image: Wayde Marsh
Credit: University of Tennessee
Wayde Marsh, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has been named a 2026 Andrew Carnegie Fellow and will receive a $200,000 stipend to support his research on rhetoric, political psychology and the role of religious institutions supporting their communities in the wake of trauma.
The Andrew Carnegie Fellows program supports research in the social sciences and humanities that addresses issues in American society. A panel of jurors composed of academic and intellectual leaders from universities, research institutions and think tanks selects the fellows from more than 300 applications each year. The 2026 class marks the third for which the program has chosen scholars whose work contributes to a body of rigorous evidence-based research exploring the causes of, and possible solutions to, political polarization.
Marsh focuses his research on political behavior and decision-making, informed by insights from psychology, and points to experiences with marginalized communities as foundational to his Carnegie projects.
Research shaped by experience
“As part of my graduate work, I took a class on race and religion, and we attended a Black church in North Carolina just weeks before the shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston,” he said. “The church we attended continued to reach out to me and demonstrated the impact of faith communities choosing to be welcoming places. I also worked at a refugee resettlement agency and was inspired by how many of the people we worked with participated in improving their new communities, experiencing increased hope and seeking opportunities for connection. These responses ran counter to conventional expectations around trauma responses.”
Marsh will use his stipend over the next two years to write two books. The first focuses on the political consequences of political leaders’ rhetoric after tragedies like extreme weather events, mass shootings and arson attacks on churches. The second will explore the political history of attacks on places of worship from the 1950s to today, the responses of political leaders and how religious institutions can help decrease political polarization. Marsh will also build a database of these historical events that will be a resource to other scholars as well as journalists and religious leaders.
University support
“I am excited and honored to be a Carnegie Fellow,” Marsh said. “One of the most important parts is the community the fellows will have and the way we will learn from each other. I’m also grateful to the political science department and the College of Arts and Sciences for their support of me and my work.”
The 2026 nomination cycle drew a record 381 submissions. The class of fellows consists of 12 scholars from public universities in the U.S., 11 from private universities and one from a public university in Canada. Sixteen are tenured and eight are untenured; 13 are men and 11 are women.
“We are proud to support Marsh’s impactful community-building research and to see it recognized and elevated by the Carnegie Fellows program,” said Robert Hinde, executive dean and Herbert Family Dean’s Chair in the UT College of Arts and Sciences. “His experience and real-world approach exemplify the many ways our faculty work to make lives better in Tennessee and beyond.”