Stephanie N. Shady

Dr. Stephanie N. Shady is a Lecturer of Political Science and Associate Director of Graduate Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. She holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and specializes in the intersection of religion, migration, and political identity formation in comparative contexts.

Her research examines how religious identities shape national belonging, political behaviors, and responses to humanitarian issues. Current projects investigate Christian nationalism in American politics, regional identity construction in European subnational entities, and the political discourse surrounding refugee resettlement. Methodologically, she employs survey experiments, comparative historical analysis, and mixed-methods approaches.

Dr. Shady mentors several graduate and undergraduate researchers, including Ariel Chavez (Salvadoran migrant identities) and thesis advisees exploring gender in democratic backsliding and migration policy. Her honors include the LEAPS Award (2024) and recognition for outstanding thesis research (2019).

Recent publications analyze the relationship between Christian nationalism and support for political violence (2024), regional identity formation through religion policy in Europe (2023), and humanitarian resistance to refugee resettlement (2022). Earlier work established frameworks for understanding religion-territory connections in national identity formation.