XANNI BROWN

PhD, Social Psychology

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I am a social and political psychologist interested in race and democracy in the U.S. Currently, I am a Mellon postdoctoral research associate in Race, Place, and Equity at the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Before that, I received my PhD in social psychology at Yale University as part of the Social Perception and Communication Lab. My work asks what kinds of changes Americans interpret as threatening the current racial hierarchy, and how group identities (especially race and partisanship) shape responses to prospective hierarchy shifts. Recently, I am particularly focused on backlash against democratic institutions. I also study how to confront bias effectively in a variety of contexts, including schools and workplaces.

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I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and my non-research interests include campaign finance reform, bicycle touring, trivia, climbing, and rugby. I recently served as head coach of Yale Women's Rugby and currently assistant coach for Virginia Women's Rugby.