The APSA Diversity Fellowship Program, formerly the Minority Fellowship Program, was established in 1969 as a fellowship competition to diversify the political science profession. The DFP provides support to students applying to, or in the early stages of, a PhD program in political science. APSA has once again awarded a new cycle to provide support for students currently in the process of applying to political science PhD programs for Fall 2025. Please join us in congratulating the 2025-2026 class of fellows. Learn more about DFP at https://apsanet.org/dfp.

DAVID GREGORY

David Gregory is a graduate student in political science at California State University, Chico, where he is completing his MA with a focus on Indigenous representation and systemic inequities in political science. A member of the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, David’s research integrates Tribal Critical Race Theory to examine the political and legal harms of Indigenous erasure, aiming to diversify curricula and inform equitable public policies. He earned his BA in political science with highest distinction and is a recipient of the American Political Science Association Diversity Fellowship Program, reflecting his commitment to equity and inclusion within the discipline. David’s professional experience includes serving as a staffer in the California Assembly, where he observed the systemic gaps in policymaking impacting marginalized communities. His future goals include pursuing a PhD to advance research on the intersections of sovereignty, governance, and policy, while mentoring underrepresented students and fostering diversity in political science education and academia.

SYED HOSSAIN

Syed Hossain received his bachelor’s degree with a major in political science and minor in geography, as well as a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree, from the University of Montana. His research interests include finding political solutions to the socioeconomic impacts of colonization on present-day Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, as well as the chattel slavery of the Romani people. He hopes to enroll in a PhD program to research the effects of resource extraction and exploitative labor systems in both a historical and modern context, with the goal of applying the knowledge to better understand how to improve and develop relevant laws and policies. He believes addressing socioeconomic disparities and inequity requires a comprehensive perspective, and applying an interdisciplinary approach to research is important as a political scientist.

JOSIAH JACOBS

Josiah Jacobs, a San Francisco native, graduated magna cum laude from Howard University with a degree in political science and a minor in Africana studies. While at Howard, he worked as a research assistant under Dr. Elsie Scott, studying the representation of Black politicians at the state level. Currently, he is a second-year Predoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins University, assisting Dr. Vesla Weaver with archival research on Black police organizations during the Black Power Era and their influence on local politics at the height of their prominence. In his doctoral studies, he aims to focus on the decline of brick-and-mortar Black institutions and its impact on Black political engagement, particularly in the Bay Area context. Josiah seeks to explore the evolving dynamics of Black politics and their broader impact on Black communities in the 21st century. He plans to pursue a PhD in political science to teach and produce research that advances Black communities nationwide.

CLAUDETTE ALEXANDRA MEDINA

Claudette Alexandra Medina is a current MA student in political science at the University of Central Florida. Her research focuses on American politics regarding race, ethnicity, class, gender, and feminist theory. Currently, she is examining fascist feminism within the United States. Ms. Medina obtained her BA in political science at the University of Central Florida. She graduated in December 2023, completing an undergraduate thesis paper through the honors college examining generational attitudes towards socialism. Ms. Medina was provided a teaching assistantship and fellowship at the master’s level, where she fostered a learning environment in addition to being a full-time student. She recently wrote a paper in her quantitative analysis class regarding sex work and women’s rights from a Marxist-feminist lens. Now an APSA scholar, she seeks to enter a PhD program in which she can develop her research interests through quantitative praxis.

KYSHAN NICHOLS-SMITH

Kyshan Nichols-Smith is a graduating senior at Morehouse College majoring in political science. His research interests center on the political behavior of Black Americans, and how experiences with political institutions shape the political participation of marginalized communities. He explores these interests in his senior thesis which explores the limitations of existing measures of Black ideology and highlights the way conservatism changes the perceptions of racial group norms among Black Americans. Kyshan advanced his research abilities during his time as a 2024 Ralph Bunche Summer Institute Scholar, and through the Morehouse Community Data Fellowship, where he co-authored papers centering on racial disparities at the state level, including: “Data Discrepancies, Fatal Police Interactions, and State Politics in the United States” and “Examining Polling Location Closures After The Shelby County Decision.” Kyshan aspires to pursue a PhD in political science to expand the discipline’s understanding of the nuances of Black political behavior and to improve the measurement of complex political phenomena among underrepresented Americans.

BLAKE REANO

Blake Reano is a senior at the University of Central Arkansas and member of the Schedler Honors college majoring in political science and minoring in international studies. He is primarily interested in studying nationalism as an ideology, how it is operationalized in electoral politics and political thought, and how our society may best mitigate the dangers associated ideologies pose to minority groups. During his time at UCA, he has developed two undergraduate theses on topics relating to nationalism, secured a pedagogical assistantship, and received a travel grant to pursue intensive Japanese language training and field work abroad. Blake has had a lifelong passion for teaching and seeks to utilize his PhD studies and future career as a university professor to promote diversity in academia, passionate classroom environments, and impactful research that betters the lives of people across the globe. ■