The APSA Diversity Fellows Program (DFP) is a fellowship competition for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds applying to or in the early stages of doctoral programs in political science. The DFP was established in 1969 (originally as the Black Graduate Fellowship) to increase the number of minority scholars in the discipline. Since its inception, the APSA DFP has designated more than 600 fellows and contributed to the successful completion of doctoral political science programs for over 100 individuals.
Geidy Mendez is a first-year political science PhD student at the University of California, Irvine. She is currently studying race and ethnicity politics with an emphasize on political socialization of U.S. born Latinx children and their undocumented parents. She is also interested in the creation of Latinx identity through political behavior and attitudes attached to social and emotional development. She is originally from East Orange, New Jersey and received her BA in political science and Latino and Caribbean Studies from Rutgers University. She is a proud member of the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute cohort of 2018. As a first-generation college student and daughter to Guatemalan immigrants, she aims to center Central American experiences in the Latinx diaspora throughout her work. After completing her PhD, she hopes to work with communities to make academia accessible for all.