Posner Fellowship: A road to research

- Part of a special feature on the Posner Fellowship Program, which offers students a chance to learn research skills with the help of a faculty mentor. 

When Kevin Russell ’17, came to Northwestern from the tiny town of Lima, Ohio, the political science major didn’t know a single person in Evanston. But by the time he applied to the Posner Fellowship Program during his sophomore year, Russell had already made lasting Northwestern connections.

Russell had taken courses with political science professor Alvin Tillery in his freshman year at Northwestern, and he was excited to learn that his personal interests aligned with Tillery’s research on American political development, racial and ethnic politics, and media and politics.  Just as Russell was polishing his Posner application, Tillery learned about the program and jumped at the opportunity to contribute.

"Posner opened my eyes to the field of research."

“I became an academic in part because I was nudged to enter a program similar to Posner in 1992,” Tillery says. “Any way that I can give back to Posner and programs like it – which I see as having had a direct impact on my career – is something I want to do.”

In the summer of 2015, Russell conducted research as part of Tillery’s three-year effort to rank perceptions of U.S. presidents in the mainstream press and historically black-owned media. It was Russell’s first foray into research, and it left a lasting impression.

“Posner opened my eyes to the field of research — what it means, what it looks like,” Russell says. “And now, research is something I’m considering as I go through senior year and start applying for jobs.”

The Posner partnership was also beneficial for Tillery.

“Kevin was really good at helping me think about where people get their media today,” Tillery says. “Kids his age just don’t read The New York Times or the Chicago Tribune the way they read other things, and knowing that helped guide our content analysis.”