Schutte, Rachel

Rachel Schutte began the Ph.D. program in the fall of 2008. Her research focuses on American political institutions, with a special emphasis on the judiciary. Her dissertation examines how the members of the U.S. Supreme Court interact to produce the content of the policy contained within the majority opinion. She is also particularly interested in the influence of concurrences on judicial decision making and agenda setting. She earned a B.A. (summa cum laude) in political science and English from Hope College in 2006. When she's not hard at work, Rachel can usually be found running through the woods with the world's greatest dog (a yellow lab named Jake), sharpening her culinary skills in the kitchen, racing down the slopes in Northern Michigan, or curled up somewhere with a good book.