Kesley Townsend is pursuing a PhD in Political Science specializing in American Politics. Her research interests lie at the intersection of race and ethnic politics, political behavior, and political psychology. Specifically, Kesley studies racial identity formation, attitudes toward racial and political outgroups, status and identity threats, and how political elites strategically produce and maintain identity-based concerns among the electorate. Her current projects include a descriptive analysis of the use of identity threat appeals by political candidates over time, as well as work focused on the sincerity of racially liberal attitudes among white Americans.
Prior to graduate school, Kesley graduated from Brigham Young University in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and minors in Political Strategy, Sociology, and History. After graduation, she worked at a D.C. consulting firm, on a U.S. Senate campaign, and as the Editorial Assistant for Political Behavior.