Mara Ostfeld joins the Ford School of Public Policy as faculty by courtesy, adding to her faculty roles at the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research and at LSA Political Science. It is a return to the Ford School for Ostfeld, who was a postdoctoral fellow at Weill Hall in 2016.
Her research focuses on the relationship between race, media, and political attitudes. She is currently working on projects exploring media coverage of protest activity, how exposure to Spanish-language political media affects patterns of Latino political identification, and the effect of different media frames on attitudes toward immigration policy. She is also completing a book that explores the many ways in which skin color - within and across racial categories - can shape, and even be shaped by, one's political views.
“The urgent and expanded discussion about racial justice in this country, and its implication for the 2020 elections, make Mara’s presence at the Ford School all the more relevant,” said Ford School Dean Michael S. Barr. “Our whole community will benefit from her multidisciplinary insights on race and politics.”
Osfeld said, "I am thrilled to be returning to the Ford School of Public Policy. It is an endlessly inspiring and thought-provoking environment , and I look forward to engaging with the challenges facing our world today alongside the Ford School's rich, interdisciplinary community of faculty, staff and students."
Mara Cecilia Ostfeld’s 2018 paper, “The New White Flight?: The Effects of Political Appeals to Latinos on White Democrats,“ won the best paper award in Political Behavior. Her work has been published in journals that include Political Psychology and Political Communication and currently has a book project underway looking at the political, environmental and psychological factors that shape how we identify our skin color. As the 2020 elections unfold, look for her commentary as an analyst on NBC and Telemundo.
