Arts & Sciences Magazine

Andrew Carnegie Fellow Jacob Brown

By Molly Glass | Photo By Cydney Scott

America is famous for its so-called red states and blue states—territories in which most residents reliably vote Republican or Democrat, respectively. But does the political partisanship go deeper than that?

“When people live in more Democratic or Republican places, they become more likely to register the way their neighbors are registering,” says Jacob Brown, an assistant professor of political science. “And then you also see there’s an activating effect: if you’re a steadfast Democrat, and you live around more Democrats, you might participate a little bit more in politics than you would otherwise.”

In today’s highly polarized political environment, Brown’s research has piqued lots of interest—most recently, it’s earned him recognition among this year’s Andrew Carnegie Fellows, a prestigious award that supports scholarship and research in the social sciences and humanities that addresses important and enduring issues confronting our society. Fellows receive a stipend of $200,000 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, allowing them to devote significant time to research and writing.

In his current project, Brown is curious: Does political homogeneity perpetuate itself, with voters becoming more similar politically to the people they live around? Does living in politically homogeneous communities make voters more polarized in how they view politics?

When cities and suburbs are more polarized, it’s harder to get the regional cooperation required to invest in different public goods.

Jacob Brown

To find answers, Brown is starting at the beginning: childhood. He and other research collaborators are analyzing longitudinal data to determine if where someone grew up—and the prevailing politics of that area—affect their political viewpoint as an adult. The next research frontier for Brown is to investigate if this partisan entrenchment creates greater hostility toward the other side. Does someone who grew up in a deep red neighborhood feel more animosity toward Democrats than someone who came from a purple community?

Brown’s work—understanding the roots of political partisan segregation and its consequences—is essential. “There’s a good amount of research in political science that many different areas of politics become more imbalanced when we have a geographically segregated electorate,” he says. “It makes it harder to draw districts in a way that ensures fair representation. It reduces electoral competition and can contribute to polarization in Congress. When cities and suburbs are more polarized, it’s harder to get the regional cooperation required to invest in different public goods, like transit or other kinds of infrastructure.”

Amid all the negative outcomes, Brown sees a ray of hope: “As much conflict as you see in politics now, I’m generally much more interested in the potential for cross-partisan exposure. There seem to be benefits from more mixed places and more shared geographic interests, and that’s something I see as positive, for sure.”

More Honors

Four members of the Arts & Sciences faculty received Guggenheim Fellowships, which support exceptional mid-career individuals with a financial stipend to help fund their work.

	Louis Chude-Sokei a professor of English, says the award will help him take greater creative risks— something particularly important in a time when “intellectual and creative freedom are becoming delimited by political control and cultural fear.” He’ll use the funding to complete a book and grow a sonic art and archiving project.
	Merav Opher a professor of astronomy, will expand her study of the heliosphere, a plasma shield that protects our solar system. Opher is particularly interested in researching a giant space cloud her team recently discovered, which she thinks may have messed with the heliosphere and Earth’s climate millions of years ago.
	Anders W. Sandvik a professor of physics, tackles complex science—such as how tiny particles like electrons interact in systems like magnetic solids or emerging quantum computing devices—and plans to use the award for a sabbatical. “It’s extremely useful to be able to have an extended time period to focus on research,” he says.
	Bruce J. Schulman the William E. Huntington Professor of History and director of BU’s American Political History Institute, will use his award to contribute to the multivolume Oxford History of the United States, an ongoing effort to document the nation’s past; Schulman will write a volume covering the period between 1896 and 1929.

Zeba Wunderlich, an associate professor of biology, received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. She studies how gene activation is encoded in DNA and what that means for cell development and immune response. She hopes her research will lead to new insights into the origins of genetic diseases.

Initiative on Cities Faculty Director Loretta Lees received the 2025 Contribution to the Field of Urban Affairs Award from the Urban Affairs Association, for a “body of work [that] has contributed to defining the field and furthering the intellectual and professional development of emerging scholars.” Lees also received the E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Award from the American Association of Geographers, for outstanding contributions to the field through teaching or research.

The W.M. Keck Foundation provided $1 million to researchers studying why city trees grow faster than their rural counterparts. Jennifer Bhatnagar, an associate professor of biology, is leading the project and is joined by Jeffrey Geddes, an associate professor of Earth and environment, and Pamela Templer, a distinguished professor and chair of biology. They hope to use a better understanding of how urban trees adapt to sometimes harsh conditions to support preservation initiatives.

In support of her quest to understand brain cells, Lynne Chantranupong has been named a Sloan Research Fellow. The assistant professor of biology is among 126 scientists from the United States and Canada who received the $75,000 award. Chantranupong is trying to answer fundamental questions about how brain cells remain healthy and what happens when things go wrong.

Three assistant professors of computer science, Vasiliki Kalavri, Nathan Klein, and Sabrina Neuman, received National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program awards. Kalavri is working on a new system named “HoloStream,” which analyzes continuous data transfers on different computing platforms; Neuman wants to increase the capabilities of autonomous robotic systems; and Klein is developing new tools to solve difficult graphing tasks.

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