Sergio Wals

Sergio Wals’ encompassing research agenda, while centered on American political behavior, allows him to speak in cross-national terms and enables him to engage in interdisciplinary efforts. He focuses on topics related to race and ethnicity both in the United States and in Latin America. He has paid particular attention to the study of political attitudes and behaviors of Latino immigrants to the United States.

Research Areas

• Political Behavior
• Race and Ethnicity
• Public Opinion
• Political Psychology

Current Research

His current projects aim to better understand the processes by which immigrants import their political suitcases. In other words, his work attempts to explain how immigrants' pre-migration political predispositions and experiences affect these individuals’ political assimilation, attitudes and behaviors once in the United States. 

Research Grants and Awards

• Political Communication division's Paul Lazarsfeld Award for best paper presented at the 2008 APSA meeting for “Manhood Uplifted to Wonderful Heights: Newspaper Framing of Combat and Casualties from World War One to Gulf War Two.” With Scott Althaus, Nathaniel Swigger, Svitlana Chernykh, David Hendry, and Christopher Tiwald.
• University of Illinois, Survey Research Laboratory, Robert Ferber Dissertation Award – 2008
• University of Nebraska Foundation for Research on the U.S. Congress Grant for the project entitled “When the Ambition Ladder and Ideology Collide: Legislators’ Preferences about Reelection in a New Democracy.” – 2011
• Academy of National Hispanic Scholars Faculty Impact Award, University of Nebraska-Lincoln – 2011

Publications

• “Does What Happens In Los Mochis Stay In Los Mochis? Explaining Post-Migration Political Behavior.” Political Research Quarterly (forthcoming)
• “Assumed Transmission in Political Science: A Call for Bringing Description Back In.” (with Scott Althaus, Nathaniel Swigger, Svitlana Chernykh, David Hendry, and Christopher Tiwald) The Journal of Politics (forthcoming)

Career Highlights

• Joined UNL faculty, 2009
• Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009