Congratulations to our 2021 Graduate Fellows! These fellowships are available thanks to the generosity of Scott and Betty Lukins, Alice O. Rice, and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Foundation.
Each year the institute awards research fellowships to graduate students working on important public policy questions. These fellowships are available thanks to the generosity of Scott and Betty Lukins, Alice O. Rice, and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Foundation.
Foley fellowships are awarded annually to graduate students who fulfill at least one of the following criteria:
- Conduct research in the area of just and sustainable societies and policies
- Seek to enhance their public policy research skills and pursue a research agenda focusing on major policy issues
- Conduct research in the area of political institutions and democracy.
This year we awarded five summer fellowships.
Joseph Bolton’s (political science) research focuses on hyper-partisanship and deep polarization in politics, seeking to understand the causes that underly counter-partisan behavior. Examining three distinct, state-level policy areas (Medicaid expansion, same-sex marriage laws, and marijuana decriminalization / legalization), he explores how institutional forces and policy venues (e.g., legislatures, courts, interest groups) intervene to shape both polarized and bipartisan policy outcomes.
Furkan Cakmak (political science) researches the role of emotions in the media habits of voters to explain the rise of misinformation and polarization in American politics. He tackles the question of why people abandon or are attracted to certain media by utilizing both qualitative and quantitative measures of emotions and expose their link to media habits. He also focuses on the role of affective polarization in everyday life.
Anna Jordan’s (anthropology) research examines the reintegration experiences of formerly incarcerated adults who are transitioning into post-prison life. Although it has been demonstrated that mass incarceration disproportionately affects marginalized groups, literature that influences penal policy tends to minimize structural factors in favor of an understanding of crime as internal to the individual. The aim of the project is to provide a person-centered understanding of the effects of criminal justice policies in order to better inform and develop effective reentry policy initiatives and services.
Joshua Munroe (political science) was awarded a fellowship to research and write a series of articles designed to educate the public on policy-related questions relevant to the voters and residents of Washington State. These articles were published by the institute and made available to local, and regional news sources, and covered various topics, including explanations of the Electoral College, the filibuster, the role of sheriffs in enforcing statewide initiatives, the Washington State electoral primary, gerrymandering, and role of the private prison industry among others.
Arpita Sinha’s (anthropology) research focuses on the intersection of gender and labor relations, health and work, and women’s self-image. She investigates the contemporary fashion industry in India, with primary focus on the female fashion models who work there. Contrary to the stereotypes attached to modeling, like high wages and glamorous lifestyle, the impact of the pandemic brought to the fore the systemic problems preexisting in the industry and highlighted just how volatile and uncertain the occupation of modeling is. With no specific labor policies in place to safeguard their interests, the pandemic threw large numbers of models into unemployment and dire economic crisis. Her research focuses on uncovering these “hidden” systemic problems of inequality, exploitation and abuse in the modeling industry.