Kalin (McKenzie) Bennett is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. Her research revolves around the relationship between political culture and leadership candidate quality preferences of eligible voters, cultural attitudes and voting behavior, and public policy and political behavior. She is also a recipient of the 2021 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Bennett received summa cum laude honors upon completing her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a minor in Psychology. While attending Winthrop, she participated in the 2020 Winthrop University Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, where she was mentored by the Director of the Honors Program and completed research centered around the relationship between The Big Five Trait Theory and political culture. Bennett intends to further advance her research at Notre Dame by considering the cultural attitudes that affect the voting patterns of marginalized groups.
Fields of Study: American Politics, Comparative Politics
Areas of interest: African American politics, political psychology, public opinion, political behavior, voting behavior
Originally published at rooneycenter.nd.edu.