The Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell Mentor Award is presented annually by the APSA Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession to recognize the exemplary mentoring of Latino y Latina students and junior faculty each year. The award is named in honor of Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell, the first Latina to earn a PhD in political science. Dr. Emily Edmonds-Poli was awarded for exemplary mentoring of undergraduate students. Drs. Ñusta Carranza Ko and Valerie Martinez-Ebers were awarded for exemplary mentoring of graduate students. Dr. Cristina Beltrán was awarded for exemplary mentoring of junior faculty.
EMILY EDMONDS-POLI
Emily Edmonds-Poli is Professor of Political Science and International Relations, and Director of the Chapman Family Foundation International Program at the University of San Diego. She received her BA from Middlebury College, and her MA in Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She earned her PhD in political science at the University of California, San Diego, and has received fellowships from the Ford Foundation, Fulbright-Garcia Robles, and the Center for US-Mexican Studies at UCSD. She teaches classes on Mexican and Latin American politics, US-Latin American relations, and international relations.
Over the course of her 20-plus years at the University of San Diego, she has served as Director and Faculty advisor to the MA program in International Relations, Director and Faculty advisor for the Program in Latin American Studies, Department Chair, and Interim Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. She has received various teaching and mentorship awards, including, the McNair Faculty Mentor of the Year, the Mortar Board Faculty Recognition Award, Outstanding Preceptor of the Year Award, and the Davies Award for Teaching Excellence.
Multiple students stressed Dr. Edmonds-Poli’s warm, welcoming and approachable nature that helped them thrive in the classroom and beyond, in addition to the confidence she instilled in students at every turn. Kim Heinle, a graduate student at the University of San Diego, writes, “What I value so much about Emily is that she has a brilliant, objective mind yet she leads with her heart.”
Vivian Mateos Zuniga, a former undergraduate student at the University of San Diego, also shares gratitude for Dr. Edmonds-Poli’s kindness and supportiveness. “At every step, she has encouraged me to dream bigger, reminded me of what I am capable of achieving, and has never let me settle,” Vivian states. “Her unwavering confidence in my ability to succeed has been more motivating than I can possibly describe. Every time I’ve felt even slightly unsettled by hints of impostor syndrome, I’ve been able to turn to her for hopeful reminders that the feelings I experience are not unique to me and that I am undoubtedly capable of overcoming them.”
Edmonds-Poli’s research focuses on Mexican politics, and her book, Contemporary Mexican Politics (co-authored with David Shirk), provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of the Mexican political system. Her most recent work examines the determinants and use of extradition as a foreign policy tool in the Western Hemisphere. Her colleague, Dr. David Shirk, underscores the student testimonies, “She demonstrates extraordinary commitment to and compassion for her students through innovative pedagogies, devoted mentoring, program development, and abundant preparation and hard work… Dr. Edmonds-Poli is one of the reasons why our students love their academic experience at USD and, in this regard, she is an incredible asset to our Department and to the University.”
The APSA Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession once again thanks Dr. Edmonds-Poli for her tireless dedication to undergraduate students and offers its thanks for her commitment to bettering the political science discipline through mentoring.
ÑUSTA CARRANZA KO
Ñusta Carranza Ko is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Baltimore. She is the author of Truth, Justice, Reparations in Peru, Uruguay, and South Korea: The Clash of Advocacy and Politics (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), co-author of Theories of International Relations and the Game of Thrones (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2019), and has also published several articles and chapters in memory and genocide studies. Her research focuses on transitional justice in Latin America and Asia, and Indigenous peoples’ rights in Peru. She is of Indigenous (Quechua-speaking peoples from the Northern Andes of Peru) and Korean descent. Dr. Carranza Ko also recently organized a virtual conference related to Comfort Women which was held at the University of Baltimore in May 2022.
“She has consistently displayed both the enthusiasm and attention to detail of a humanitarian who is genuinely concerned with providing guidance, motivation, and emotional support, as well as being a positive role model for not only her Latino/Latina students, but for all students to achieve their fullest potential,” writes Jose Gomez, a graduate student at the University of Baltimore.
Another nominator stressed Dr. Carranza Ko’s role in supporting their doctoral dissertation, “Her methodological contribution to the development of my doctoral thesis was invaluable. Her contribution to the exploration of investigative techniques during research in public policy, including oral history, newspapers and social media sources, and research of official documents, was also invaluable. Her knowledge of the Brazilian history also contributed greatly to the development of my doctoral dissertation.”
Dr. Carranza Ko support and mentorship of graduate students has been greatly recognized; she received the University of Baltimore’s 2020-2021 Mentor of the Year Award, in addition to the 2020-2021 Campus Teaching Award Winner, which highlights campus teaching award winners who have been recognized by APSA for their achievements.
The APSA Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession once again thanks Dr. Carranza Ko for her tireless dedication to graduate students and offers its thanks for her commitment to bettering the political science discipline.
