A grant will fund Kirk's study of the South Carolina governorship
Jason Kirk, an associate professor of political science, has received The American Governor grant from the Eagleton Institute of Rutgers. The $5,000 grant will support his research plans for his book, South by South Asian: Bobby Jindal, Nikki Haley, and the Remarkable Rise of Two Indian Governors in Dixie, which he plans to complete in the fall of next year.
The book will trace the rise of Louisiana Gov. Jindal and South Carolina Gov. Haley and explore the extent to which public perceptions of race have either constrained or empowered their politics.
“At a time when America’s mass-media-driven politics reduces complex individuals to two-dimensional caricatures, Jindal and Haley represent something far more interesting,” he writes in his grant proposal. “And their achievements – as well as the limits they have faced – offer insights into a changing American South in a global age.”
Kirk plans to use the grant to fund research trips to both states to administer a survey on political attitudes and preferences among Indian Americans. He plans to present parts of his research this September at the Sixth Global Studies Conference in New Delhi, India.
Kirk holds a doctorate in Comparative Politics and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania. He previously worked in the Department of International Studies and Political Science at The Virginia Military Institute.
By Caitlin O’Donnell ’13