Jennifer M.

Simons

Contact École Normale Supérieure +33 6 76 68 65 77

Information 45 Rue d’Ulm jmsimons@virginia.edu
75005 Paris, FRANCE

Research Comparative Political Behavior, Radical Right Parties, Political Communication, Nationalism,
Interests Populism, Racial & Ethnic Politics, Religion & Politics, Gender Politics, Human Rights,
European Union, Intersectional Theory, Political Methodology

Education University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Ph.D., Politics, Expected: May 2020
• Fields: Comparative Politics (Major), Political Methodology (Minor)
• Dissertation: Strategic Tolerance: Discursive Shifts and the Construction of
Legitimacy on the European Radical Right
Committee: Carol Mershon (co-chair), Denise Walsh (co-chair), Lynn Sanders
L’École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
Research Residency for Doctoral Studies (Pensionnaire Étrangere), Academic Year
2018-2019
London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom
M.Sc., International Relations, December 2014
• Concentrations: International Politics of Culture and Religion, International
Relations of the Middle East
• Thesis: The English School: International Relations’ Best Approach to Understanding
and Explaining the Theory and Practice of Universal Human Rights
• Advisors: Peter Trubowitz and James Strong
L’institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), Paris, France
Master, International Public Management, December 2014
• Concentration: Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention
• Coursework focus on International Public and Human Rights Law, International
Criminal Justice, Comparative Public Policy, and European Union Politics
• Advisor: Richard Balme

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

B.A., Communication, January 2011
• Minor: Italian Language and Literature
• Advisors: Jeremy Bailenson (Major) and Carolyn Springer (Minor)

Research Graduate Research Assistant Jan 2015 to present

Experience Department of Politics, University of Virginia
Supervisor: Carol Mershon
Research Intern Sept 2013 to Oct 2013
Britain-Israel Communication and Research Centre,
London, United Kingdom
Supervisor: Toby Greene
Undergraduate Research Assistant Jan 2010 to Dec 2010
Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL),
Department of Communication, Stanford University
Supervisors: Jeremy Bailenson and Kathryn Segovia

1 of 4
Grants & University of Virginia: Power, Violence, and Inequality Collective 2017-2018
Fellowships • Graduate Research Fellow ($2,000)
University of Virginia: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Summer Research
Fellowship 2017
• For Dissertation Fieldwork in France ($5,000)
Quandt International Research Fund 2017
• For Dissertation Fieldwork in France ($3,000)
Dumas Malone Graduate Research Fellowship 2017
• For Dissertation Fieldwork in Germany ($12,500)
Southern Political Science Foundation 2017
• Prestage-Cook Travel Grant ($500)
University of Tampere, Finland 2016
• Travel grant for Institutions in Context workshop attendance (e1,200)

Honors & University of Virginia

Awards • Power, Violence, and Inequality Collective, Graduate Research Fellow 2017-2018
Stanford University
• Order of Omega Honor Society 2010

Conference European Consortium for Political Research: Joint Sessions

Papers University of Nicosia, Cyprus April 2018
Workshop: The Politics of Values: Actors, Institutions, and Dynamics in the 21st
Century
Strategic Tolerance from the Radical Right
London School of Economics
Conference: Populism: Left, Right, and Centre November 2017
Unemployment, Foreign Migration, and the Radical Right: Difference in Differences
Estimations of Four German Elections
Midwest Political Science Association
Chicago, IL April 2017
A Radical Right Party Family? Cluster Analyses of European Party Manifestos
Southern Political Science Association
New Orleans, LA January 2017
A Radical Right Party Family? Cluster Analyses of European Party Manifestos
University of Tampere, Finland
Institutions in Context: The Role of Money in Politics June 2016
Radical-Right Backlash in Europe: Church-State Relations, Individual Religiosity,
and Party Success
University of Virginia
Department of Politics Graduate Student Conference Apr 2016
Radical-Right Backlash in Europe: Church-State Relations, Individual Religiosity,
and Party Success

Teaching Teaching Assistant Spring 2017, Spring 2018

Experience PLCP 3110 - Politics in Western Europe
Instructor: Gerard Alexander
Department of Politics, University of Virginia
Teaching Assistant Fall 2016
PLIR 3400 - Foreign Policy of the United States
Instructor: John M. Owen, IV
Department of Politics, University of Virginia
Teaching Assistant Spring 2016

2 of 4
 PLIR 3310 - Ethics and Human Rights in World Politics
Instructor: Michael J. Smith
Department of Politics, University of Virginia
Teaching Assistant Fall 2015
PLCP 1010 - Introduction to Comparative Politics
Instructor: David Waldner
Department of Politics, University of Virginia

Service Politics Graduate Council- Comparative Politics Representative Jan 2016 to Dec 2016
University of Virginia
• Organize and run annual department graduate student conference
• Coordinate summer brown bag research forum
• Implement new means of passing on institutional knowledge regarding comprehensive
exams, fellowships, grants to other students
Millennium: Journal of International Studies Oct 2013 to June 2014
Member, Editorial Board

Order of Omega Honor Society- Vice President Mar 2010 to Dec 2010
Stanford University

Membership European Consortium for Political Research, Midwest Political Science Association,
Southern Political Science Association, Women’s Caucus for Political Science (American
Political Science Association)

Methods Zurich Summer School for Women in Political Methodology Aug 2017
Writing Functions in R, Web Scraping, Natural Language Processing, Text Analysis,
Simulations in R, Advanced Graphics in R
Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) June 2017
Computed-Assisted Text Analysis, Designing and Conducting Fieldwork, Within-
Case and Small-N Qualitative Analysis
Generalized Linear Models
Linear Regression, Maximum Likelihood Estimations, Survival Models
Advanced Measurement Methods
Principal Component Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor
Analysis, Structural Equation Models, Correspondence Analysis, Multidimensional
Scaling, Cluster Analysis, Latent Class Analysis, Finite Mixture Models, Item Response
Theory
Causal Inference Strategies
Covariate Conditioning (Matching), Regression Discontinuity, Difference in Difference

Field Work Germany (Berlin) September-October 2017

Interviews with elected officials, party functionaries, activists and voters from the
Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) directly before and after the 2017 Bundestag
elections
France (Marseille, Provence, and Paris) November-December 2017
August 2018-present
Interviews with elected officials, party functionaries, activists and voters from the
Rassemblement National (RN, formerly the Front National (FN))

Languages English- Native Speaker

Spoken Italian- Professional proficiency
French- High-intermediate proficiency

3 of 4
 Spanish- Intermediate proficiency
German- Beginner
Arabic- Beginner

References Carol Mershon

Department of Politics, Phone: 434-924-7875
University of Virginia E-mail: mershon@virginia.edu

Denise Walsh
Departments of Politics and Women, Gender, & Sexuality, Phone: 434-982-2131
University of Virginia E-mail: denise@virginia.edu

4 of 4