Aryssa Harris’21 has been named as a 2021-2022 APSA Diversity Fellowship Program (DFP) Fellow.

Harris is majoring in political science and sociology with a minor in Spanish. As a Ralph Bunche Summer Institute Alumna, a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, a two-year president of Black Students United, and a student representative serving on Beloit Colleges Board of Trustees, she shows that she takes initiative and has a passion for leading. As a McNair Scholar, she has conducted research on the disparate impact of mass incarceration on Black males, in relation to the War on Drugs. Harris’ research interests include American politics, public policy, and racial and ethnic politics. Harris would like to use her political science knowledge to represent underrepresented individuals in legal settings.

The DFP, formerly the Minority Fellowship Program, was established in 1969 to increase the number of under-represented scholars in the political science discipline. Since 1969, the APSA Diversity Fellowship Program has designated more than 500 Fellows, both funded and unfunded, and contributed to the completion of doctoral political science programs for over 100 individuals. Fall fellows are college or university seniors, graduates, or Master’s students who plan on applying to a Ph.D. program in political science. Spring fellows are first and second-year Ph.D. students in political science. APSA Diversity Fellows are very active in the discipline as faculty members, researchers, and mentors. Visit www.apsanet.org/mfp to learn more about the APSA DFP program and recent fellows.