Alauna Safarpour earned her Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland in 2021. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and a visiting postdoctoral fellow at Northeastern University's Network Science Institute. Her research areas of interest include race and ethnic politics, public opinion, participation and gender politics. Specifically, her research focuses on reducing prejudice and increasing civic participation. Her research has been published by Political Behavior, the Journal of Experimental Political Science, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, The Washington Post, and the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

Alauna's dissertation entitled "Taking Perspective: Prejudice Reduction and Political Attitudes" develops a theory of how to reduce anti-Black prejudice and the impact of doing so on American political attitudes. Using experimental methods, the project evaluates the efficacy of original interventions to reduce anti-Black prejudice and the consequences on policy preferences and evaluations of candidates, among other outcomes. The method of prejudice reduction draws on research from psychology and cognitive neuroscience and is deployed entirely online. Her dissertation has been funded by several competitive grants including an American Political Science Association/ National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant. 

Alauna was the 2020 public opinion fellow at The Washington Post where she assisted in polling the general public on the coronavirus pandemic and the 2020 Presidential Election. She also worked as a contractor for the Kaiser Family Foundation assisting in public opinion research concerning the COVID-19 vaccine with a particular focus on the attitudes of racial and ethnic minorities. 

Alauna obtained her B.A. in Political Science and History from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 2013. She obtained a Certificate in Paralegal Studies from Duke University in 2014, a Masters in Political Science from American University in 2015, and a Masters in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland in 2019. Alauna was also a 2019 participant in the Zürich Summer School for Women in Political Methodology at the University of Zürich, Switzerland (UZH).

Areas of Interest

  • Race and Ethnic Politics
  • Participation
  • Public Opinion
  • Survey Methodology
Personal Website
https://scholar.harvard.edu/alaunasafarpour

Degrees

  • Degree Type
    Ph.D.
    Degree Details
    University of Maryland, Department of Government and Politics

Awards

  • 2021-12-17
    DC-AAPOR Student Paper Award for "EPR: A Theory of Prejudice Reduction and Political Attitudes"
  • 2021-08-24
    Summer Centennial Center Grant, American Political Science Association's Centennial Center.
  • 2020-09-01
    American Political Science Association/ National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant
  • 2021-05-11
    George M. Phillips Public Service Initiative Award. College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Maryland.
  • 2020-07-22
    Graduate Student Award. Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland.
  • 2020-03-30
    Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship
  • 2020-12-16
    Conley H. Dillon Memorial Award (Dissertation Award). Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland.
  • 2020-01-01
    Public Opinion Polling Fellowship- The Washington Post
  • 2020-01-01
    The Roger H. Davidson Award (Best Paper in American Politics, 2019-2020). Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland.
  • 2019-01-01
    Summer School Fellowship. Department of Political Science (IPZ), University of Zürich (UZH), Switzerland.
  • 2019-01-01
    Dean’s Research Initiative. College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Maryland.
  • 2019-01-01
    Summer Research Fellowship. The Graduate School, University of Maryland.
  • 2018-01-01
    Jean Elizabeth Spencer Award. Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland.
  • 2019-01-01
    BSOS College Award. College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Maryland.
  • 2018-01-01
    BSOS College Award. College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Maryland.
  • 2019-01-01
    Dean’s Fellowship. The Graduate School, University of Maryland.
  • 2017-01-01
    Dean’s Fellowship. The Graduate School, University of Maryland.

