Fiorela Villegas (she/her) is a first-year political science PhD student at Duke University. Her fields of study include political behavior and identities, as well as race, ethnicity, and politics (REP). Her research interests encompass Latino political representation, political efficacy, political engagement, and racial tensions among Latino sub-groups. Fiorela is currently analyzing immigration perspectives among Mexicans and Puerto Ricans to better understand the dynamics between the two largest Latino subgroups in the United States. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science and medical anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2024. After completing her doctoral studies, she plans to pursue a career in academia and continue expanding scholarship on minority groups within the U.S. political system.
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 their first or second year as of Spring 2025. Please join us in congratulating the 2025-2026 class of fellows.
- Learn more about DFP at https://apsanet.org/dfp
- Meet the 2025-2026 class of DFP Fellows