Synia Taitt is a is a first-year PhD student at Cornell University in the Government Department. Her subfield lies in American politics studying the political perspectives of Black individuals through linked fate towards American institutions as it relates to race and ethnicity politics. Currently, Synia is a fellow in the Racial Justice and Equitable Futures Center at Cornell led by her mentor Dr. Jamila Michner. Synia holds a BA in political science from Howard University and is a proud alumnus of the APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (2023-2024) and the Mark Q. Sawyer Summer Institute as a part of the UCLA x HBCU Initiative (2023-2024). In progression toward her PhD, Synia is working on mixed methods research to analyze Black group cohesion towards institutions, to assess nuance in negative/positive emotions, and how they inform political participation through various faucets. She hopes to inspire future generations of Black scholars in Academia post-PhD.
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