VALERIE MARTINEZ-EBERS
Valerie Martinez-Ebers is a University Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science and Director of the Latina/o and Mexican American Studies Program at the University of North Texas (UNT). She is a former Vice-President of the American Political Science Association and a former President of the Western Political Science Association. From 2012-2016, she served as Co-Editor of the American Political Science Review. Dr. Martinez-Ebers has published widely on a variety of topics associated with the politics of race and ethnicity, including articles in all the top journals in political science. She is co-author of Politicas: Latina Public Officials in Texas (2008); Latino Lives in America: Making it Home (2010), Latinos in the New Millennium: An Almanac of Opinion, Behavior and Policy Preferences (2012), Human Relations Commissions: Relieving Racial Tensions in the American City (2020) and The American Professor Pundit: Academics in the World of US Political Media (2021). She is editor of Perspectives on Race, Ethnicity and Religion: Identity Politics in America (2009), an anthology that examines the history, dynamics and policy issues of minority groups in the United States. She also was a co-principal investigator for the 2006 Latino National Survey, funded by the Ford, Carnegie, Russell Sage, Hewlett, Joyce, and National Science Foundations.
However, her self-professed proudest accomplishments are her mentees who now have (or are well on their way to having) their PhDs in political science: Drs. Christina Bejarano and Carmen Orozco-Acosta (former McNair mentees) and Dr. Michelle Ramirez, Dr. Antonio Molinar, Raul Guerrero and Cesar Villegas (former and current graduate students at UNT). Jesus Molinar, a graduate student at UNT, shares, “Dr. Martinez-Ebers guided my research interests to a path where I might satisfy academic curiosity but also that I might find success in academia as a professor to follow in her footsteps. It was she that taught me to think like a Latino scholar and that underlined the critical importance of being a part of the next wave of academics studying and teaching racial and ethnic politics.”
“Dr. Martinez has always made her graduate students feel welcomed at the University of North Texas, regardless of their backgrounds,” writes Jose Raul Guerrero, a PhD student at UNT. “…As a mentor, she has gone above and beyond for her graduate students. She has given numerous car rides, professional advice, and has even helped find housing for graduate students. She always has and makes time for her graduate students. Any concerns or fears I may have, be it personal or professional, Val has always been there for me with solutions and advice. With her as a mentor, I have no doubt about my own success…Dr. Martinez has been the teacher that I always wanted, and the one I hope to become. “
The APSA Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession once again thanks Dr. Martinez-Ebers for her tireless dedication to graduate students and offers its thanks for her commitment to bettering the political science discipline through mentoring.
CHRISTINA BELTRÁN
Cristina Beltrán is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the department of Social & Cultural Analysis at New York University. A political theorist by training, her research focuses on modern and contemporary political theory, Latinx and US ethnic/racial politics, feminist and queer theory. She is author of The Trouble with Unity: Latino Politics and the Creation of Identity (Oxford University Press, 2010), which received numerous awards, including the American Political Science Association’s Ralph Bunche Award and the Casa de la Américas prize for the best book on Latinos in the United States. Her most recent book, Cruelty as Citizenship: How Migrant Suffering Sustains White Democracy was published with the University of Minnesota Press in 2020 and was the 2021 winner of the American Political Science Association’s Latino Politics Best Book Prize awarded by the Latino Caucus of APSA.
Her work has appeared in the journals Political Theory, Aztlán, Politics & Gender, Polity, Contemporary Political Theory, Political Research Quarterly, and the Du Bois Review as well as various edited volumes. Along with Elisabeth Anker, she is co-editor of the journal Theory & Event, a peer-reviewed journal that publishes work at the intersections of political theory, cultural theory, political economy, aesthetics, philosophy, and the arts. She is currently finishing a book of essays analyzing the emerging politics of Latino conservatism.
“Her mentorship, like her writing, is rich, nuanced, patient, and abundant, and should be recognized as such by receiving the Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell Mentor Award,” writes Jasmine Noelle Yarish, a faculty member at the University of the District of Columbia. “Like Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell, Dr. Beltrán’s commitment to listening to and supporting the next generation is about deepening the democratic project of abolition—that is collective liberation.”
“Dr. Beltrán is always willing to take the time to mentor junior faculty. I have experienced this firsthand when she agreed to be a reader of my manuscript which won the MSI Book Workshop Award,” Dr. Yarish continues, “even though she was on a year-long sabbatical at the time of the workshop.” Dr. Beltrán’s service to the discipline and younger scholars is further evident in her continued participation in the APSA Mentoring Program and as an early contributor to the APSA Fund for Latino Scholarship.
The APSA Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession once again thanks Dr. Beltrán for her tireless dedication to junior faculty and offers its thanks for her commitment to bettering the political science discipline through mentoring.
