Evelyn M. Simien

Africana Studies Institute Director and Professor of Political Science

African American Politics, Public Opinion, Political Behavior

Ph.D. Purdue University

Dr. Evelyn M. Simien is a native of Lake Charles, Louisiana. She jumpstarted her career at the University of Connecticut as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science with a joint appointment in Africana Studies. Dr. Simien climbed the academic ranks from Assistant and Associate to Full Professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She is the only African American woman at the rank of full professor in the College (and has been for nearly a decade now). She received her B.A. in political science from Xavier University of Louisiana (an HBCU), along with her master’s degree and Ph.D. from Purdue University in political science. She has actively served the Political Science Department, assuming critical leadership roles—for example, she has served as co-chair of promotion, tenure, and reappointment (PTR) and as chair of the merit advisory committee, while also directing a graduate certificate program that laid the foundation for a related master’s degree program in intersectional indigeneity, race, and ethnic politics (IIREP). Dr. Simien has also held several important leadership positions outside of political science, from Associate Director of the Humanities Institute to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Fellow assigned to the African American Cultural Center, and she is the current Director of the Africana Studies Institute.
Dr. Simien is the author or editor of over fifty publications including monographs, anthologies, journal symposia, book chapters, refereed journal articles, review essays, policy reports, and public facing scholarship. To date, she has received three best paper awards for her original research in political science, which paved the way for the study of Black women in politics. Her scholarship is interdisciplinary and is cited by other academics and knowledge experts in the fields of psychology, history, sociology, philosophy, social work, education, and medicine. A nationally recognized teacher and mentor, she was awarded the 2006 Anna Julia Cooper Teacher of the Year Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists, the 2007 Teaching Promise Award from the UConn Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the 2017 Faculty Member of the Year Award from the UConn Undergraduate Chapter of the NAACP, and the 2024 Distinguished Purdue Alumni Scholar Award, for having made a significant scholarly contribution within her chosen field and in doing so having contributed extensively to the advancement of women in academia. She teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses, such as American Race, Gender, and Ethnic Politics, Black Feminist Theory and Politics, African American Politics, Black Feminist Politics, Black Leadership and Civil Rights.

Books

Select Publications in Refereed Journals 

  • Simien, Evelyn M., Thomas J. Hayes, and Carolyn Conway. 2024. “The Democratic Majority and the 2016 American Presidential Election: Feminist Political Behavior Across Multiple Axes of Identity.” Political Research Quarterly 77(10): 371-385.
  • Simien, Evelyn M., and Sophia Jordán Wallace. 2023. “The Impacts of Exclusion and Disproportionate Service on Women Academics and Faculty of Color in Political Science.” PS: Political Science & Politics, 56(2): 291-294.  
  • Simien, Evelyn M., and Sophia Jordán Wallace. 2022. “Disproportionate Service: Considering the Impacts of George Floyd’s Death and the Coronavirus Pandemic for Women Academics and Faculty of Color.” PS: Political Science & Politics, 55(4): 799-803.  
  • Simien, Evelyn M. 2022. “The 2018 Congressional Midterms, Symbolic Empowerment, and Ayanna Pressley’s Mobilizing Effect: A Case Study for Future Analysis of Historic Firsts.” Journal of Women, Politics, and Public Policy 43(3): 279-296.  
  • Simien, Evelyn M., and Sarah Cote Hampson. 2020. “Black Votes Count, But Do They Matter? Symbolic Empowerment and the Jackson-Obama Mobilizing Effect on Gender and Age Cohorts,” American Politics Research, 48(6): 725-737.

Book Chapter

  • (2025). “On Becoming a Black Woman Political Scientist: Rising to the Rank of Full Professor at a Major R1 Institution.” in Disrupting Political Science: Black Women Reimagining the Field, edited by Angela K. Lewis. Albany, NY: State University of New York (SUNY) Press. 

Public Facing Scholarship

  • Simien, Evelyn M. 2020. “COVID-19, and the Strong Black Woman,” Gender Policy Report, June 9.
    Contact Information
    Emailevelyn.simien@uconn.edu
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