In recognition of outstanding academic and personal achievements, APSA is pleased to announce the APSA Minority Fellows for the 2015–2016 academic year. The Minority Fellows Program (MFP) was established in 1969 to increase the number of minority scholars in the discipline and has designated more than 500 fellows and contributed to the successful completion of doctoral political science programs for more than 150 individuals. APSA has refocused and increased its efforts to assist minority students in completing their doctorates by concentrating not only on the recruitment of minorities, but also on the retention of these groups in the profession. The MFP designates up to 12 minority fellows each year. Fellows with stipends receive a $4,000 fellowship that is disbursed in two $2,000 payments—one at the end of their first graduate year and one at the end of their second—provided that they remain in good academic standing. Awards are based on students’ undergraduate course work, GPA, extracurricular activities, GRE scores, and recommendations from faculty.
RENATA BARRETO-MONTENEGRO
Renata Barreto-Montenegro is a graduate of Reed College, class of 2013. She majored in international and comparative policy studies and political science. She wrote her thesis on the property rights of Peruvian squatters in major cities and rural areas. She attended the APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute in 2012 and presented her research, which focuses on race, ethnicity, immigrant incorporation, and transnational networks, at the Southern Political Science Association (SPSA) Annual Meeting. Renata is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and French.
AJENAI CLEMMONS
Ajenai Clemmons will pursue a PhD in political science to research the impact of minority political caucuses on bringing about beneficial public policies for marginalized populations in the US and Europe. Since 2010, Ajenai has served as policy director for the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, a Washington, DC based association. Ajenai leads a team that keeps lawmakers apprised of legislative trends and best practices. She also collaborates with the Hispanic, Native American, and Asian caucuses. Previously, Ajenai served five years as an ombudsman helping establish a civilian government agency within the City and County of Denver. The Office of the Independent Monitor oversees investigations of law enforcement misconduct. She also spent two years as a bilingual paralegal in a Hispanic workers’ compensation law firm. Ajenai earned her BA with honors in international relations, Latin American History, and Spanish from Drake University and her master of public policy from the University of Denver.
KIELA CRABTREE
Kiela Crabtree will graduate in May 2015 with her BA in politics from Sewanee: The University of the South with concentrations in development and political economy, identity and diversity, and political action. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sewanee’s Order of Gownsmen. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, her longstanding interest in political science developed academically around her volunteer work with a homeless advocacy organization and its interactions with local government and the Nashville community. Her current research focuses on the impact of voluntary organizations and social capital on political participation. Kiela intends to continue her study of political behavior and socioeconomic stratification in her graduate education, and upon completion, she hopes to pursue teaching and further research regarding the social and political consequences of economic disparities.
CHAYA CROWDER
Chaya Crowder is a MA student in political science and a John Kluge Scholar at Columbia University. She is the recipient of research funding from the Columbia Undergraduate Scholar’s Program, which provides undergraduates with resources to pursue independent research projects. Under the direction of professors Fredrick Harris in political science and Ted Shaw in the law school, Chaya’s research project explored the black students’ perception of affirmative action at Columbia University. The research paper, “The Legal Reinterpretation of Affirmative Action and the Redefinition of What It Means to Be Black in the Ivy League: A Study of Black Student Perceptions of Affirmative Action,” was published in University of Washington’s Undergraduate Law Review. Chaya was also awarded the Social Justice Fellowship with the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union and the Center for Popular Democracy. Chaya’s academic interests are fueled by a desire to explore causes surrounding the challenges facing contemporary black Americans and to better understand the multiple, unique ways that African Americans respond to those challenges.
DALE CROWELL
Dale Crowell is currently completing his MA in congressional and presidential studies at the Catholic University of America and seeks to gain a greater scholarly knowledge of the crossroads between citizen engagement and national political processes. Simultaneously, he serves as the congressional liaison for the Organization of American States (OAS) headquartered in Washington, DC. Prior to his work at the OAS, he managed press relations for the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, served as communications director for a member of Congress, and has experience managing multimillion dollar projects for various nonprofit organizations promoting social, political, and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Dale is a former McNair Scholar from the University of Maryland, College Park and as an undergraduate volunteered in Baltimore, Maryland, for President Clinton’s Americorps pilot project, the Summer of Service. He will pursue his doctoral studies in American politics at Catholic University.
ELIZABETH JORDAN DAVIES
Elizabeth Jordan Davies is a senior at Emory University. She is majoring in political science, with a minor in educational studies. Elizabeth’s research interests include black politics, social movements, and political participation. Currently, Elizabeth is completing a senior honors thesis in political science “Protest, Politics, and Hashtag Activism,” which considers how social media has become a political space for black youth. Elizabeth is a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow, which is a research program funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation dedicated to increasing minority presence in academia. Now in the second year of the fellowship, she will present the results of her senior project in the spring. Upon completion of her bachelor’s degree, Elizabeth plans to pursue graduate study in a political science PhD program and seek an academic position at a university political science department after obtaining her PhD. She is committed to diversity of representation and study in political science.
