Salih Noor is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University. His research interests lie in comparative democratization, colonialism and postcolonial development, and qualitative methods, with a substantive focus on Africa. In his dissertation project — The Legacies of Liberation: Critical Junctures, Reform Approaches, and Path-Dependent Political Change in Southern Africa – he examines the historical causes of contrasting contemporary political legacies of violent, mass-mobilizing, and ideologically-driven liberation struggles, during the second half of the twentieth century, against racially oppressive and exclusionary settler-colonial regimes in Southern Africa. Salih has received several research grants and fellowships including the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship, SSRC Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship, and grants from the Buffett Institute for Global Studies, The Graduate School, and the Program of African Studies at Northwestern University. The First Generation Scholars Travel Grant, for which he is very thankful, allowed him to present at the 2021 APSA Annual Meeting a chapter of his dissertation in poster form as well as a separate paper exploring the long-run effects of Italian colonialism on state development, national integration, and democracy in Eastern and North Africa.
About the APSA First Generation Scholar in the Profession Accessibility Grant
In 2015, the APSA Executive Council approved a new standing Committee on First Generation Higher Education Scholars in the Profession, parallel to the existing APSA status committees. The goal is to bring focused attention to the ways in which class, economic inequality, and mobility can affect political scientists’ ability to thrive educationally and professionally throughout their careers. The travel and accessibility grant is intended to support First Generation Higher Education Scholars in the Profession who attend the APSA Annual Meeting. Learn more.