Bridgett A. King, ѿappUniversity, Ph.D. 2012
After completing my Ph.D. in the Political Science Department at ѿappUniversity, I accepted a position at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU school of Law as a Voting Rights Researcher. There, I worked on projects that allowed me to continue conducting research on political participation and voter enfranchisement. One of the projects I worked on, “Election Day Long Lines: Resource Allocation,” was published after I left, and received extensive press from several large media outlets including The Washington Post and Mother Jones.
In the Fall of 2014, I began my current position as an assistant professor at Auburn University. Auburn University, located in Auburn, Alabama, was established in 1856 as the first land grant institution in the state of Alabama. Auburn enrolls over 27,000 students who earn undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees across the University’s 13 schools and colleges.
As a member of the political science faculty I teach undergraduate courses in American Government, I am a core member of the Master of Public Administration faculty, and I work with the Election Center as an instructor for the Election Center Certification in Election/Registration Administration (CERA) program.
As a faculty member at a “high research activity” university (according to the Carnegie ranking system), research is a priority. I am very excited about my forthcoming book, “Why don’t Americans vote? Causes and Consequences,” which will be published next summer. Among other projects related to provisional ballots, election website content, and government trust, I am also currently working on a manuscript with Emily Beaulieu at the University of Kentucky that investigates the neighborhood effects of felony disenfranchisement on political engagement and participation.
As a doctoral student, the political science doctoral program at ѿappUniversity not only provided me with solid research methodology and public policy foundations, but also prepared me to think and work independently. While matriculating through the PhD program, I always found the faculty to have a deep commitment to graduate student success, not only in the classroom, but also within the discipline and profession. For me, this resulted in co-authored publications, conference presentations, and networking opportunities. These opportunities coupled with the quality graduate education that I received from the faculty in the political science department are what have prepared me for this amazing career.