Jessica Gerrity
Assistant Professor of Political Science
E-mail: jgerrity2@washcoll.edu
Phone: (800) 422-1782 ext. 5771
Office: Goldstein 204
Education
B.A., University of Rochester, 1997; M.A. George Mason University, 1999; Ph.D., Indiana University, 2006.
Biography
Professor Gerrity joined the Washington College Department of Political Science in the fall of 2007. She received her Ph.D. from Indiana University in December 2006, her M.A. from George Mason in 1999, and her B.A. (cum laude) from the University of Rochester in 1997. Professor Gerrity grew up in western New York, and spent several years before and after her doctoral training in the Washington, D.C. area. She worked as a research assistant at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. (1999-2001), and most recently (2006-2007) as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the office of Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) as a legislative aide specializing in health care policy.
Professor Gerrity teaches several courses in American politics and public policy, including: The Legislative Process, Interest Groups and Political Parties, The Presidency, Elections, Introduction to American Government, Introduction to Political Science, The Public Policy Process, Social Welfare Policy, and Public Opinion.
Professor Gerrity's research interests include interest groups, Congress, public opinion, political parties, and women and politics. She focuses on interest groups' efforts to influence the public policy process, public opinion on Congress, and the factors that motivate congressional behavior. Her doctoral dissertation examined interest groups' use of framing as a political strategy. The work was supported by several grants and fellowships, including a grant from the Dirksen Congressional Center and a Dissertation Writing Fellowship from Indiana University's College of Arts and Sciences.
Along with co-authors Tracy Osborn and Jeanette Morehouse Mendez, Professor Gerrity recently published an article in Politics & Gender titled, "Women and Representation: A Different View of the District?" She is also working on a book with Edward G. Carmines and Michael W. Wagner, titled, Congress and the Public Mind, currently under contract with Cambridge University Press. The book draws on surveys conducted by the Indiana University Center on Congress to examine and better understand the public's opinions about Congress. She is also working on articles on interest group framing and influence.