Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My research focuses on the development of punitive institutions and how they serve as forms of radicalized state control.

My book project, The Making of a Punitive State, which won the Harvard Department of Government Robert Noxon Toppan prize for the best dissertation on a subject of political science, examines when and why the United States became punitive across a range of social services.

Some of my other research examines the history of school policing, the development and modern enforcement of the North Carolina criminal code, and the death penalty. You can read more about my research and writing here.

I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Government at Harvard University in May 2023, where I was a Malcolm Weiner Scholar in Poverty and Justice. During the 2022-23 academic year, I was a Dissertation Research Fellow at the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2022, I graduated from the University of Chicago Law School with a Master of Legal Studies. I am a proud alum of the Borough of Manhattan Community College and Durham Technical Community College. I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in political science and philosophy in 2016.

When I’m not working, I enjoy relaxing, making art, and spending time on my latest hobby.