Conferences

  • “Divisive or Descriptive?: How Americans Understand Critical Race Theory.” With James Druckman, Kristin Lunz Trujillo, and Jon Green. Presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL.
  • “How Party Cues Shape Americans’ Understanding of Institutional Racism.” With Antoine Banks and Eric Groenendyk. Presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting. Seattle, WA, Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2021.
  • “Incentivizing Vaccines: The Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccination Appeals by Pre-existing Intent and the Drivers of Vaccine Resistance.” With Ashley Kirsinger (KFF). Presented at the APSA Political Communication Pre-Conference. Seattle, WA.
  • “The Impact of Perspective Taking on Prejudice Reduction and Political Attitudes.” Presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting. Washington, DC, Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2019.
  • “A Field Experiment to Examine States’ Efforts to Increase Registration & Turnout.” With Lisa A. Bryant, Michael J. Hanmer, and Jared A. McDonald. Presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting. Boston, MA, Aug. 31-Sept. 3, 2018

Research

  • Safarpour, Alauna C., SoRelle Wykcoff Gaynor, Stella M. Rouse, and Michele L. Swers. 2021. “When Women Run, Voters Will Follow (Sometimes): Examining the Mobilizing Effect of Female Candidates in the 2014 and 2018 Midterm Elections.” Political Behavior
  • Bryant, Lisa A., Michael J. Hanmer, Alauna C. Safarpour, and Jared McDonald. 2020. “The Power of the State: How Postcards from the State Increased Registration and Turnout in Pennsylvania.” Political Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-020-09625-2
  • Bayes, Robin, James Druckman, and Alauna Safarpour. Forthcoming in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. "Studying Science Inequities: How to Use Surveys to Study Diverse Populations." https://ssrn.com/abstract=3917898
  • Safarpour, Alauna C. and Michael J. Hanmer. 2020. "Information about Coronavirus Exposure Affects Attitudes Towards Voting Methods." Journal of Experimental Political Science. https://doi.org/10.1017/XPS.2020.38
  • Samantha Artiga, Liz Hamel, Audrey Kearney, Mellisha Stokes, and Alauna Safarpour. "Health and Health Care Experiences of Hispanic Adults." July 14, 2021. Kaiser Family Foundation
  • Liz Hamel, Samantha Artiga, Alauna Safarpour, Mellisha Stokes, and Mollyann Brodie. "KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: COVID-19 Vaccine Access, Information, and Experiences Among Hispanic Adults in the U.S." May 13, 2021. Kaiser Family Foundation.
  • Liz Hamel, Alauna Safarpour, Mellisha Stokes, and Mollyann Brodie. “KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: Vaccine Attitudes Among Essential Workers.” April 23, 2021. Kaiser Family Foundation.
  • David Weigel, Scott Clement, Emily Guskin, Kevin Uhrmacher, Ann Gerhart, Claudia Deane, Alauna Safarpour and Jocelyn Kiley. “Exit poll results and analysis for the 2020 presidential election”. The Washington Post. November 4, 2020.
  • Claudia Deane, Jocelyn Kiley and Alauna Safarpour. “Biden’s share of Latino voters in Fla. is smaller than Clinton’s, according to exit polls.” November 3, 2020. The Washington Post.
  • Claudia Deane, Jocelyn Kiley and Alauna Safarpour. “Trump wins smaller share of White Virginia voters than in 2016, according to early exit polls.” November 3, 2020. The Washington Post.
  • Claudia Deane, Jocelyn Kiley and Alauna Safarpour. "Trump gains ground among N.C. conservatives, while losing moderates and independents, early exit polls show ." November 3, 2020. The Washington Post.
  • Claudia Deane, Jocelyn Kiley and Alauna Safarpour. “What exit polls tell us about the Latino vote.” November 3, 2020. The Washington Post.
  • Schneider, Gregory S., Laura Vozzella, Emily Guskin and Alauna Safarpour. “Post-Schar School poll: Majority of Virginia voters approve of Northam’s job performance.” October 23, 2020. The Washington Post.
  • Bernstein, Lenny, and Alauna Safarpour. “Mask shortage for most health-care workers extended into May, Post-Ipsos poll shows.” May 20, 2020. The Washington Post.
  • Timberg, Craig, Drew Harwell, and Alauna Safarpour. “Most Americans are not willing or able to use an app tracking coronavirus infections. That’s a problem for Big Tech’s plan to slow the pandemic.” April 29, 2020. The Washington Post.

Research Topics

  • American Politics
  • Methodology
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Email
Alauna_Safarpour [at] hks.harvard.edu