Department/College/UnitSocial Sciences Division

TitlePh.D. Student

AffiliationGraduate

Other UCSC Campus AffiliationTeaching & Learning Center (TLC)

Mail StopMerrill College

Biography, Education and Training

Luke Heslip is a Politics Ph.D. student at the University of California Santa Cruz interested in American political development, parties, and elections. He earned a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science at San Francisco State University, where he was the instructor of record for an American politics course for two years. Heslip teaches middle school social studies and speech and debate classes at SummrGATE San Francisco. Before academia, he worked in electoral politics and educational and environmental non-profits. 

Research Interests

- American political development (APD)

- Parties

- Elections 

- Political history 

- Polarization 

Teaching Interests

Graduate Teaching Assistant 

- POLI/LGST 120A: Congress, President, & the Courts in American Politics 

- POLI/LGST 120B: Society & Democracy in American Political Development 

Awards, Honors and Grants

- 2025 UCSC Teaching and Learning Center Graduate Pedagogy Fellow