violence against women, and the importance of gender, race and ethnicity on policymaking  

Guest Lecturer, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, April 2015

• Invited to teach a class on social movements, political engagement, & historical activism 

Undergraduate research advising

Instructor for B.A. Seminar, University of Chicago, Chicago,2017-2020

• Designed and developed a research two-quarter course curriculum for undergraduates pursuing an honor’s thesis

• Curriculum covered a range of methodological approaches (e.g. linear models, archival analysis, textual analysis, qualitative interviews, experiments), research design, and project management

Thesis Advisor, University of Chicago, Chicago,2017-2020

• Personally advised 8-10 undergraduate students a year on their honors theses in Political Science 

• Reviewed and evaluated theses for honors 

Funding & Grants

External 

• Research Grant, Center for American Women and Politics, January 2020 ($9390)

• Follow-up Study Grant, Time-Sharing Experiments for Social Sciences (TESS), October 2020 ($750)

• Lee Ann Fujii Award, American Political Science Association, August 2020 ($500)

• Women and Politics Grant, Centennial Center for Political Science, August 2019 ($2500)

• Minority Fellowship Grant, American Political Science Association, July 2019 ($400)

• TESS Short Study Funding, Time-Sharing Experiments for Social Sciences (TESS), August 2018 ($8500)

• Latino Caucus Conference Award, American Political Science Association, May 2018 ($500)

• Conference Award, American Political Science Association, May 2018 & May 2019 ($400)

• First Generation Scholar Award, American Political Science Association, October 2017 ($250)

Internal 

• Pozen Research Grant, University of Chicago, October 2020 ($1000) 

• Social Sciences Doctoral Research Innovation Award, September 2020 ($4000)

• Mellon Foundation Summer Funding Award, University of Chicago, August 2019 ($6000)

• UChicago Graduate Council Travel Fund, University of Chicago, July 2018 ($600)

• Global Graduate Internship Summer Funding Award, University of Chicago, May 2017 ($4000)

• Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture Research Grant, with Cathy Cohen & David Knight, University of Chicago, May 2017 ($10000)

• Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture Research Grant, University of Chicago, May 2017 & May 2018 ($3100)

• Conference Funding Award, University of Chicago Urban Network, September 2016 ($750)

• Rackham Summer Research Award, University of Michigan, July 2013 ($2500)

Conference Presentations

• American Political Science Association Annual Conference: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

-      Identity Framing & Advocacy Organizations, Virtual, 2020

-      Reframing Women’s Issues: Intersectional Frames & Policy Agendas, D.C., 2019

-      Political Power in an Unequal City: The Politics of Race, Gender, and Place, Boston, 2018

-      Voting Behaviors of First-Time College Student Voters by Race & Gender, San Francisco, 2017

• Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research: 2018, 2019

  -      Intersectional Advocacy & Intersectional Frames, Chicago, 2019 

  [Awarded Best Paper in Public Opinion at conference]

  -      Sexual Harassment & Political Accountability, Chicago, 2018 

• Northeast Political Science Association: 2016

  -      Student Political Learning and Engagement during and after an Election, Boston, 2016

• Frontiers of Democracy: 2015, 2016

  -      Elections and Political Learning in Higher Education, Boston, 2015

  -      New Political Learning and Engagement Opportunities in an Unequal Society, Boston, 2016

• Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference: 2015

  -      Engagement in democracy: institutional cultures of decision-making, Denver, 2015

• Conference on Race, Culture and Social Justice: 2015

  - Political Justice and Cultural Diversity: The Student Activism Narrative, Boston, 2015

Invited Presentations

Invited Presenter, Urban League of Chicago, Chicago, April 2019

• Presented “Race and Place: Young Adults and the Future of Chicago” to the staff

Invited Presenter, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, April 2019

• Presented “Race and Place: Young Adults and the Future of Chicago” to students and faculty at UIC

Invited Presenter, Oakland University, Michigan, April 2018

• Presented “Hidden Inequalities: Modern Sexism and the Academy” to 250 participants at the Diversity and Inclusion Conference 

Public Engagement

• Jamila Michener, Margaret T. Brower on MSNBC the Cross (February 2021). “Women of Color and the Pandemic,” https://www.instagram.com/tv/CLwM275Brma/?igshid=7ic2kd6qwl8y

• Cathy Cohen, Margaret T. Brower and David Knight on WBEZ Radio (January 2019), “A Third of city young adults want to leave Chicago,” https://www.wbez.org/shows/morning-shift/study-finds-a-third-of-citys-young-adults-want-to-leave-chicago/6b90d86c-7590-451f-9941-0a3410750e45

• Margaret T. Brower on WGN TV, “Attention Chicago Mayoral Candidates are you listening to millennials?” (March 2019) https://wgntv.com/2019/03/07/attention-chicago-mayoral-candidates-are-you-listening-to-millennials/

• Margaret T. Brower on Kiss FM Chicago, “What do Millennials and Young adults think about the future of Chicago?” (April 2019) https://1035kissfm.iheart.com/featured/paulina/content/2019-04-01-what-do-millennials-and-young-adults-think-about-the-future-of-chicago/

• Margaret T. Brower & David Knight on WCIU “Black Millennial Migration” (May 2019) https://www.wciu.com/videos/thejam/black-millennial-migration

• Margaret T. Brower on WGN Radio “Chicago Millennial Attitudes” (May 2019) https://wgnradio.com/2019/05/19/brian-noonan-show-chicago-millennial-attitudes-at-the-breweries/

Research-led Projects

Graduate Researcher, GenForward, University of Chicago, September 2016-present

• Co-Principle Investigator for a qualitative research project on how diverse young adults in Chicago perceive and respond to inequality in Chicago and how place-based opportunity structures shape young adults’ sense of agency and possibility; 200 interviews were collected. 

Researcher, Institute for Democracy & Higher Education, Tufts University, Jan 2014-Aug 2016

•  Lead the qualitative research team (6 members); included designing and conducting qualitative studies on political engagement in democracy; also investigated non-statutory barriers preventing students from participating in the voting process; included over 500 research participants.

Administrator, Institute for Democracy & Higher Education, Tufts University, Jan 2013-2014 

• Established the National Study for Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE) dataset; this research database resulted from merging student enrollment records with publicly available voting rates to create a research dataset of college student voting representing over 11 million students 

 Graduate Researcher, National Forum, University of Michigan, Sept 2012-Dec 2013

• Produced case studies using qualitative methods and shared with administrative leaders and national organizations to provide institutional support for undocumented students.

• Worked in partnership with Focus HOPE on a project utilizing Community-Based Participatory Action Research (PAR) to facilitate focus groups on urban politics and community policy interests

• Lead the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) mixed-method research study that examined the relationship between student choice and the cost of higher education

Academic Service

• American Politics Workshop Coordinator, University of Chicago, 2018-present

• Hiring Committee Member, Race & Politics Faculty Search Committee, 2018-2019

• Board Member, Sexual Misconduct Advisory Board, University of Chicago, 2018-present

• Member, UChicago Political Science Association, University of Chicago, 2017-2018

• Chair, Diversity & Inclusion Committee, Tufts University, 2014-2016

OTHER AFFILIATIONS

• Board Member, Women Employed Advisory Board, 2016-present

• Member, American Political Science Association, 2015-present

• Member, Law & Society Association, 2018-present 

• Member, American Sociological Association, 2019-present 

• Member, Latino Caucus, American Political Science Association, 2017-present

Research Software Skills

NVivo (advanced), Dedoose (advanced), STATA (advanced), R (intermediate), QGIS (basic)