Silky Joshi Malik is a doctoral student in the Department of Political Sciences studying American politics and public policy. Her research interests focus on questions at the intersection of feminism, gender, race, and political behavior. Silky is a native Houstonian and a proud alumna of the University of Houston. Graduating magna cum laude and with university honors, she holds a dual bachelor's degree in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Houston, and a Master's degree in Business Administration from West Texas A&M. In 2017, Silky was the first Indian American woman to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas’ 2nd Congressional District; in 2020, she published a book detailing her run for office and experience as a political newcomer. Silky also co-hosts KPFT's weekly talk radio show, "Coming to America," which explores the topic of immigration and other issues relevant to Houstonians.
Reginald Pulley is a second-year Ph.D. student at Georgia State University. Reginald was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and earned his undergraduate degree at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC. In the fall, Reginald will be transferring to the University of Maryland to continue his Ph.D. studies. Growing up in Baltimore, Reginald witnessed firsthand the impact of political decisions on communities of color. This experience fueled his interest in political science and motivated him to pursue higher education. Reginald has always been interested in understanding the unique political experiences of Black people in America. Reginald’s research interest focuses on Black politics. He is particularly interested in exploring the factors that impact Black people’s political ideologies and their evaluation of public policy outputs. Looking ahead, Reginald aspires to teach at the university level and continue his research on Black political ideologies and policy evaluation. Reginald is committed to using his scholarship to positively impact the world and advance the cause of racial justice and equality. He hopes to inspire and empower future scholars to critically examine political systems and work towards creating a more just and equitable society.
Joseph Rodriguez is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at Duke University. He received his B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley, with highest honors. At Berkeley, he became interested in pursuing graduate school as a Ronald E. McNair scholar. His research interests as a Ph.D. student lie broadly in normative political theory, democratic theory, and constitutional law. Currently, he is researching the rights of nature in the constitution of Ecuador, exploring the normative and legal implications it raises. He plans to continue to study constitutional design in his graduate program and connect it to contemporary debates in democratic theory. He has previously served as a junior fellow with the Library of Congress, where he researched the legal history of the Marshall Court and its jurisprudence. After graduate school, he hopes to pursue a career in academia, researching and teaching political theory.
Iván Ruiz-Hernández is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. His research interests include agricultural development, food sovereignty, and informal economies, especially concerning food systems in Mexico and throughout Latin America. He is researching how smallholder farmers in southern Mexico make sense of their food systems. Iván aims to understand how these communities’ realities relate to formal regulation and the dynamics of informal and illicit economies. He received his B.A. in International Affairs and his Master of International Policy degree from the University of Georgia. Iván’s graduate research focused on how the fair-trade banana industry coexisted with food sovereignty in the Dominican Republic. At the University of Georgia, he co-founded SPIA Diversity, a forum to give underrepresented political science and international affairs students a community. Iván’s future goals are motivated by the underlying values of community instilled in him by his family. He aspires to pursue a career in academia and join the growing waves of scholars committed to producing applied and representative knowledge.
Kevin Desean Russell is a second-year doctoral student and Centennial Scholar at Emory University in the Department of Political Science. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Northwestern University, where he served as a research assistant and Posner Fellow. He studies political behavior and racial and ethnic politics in the U.S. His current research, presented at NCOBPS, focuses on Black participation through financial contributions to political campaigns in recent elections. Russell is a first-generation college graduate who is interested in power dynamics involving marginalized groups—specifically, Black people. Other areas of interest include political leadership and social movements. He aspires to attain a tenure-track position at a university where he can continue studying racial politics and teach the next generation.
Sonia Vargas is a second-year Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland in the Department of Government and Politics. Her subfields are American politics and methodology. Her research interests focus on the political behavior and political socialization of individuals in the United States with immigrant parents, also called second-generation immigrants. Her current research is focused on avenues of political socialization in second-generation immigrant families and how that may impact their partisanship. As a second-generation immigrant herself, she is interested in producing more research on this growing demographic, especially as the United States will become a majority-minority country in the coming decades. She believes that this demographic holds power as its constituency with unique politicizing experiences. Sonia has served as a research assistant, teaching assistant, and has had multiple service positions in her college at the University of Maryland. Before Maryland, she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Florida with a B.A. in Political Science and Anthropology. After completing her Ph.D., she hopes to pursue a career in academia where she can continue to develop and execute projects focusing on the second-generation and other minority groups.
Debora Villalvazo is currently a first-year Ph.D. student at the University of California, San Diego, specializing in American politics and methodology with a focus on race and ethnic politics. Debora earned her B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Merced with double honors. Before starting the Ph.D. program, she worked in local government and the legal consulting industry, where she partnered with grassroots organizations to conduct community research and helped start businesses in the Central Valley by advocating for favorable regulations and engaging with local decision-makers. Debora's research seeks to understand the role of formal institutions in shaping political violence in the United States and its broader implications for political behavior. Currently, she is working on a project investigating the effect of interactions between street-level bureaucrats and the public on political participation. After completing her Ph.D., Debora aspires to become a professor and advance her research while focusing on mentoring first-generation and underrepresented students.
Alex Richard Zhao is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. He is originally from the Tiis Tsoh Sikaad Chapter of the Navajo Nation and graduated cum laude from the University of California, San Diego before starting his Ph.D. program. Alex’s research seeks to explain variation in indigenous self-governance by studying the intricacies of indigenous American political preferences, institutions, and geography. He is a member of UCSD’s Race and Ethnic Politics (REP) Lab, American Indian Graduate Student Alliance (AIGSA), and recipient of the Ford Predoctoral Fellowship. Alex is a proponent of ensuring research benefits the communities he investigates while building empathy through the knowledge of indigenous people. Therefore, he often collaborates with indigenous and non-indigenous policymakers and researchers in the Navajo Nation and abroad. After earning his Ph.D., Alex aspires to continue research dedicated to servicing indigenous populations by pursuing a position in academia.