Nikolas Dawson (he/they) is a second-year political science PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis, specializing in formal theory and American politics. His fields of study include political behavior, elites, and minority politics (broadly defined). He received his bachelor’s degree in quantitative economics with minors in political science and math from Weber State University. During this time, he completed several research projects focused on voter behavior and gender that won awards for Best Paper at ISA-West and the Utah Academy of Science Arts and Letters (UASAL). In graduate school and through the rest of his academic career, he hopes to bridge the gap between gender politics and formal theory by using formal models to answer questions about prejudice and behavior in the context of identity. He is especially interested in why political elites target minority groups through rhetoric or policy changes and the effect this can have on prejudicial attitudes and minority progress. After completing his PhD, he intends to pursue a career in academia, to teach and inspire gender and other minority scholars to pursue unconventional paths of research.
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 2026. Please join us in congratulating the 2026-2027 class of fellows.
- Learn more about DFP at https://apsanet.org/dfp
- Meet the 2026-2027 class of DFP Fellows
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