معرفی
J. Celeste Lay is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Tulane University specializing in political behavior, socialization, and public opinion. Her research examines how children develop political attitudes, with particular focus on immigration and education policy impacts on voting behavior and party support. She founded Tulane's Summer Minor Program in U.S. Public Policy and previously served as Senior Associate Dean in Newcomb-Tulane College.
Her scholarship centers on gendered political socialization processes, demonstrating how early exposure to gender stereotypes shapes political ambition—especially among girls—and influences perceptions of leadership. Work on post-Katrina New Orleans explores disaster impacts on political trust, while rural America studies analyze immigration's effect on political development. She investigates the critical interplay between policy knowledge and voting behavior across diverse contexts.
Recent publications reveal consistent thematic threads: gender barriers in political ambition emerge as early as childhood; post-disaster governance (particularly in New Orleans) reshapes political efficacy; and education policy reforms create complex democratic trade-offs. Her innovative methods include children's drawings, comic-based civic education, and analysis of social studies materials to uncover how gendered narratives constrain political identity formation across generations.
