Meet the First Class of the APSA Public Scholarship Program

APSA is pleased to announce the first class of the new Public Scholarship Program. The Public Scholarship Program is a remote, part-time fellowship that introduces political science graduate students to the intellectual and practical aspects of presenting academic scholarship to the public.

During the fellowship period, the scholars will focus on producing public-facing overviews of new research published in the American Political Science Review.

Nandini Dey is in the second year of her PhD in Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Delhi in India and an MSc in History from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Before moving to Baltimore, Nandini worked as an editor for Oxford University Press in New Delhi, India. Her interests include the political economy of development, citizenship regimes in postcolonial contexts, and state formation. While “spare time” does not feature in her life as a graduate student, Nandini likes to believe that when such time makes itself available, she would use it to learn to be an amateur pastry chef and write children’s books.

Maryann Kwakwa is a Ph.D. candidate (A.B.D.) in American Politics and Constitutional Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Her research interests include civic engagement, education, race/ethnic politics, and democratic citizenship. In her dissertation, Maryann uses a mixed-methods approach to analyze the effect of undergraduate college experiences on civic engagement in the United States. Maryann graduated from Oberlin College in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Society and a minor in Politics. At Notre Dame, Maryann has served on numerous departmental committees, led discussion sections for introductory American Politics courses, and taught a senior seminar, “Politics in Cyberspace,” as the instructor of record. She has also published a virtual review article for the American Political Science Association and two, co-authored journal articles, which appear in Politics, Groups, and Identities.

Adam B. Lerner is a PhD candidate in Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, researching the impact of trauma and collective memory on international politics. He is the recipient of the 2018 Northedge Prize from Millennium: Journal of International Studies, the 2018 Emanuel Miller Prize in Philosophy of Social Science from St. John’s College, a 2016-2019 Cambridge International Trust Scholarship, a St. John’s College Scholarship and a 2013-2014 Henry Luce Scholarship. His peer-reviewed articles have appeared in the International Studies Review, the International History Review, the Journal of Contemporary Asia, and Economic and Political Weekly. Prior to beginning his academic career, he worked as a reporter at Politico and The Caravan, a narrative journalism magazine based in Delhi, India. He received a BA (Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude) from Cornell University in 2013.

Gabriela Vitela is a PhD candidate and on the job market. Her research interests include American politics, institutions, public policy, and race, gender and ethnicity. Gabriela’s dissertation examines how women of color, particularly Latinas, navigate campaign finance specifically looking at how well they are able to raise money to run for the House of Representatives. She argues that current literature into how women and minorities fund campaigns fail to take into account the particularities of being both a woman and a racial or ethnic minority. Gabriela is a first generation scholar and a Chicana from Texas and enjoys sharing her experiences with her students.

The Public Scholarship Program was created in collaboration with the APSA Presidential Task Force for New Partnerships, and thanks to generous support from the Ivywood Foundation.