Udi Sommer joined the faculty of the Political Science Department of the University at Albany: SUNY in Fall 2007 (PhD, Stony Brook University, 2007; MA Tel Aviv University, 2002; BA The Hebrew University, 1999).
Sommer’s broad research interests are in judicial politics, American politics and political methodology. He specializes in the analysis of political institutions. His research focuses on the analysis of judicial behavior in US and foreign courts within a Neo-Institutional framework. He is currently working on a series of articles that explore the decision on Certiorari on the US Supreme Court. His recently completed dissertation, titled A Supreme Discretion and a Passivity Conundrum: Strategic Agenda Setting in the US Supreme Court, examines whether American Justices consider the doctrinal ramifications of the opinion when selecting cases for review. Further, the dissertation deals with the consequences of its gate-keeping prerogative for the Court’s position within American Government.
He is a recipient of several grants and fellowships including the Fulbright Doctoral Fellowship and the National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant. His work has been presented in the annual meetings of the American, the Midwest, the Southern and the Western Political Science Associations.
Sommer has taught at the graduate and undergraduate levels in both the University at Albany and Stony Brook. Classes include Math for Political Scientists, Survey Class in Judicial Politics (PhD), Intermediate Statistics for Public Policy (MA), Comparative Politics, American Supreme Court, Constitutional Law and Politics: USA, and Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (BA).
