APSA is pleased to announce the members of the 2020-2021 Class of the APSA-Sponsored Congressional Fellows!
The American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellowship Program is a highly selective, nonpartisan program devoted to expanding knowledge and awareness of Congress. Since 1953, it has brought select political scientists, journalists, federal employees, health specialists, and other professionals to Capitol Hill to experience Congress at work through fellowship placements on congressional staffs.
Political Scientists Fellows
Mona Vakilifathi, Ph.D., New York University
Mona Vakilifathi is an Assistant Professor of Public Service in the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. Her research and teaching interests include American political institutions, state politics, legislative delegation, K-12 education governance, and charter schools.
Cory Maks-Solomon, PhD, George Washington University
Cory Maks-Solomon studies questions of socioeconomic power in American politics, including the intersection of economic inequality and public policy, business and politics, and social welfare policy. He received a B.A. in government and politics from the University of Maryland, College Park and a Ph.D. in Political Science from George Washington University.
Mietek Boduszyński, PhD, Pomona College
Mietek Boduszyński is an Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he teaches courses on U.S. Foreign Policy, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
Savannah Eccles Johnston, PhD, Claremont Graduate University
Savannah Eccles Johnston received her Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University. Her research focuses on ideology and American political thought.
Jordan Kujala, Ph.D., University of California
Jordan Kujala received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Davis in 2017. Since that time, he has been the visiting assistant professor of political science at the University of California Center Sacramento.
Journalist Fellows
Ashley Lisenby, News Producer, NPR
Ashley Lisenby is a journalist with print and public radio experience. She has reported on breaking news, politics and socio-economic disparities in Illinois, Missouri and Florida. She began working as a news producer at D.C. NPR station WAMU 88.5 in 2019.
Svetlana Shkolnikova, The Record and northjersey.com
Svetlana Shkolnikova is a general assignment reporter for The Record newspaper in New Jersey and northjersey.com, where she covers courts, criminal justice and a wide range of local, state and national news.
MCI-Communications Fellow
Melinda Sebastian, PhD, Drexel University
Melinda Sebastian’s research focuses on emergent media technology, language, law, and policy from an intersectional feminist perspective. She received her PhD in Communication, Culture, & Media from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA and her BA in Anthropology from New York University.
