Simmons College

Catherine Paden (PhD, Northwestern University) is Associate Professor
and Chair of Political Science at Simmons College. Her research and
teaching interests focus on racial politics, social movements, interest
groups, and how underrepresented groups gain political representation.
She is the author of Civil Rights Advocacy on Behalf of the Poor (2011),
which assesses whether, and how, low-income African Americans gain
representation in anti-poverty legislative battles. Her current
research examines the impact of local civil rights and economic justice
organizing on national policy and interest group priorities. She has
published her research in the DuBois Review and has contributed
research on the Nation of Islam to a volume on religion and American
politics (University of Virginia, 2012). At Simmons, Paden serves as
the Faculty Assistant to the Dean on Diversity Initiatives, on the
Dean's Diversity Task Force, and on the President's Diversity and
Inclusion Advisory Council (PDIAC).