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I am Dr. Taneisha N. Means, a professor at Vassar College in the Department of Political Science<\/a> as well as in the multidisciplinary Africana Studies program<\/a>.\u00a0Additionally, I am the principal investigator on a research grant<\/a> from the NSF\u2019s Law and Social Sciences program. In 2019-2020, I will be a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (Host Mentor\/Department: Dr. Isaac Unah\/Department of Political Science<\/a>). <\/span><\/p>\n As a political scientist, my research and teaching interests include race and ethnic politics, judicial politics, political representation, and political behavior and identities. I am particularly interested in the political representation of marginalized groups in politics, especially U.S. courts. <\/span><\/p>\n My primary research focus right now is my book project, <\/span>Representation and Justice in State Courts<\/b>. In the book, I combine both qualitative and quantitative data to explore and illuminate the political identities and behaviors of 21st-century black state court judges. I have published research in several edited volumes, and in the following scholarly journals:\u00a0<\/span>Politics & Gender<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Politics, Groups, and Identities<\/span><\/i>, and <\/span>PS: Political Science & Politics<\/span><\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n Prior to joining the Vassar faculty, I spent two years at the University of Virginia in the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies<\/a>. I earned a B.A. degree from John Carroll University in Political Science<\/a> and Africana Studies with a minor in Philosophy and a concentration in Sex and Gender Studies. In 2012, I earned an M.A. degree from Duke University in Political Science<\/a>, and in 2016, I earned a Ph.D. degree from Duke University in Political Science<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n In Spring 2019 I was interviewed by Cecilia Hoang about my research and about some of the things that I am doing at Vassar. The interview was published in the Engaged Pluralism Newsletter (March 2019), available\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n I am a first-generation college graduate from a Black working-class family and I call Canton, Ohio home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I am Dr. Taneisha N. Means, a professor at Vassar College in the Department of Political Science as well as in the multidisciplinary Africana Studies program.\u00a0Additionally, I am the principal investigator on a research grant from the NSF\u2019s Law and Social Sciences program. In 2019-2020, I will be a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at The … <\/p>\n