AERIK FRANCIS
Aerik Francis is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago with a BA with general honors, majoring in political science and minoring in comparative race and ethnic studies. He hopes to become a professor of political theory and critical race theory after attending graduate school for a PhD in political science. He was privileged to be one of the student commencement speakers during the graduation ceremony. In addition, he was a fellow at the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program for Conflict and Peace Science at the University of North Texas as well as a 2013 APSA Ralph Bunche Fellow. He is a social justice advocate, previously working as a facilitator for the Emerging Minds Project as well as an organizer in Chicago for racial justice with the Coalition for Equitable Policing.
LIWU GAN
Liwu Gan graduated from the University of Chicago with an MA in international relations in 2014. She received her BA in politics from Willamette University. Liwu’s research interests include international organizations, humanitarian intervention, and US foreign policy. In particular, her MA thesis explores how the US executive strategically uses international organizations to delay military action when it deems intervention too costly. As a PhD student, she looks forward to refining her research interests in hopes of eventually becoming a professor.
LUZMARINA GARCIA
Luzmarina Garcia was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. She graduated from the University of Texas, El Paso in 2011 with a BA. She was a double major in political science and communication studies. During her senior year, Luzmarina was selected as an American Forensics Association All-American for her career in forensics and academic standing. She was captain of the UTEP Forensics Team and named a UTEP 21st Century scholar. Luzmarina was awarded the Xerox Technical Minority Scholarship and completed STEM internships with the US Department of Defense and New York Life Insurance Company. She intends to focus her graduate study on questions pertinent to public policy, urban politics, and race and ethnicity. It is her ambition to become a faculty member at a university which she hopes will enable her to lead others in sustained critical analysis of issues and to guide students towards their goals.
DEREK J. LANGFORD
Derek J. Langford is currently serving as the director of public and private relations for Teach for Pakistan. He has recently been offered and accepted a place in the 2015–2016 class of PhD students at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. There, he will focus his studies and research in the politics and international studies department, where he will deepen his knowledge and understanding of political economy, the economics of peace building and cooperation, and conflict analysis, particularly as it pertains to the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa. Derek hopes, through academia, to inspire the next generation of policymakers and diplomats.
ASHLEE SMITH
AshLee Smith is currently a senior at Louisiana State University (LSU) majoring in anthropology with minors in African and African American studies and political science. Her research interests are in social policy, particularly the ways in which the American landscape is shaped by poverty and inequality. She is also interested in conducting research on the politics of social safety nets, race and ethnicity, child and family policy, welfare reform, and program evaluation. During her time at LSU, she has started two on-campus organizations, volunteered as a reading friend to local low-income elementary students, and presented a research paper at the 2014 National Council of Black Studies National Conference in Miami. In addition, she is a recipient of the 2014 Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship at University of California, Berkeley. AshLee credits the strong and supportive mentorship of many of her professors and her partner with her success.
ANDREW IFEDAPO THOMPSON
Andrew Ifedapo Thompson is a senior studying political science and philosophy at Marquette University where he is a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, a Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) participant, and honors student. He is the president of the Philosophy Club, the founder and co-president of the Marquette Undergraduate Humanities Conference, and has been selected for the Dean’s List in the College of Arts and Sciences for four consecutive semesters. On completing his undergraduate degree he plans to pursue a political science PhD focusing on international relations or political theory. His current research interests for graduate study focus on state sovereignty, recognition, territorial rights, and colonialism. Upon completion of his doctoral degree, he hopes to earn a tenure-track position at a Research I institution. The intersection of teaching, research, and scholarship in this position will give him the ability to engage with talented young minds and the academy at large.
BRIANNA WHITE
Brianna White is a senior at Wellesley College and is a double major in political science and American Studies. She is interested in political representation on college campuses and universities as a space for political freedom and engagement. Her interest in political science focuses on the political representation and expression of traditionally underrepresented groups. Her work has investigated affluent institutions and their influence on students’ political representation. Brianna is currently researching the impact of an institution’s location on students’ political behavior. She believes in the importance of remaining invested in teaching and research and has worked as a research assistant and as a teaching assistant in a classroom. Brianna is currently an Adam Smith Fellow, a Jackie Robinson Foundation scholar, and a former participant in the Leadership Alliance program at Princeton University.
BRYAN WILCOX-ARCHULETA
Bryan Wilcox-Archuleta is a graduate student in political science at the University of Washington, Seattle. Broadly defined, his research interests are in American politics, political behavior, and quantitative methods. More specifically, he is interested in the relationships between geographic context, group identity, and political participation among minority groups in the United States. His master’s thesis examines the impact of neighborhood and county racial and ethnic composition on politicized group identity among minority groups. In a doctoral program, he wants to develop a generalizable theory about the origins and evolution of politicized group identity for Latinos and Asian Americans. After completion of his doctorate, Bryan wants to teach at a research university. His research is supported by the University of Washington Graduate Opportunities and Minority Achievement Program (GO-MAP) and Washington Institute for the Study of Ethnicity, Race, and Sexuality (WISER). He obtained his BA in political science and communication from the University of New Mexico.
