2023 Summer Fellows
Deborah Coffy
Deborah Coffy (they/she) is a graduate of the University of Central Florida (UCF). They double majored in Clinical Psychology and Political Science and double minored in Journalism and Human Services. They completed their internship in the Aspire Health Partners and University Central Florida program for Recovery Support Specialists. Additionally, she was involved in research through the Undergraduate Honors Thesis Program, Counseling and Psychological Services, and the College of Community Innovation and Education. Their research interests relate to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ populations, society, and how it relates to overall mental health and mental health illnesses such as BPD, PTSD, Schizophrenia, Stress, Anxiety, Dissociative identity disorder, Autism, and ADHD. Over their academic career, they have been awarded President’s Honor Roll, the Dorothy Walker Ruggles Democracy Scholarship, the Legacy Award, the Alvin Y Wang Undergraduate Research Scholarship, and the Dively-Dupuis LGBTQ Scholarship. They will continue working for progressive organizations and prepare for the graduate school application cycle for Ph.D. programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology.
Hussein Fayad
Hussein Fayad is a rising senior at Siena College in Loudonville, New York. He is a double major in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations and Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Global Development and Mass Political Behavior. Hussein is a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship, an Honors Fellow in the Standish Honors Program, and the club president for both the Siena College Model United Nations and the Promethean Student Newspaper. He is also a founding member of Siena College’s chapter of ECAR (Every Campus a Refuge). His specialty and emphasis in research is Middle Eastern politics, conducting two independent research studies, the first analyzing Lebanon’s economic crisis and the second researching Saudi-Iranian rivalry and its implications on the broader Middle East, with the latter being presented at the New York State Political Science Association’s 77th Annual Conference. Hussein has also consistently maintained his position on the President’s List.
Evelyz Candelario Piñero
Evelyz is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus completing a bachelor's degree in Political Science with an emphasis on comparative politics and political theory. Her areas of interest are political and cultural socialization, the Internet and social networks, colonialism, sub-state nations, political psychology, and political communication. Currently, she is developing her undergraduate thesis about political socialization through social networks through the Honors Studies Program. In addition, she worked as a data analyst in a student team under professors Mayra Vélez and Luis Cámara for the Puerto Rican Laboratory of Public Opinion. She is an active member of the Puerto Rican Association of Political Science Students (APECIPO) and was part of the Student Guidance Program (PdEO), where she helped new students and the general student community integrate into university life by offering information and peer counseling. Due to her personal experiences as a Puerto Rican and her generation's experiences, she hopes to complete postgraduate studies in Political Science to become a researcher and university professor. By bringing unique perspectives, she hopes to make academia more diverse, balanced, and relevant to the world we live in.
Adriana Rosario-Surillo
Adriana is a senior studying at the University of Puerto Rico - Río Piedras. She is a political science major with an emphasis on Comparative Politics. Her research interests include Latin America, democratization, and public opinion. She’s currently researching about the levels of institutionalization in Latin American party systems and its impact on democracy quality through public opinion. Adriana has been able to work with this honor thesis through the Programa de Estudios de Honor among with a committee of professors that engage with quantitative and qualitative methodology and the Latin American region as a case study. Due to her experience as a Puerto Rican woman, she is curious to learn about ways research can shed light into solutions to enhance governmental performance, accountability through political actors, and socio-political satisfaction. Adriana was also an international exchange student at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a recipient of the Fondo Dotal Scholarship during 2022. After graduation, Adriana plans on pursuing a master’s degree on Political Analysis and a PhD in Comparative Politics to become, both, a political science professor and researcher.
Michael Sarkis
Michael is a rising junior at the Ohio State University, double majoring in Political Science and Philosophy with a minor in Arabic. At the Ohio State University, Michael is involved in the Collegiate Council on World Affairs and their sub-branch: Alger Magazine. Michael will be a managing editor at Alger Magazine in the coming school year. Michael has written two articles for Alger Magazine. One piece discussed the failed unification attempts between Syria and Iraq, and the most recent one discussed the debate surrounding the early histography of the Maronite Church. Michael has a variety of research interests that include but are not limited to, international relations, the overlap between religion and politics, the role of nationalism and ideology in politics, etc. After finishing his undergraduate degrees, Michael intends to pursue either law school or graduate school.
Haneen Abu Tawila
Haneen (She/Her), is a senior at California State University, Fresno majoring in Political Science and minoring in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Haneen has been an active member of the Political Science Honors Association and has consistently maintained her status on the President's list. Haneen's areas of research have recently been Political Theory, Genocide research, and Violence against women in the Middle East. After graduation, Haneen is planning on attending law school and focusing on Human rights law and is interested in researching ethnic conflict, gender, and sexual inequalities as well as studying the ethnic cleansing and oppression of Palestinians.
Shanyce Taylor
I am Shanyce Crystal Taylor and my pronouns are she/they. I am currently a Junior pursuing my bachelor's degree in Political Science and Human Services & Community Justice at John Jay College. I am a Pinkerton fellow at my college and work with the non-profit organization Kings Against Violence Initiative (KAVI) located in central Brooklyn to provide youth with the resources needed to best assist with their success. I learned throughout this experience the best way to advocate for the youth is to give them the tools to advocate for themselves. I hope to take what I learned throughout my college career to continue youth advocacy work around the country and also am very hopeful this opportunity will guide me through this journey.
2020 MIGAP Pilot Program Alumni
Manuel ARRieta
Manuel is a 5th year Political Science major R the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus focusing on Political Theory and International Relations. His area of interest in regards to research is education. More specifically, the relation between a poor political science education in High School and the continued support of the traditional two-party system in Puerto Rico. Through this program, he plans to fully polish his research project and be able to use bigger population samples with hopes of getting published.
Alexis Bonilla
Alexis is from San Juan, Puerto Rico and has lived his whole life in the municipality of Luquillo. His time in school initially took place in two institutions in Fajardo until he entered the University High School in Río Piedras from which he graduated in 2016. In that same year, he was admitted to the Río Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico where today he studies Political Science with an emphasis on Political Theory and Comparative Politics. His research interests primarily concern the growing trend of "green politics" around the world and his goal is to study this and other subjects through a graduate program in the United States.”
Yeimarie Escalera
Yeimarie has a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science with a Major in Political Science, double emphasis in Governance and Public Policy and Gender and Politics, and a Minor in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. Her research interests are related to women’s issues, race and gender, LGBT+ studies and public policy. She aspires to earn her Ph.D. in Political Science shortly and publish a couple of academic papers. She’s ready!
Jean Paul López
Jean Paul is 22 years old and was born in Columbus, Ohio, USA and is Puerto Rican. In August, he will start his final year of undergraduate studies in Political Science with an emphasis in Government, Law, Public Policy and International Relations and with a minor concentration in Human Rights at the University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras Campus. His research interest is related to issues of housing, specifically regarding the displacement of disadvantaged communities in Puerto Rico. His future plans are to publish his research and to pursue graduate studies in Political Science and/or Law.
Adrián Maldonado
Adrián Maldonado Rodríguez is a student of Political Science and Women and Gender at the University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras Campus. His research interests include contemporary social movements, and he plans to pursue post-graduate studies in Public Policy.
Manuel Mas
Manuel is currently an undergraduate Political Science major with concentrations in International Relations and Comparative Politics. His research interests encompass interstate security, comparative sub-state national movements, conceptions of multi-level and asymmetric citizenship, and quantitative methods. He wants to pursue a doctorate in Political Science to become a researcher to further develop these interests.
Carol Ramos
Carol E. Ramos Gerena is a Biologist and a graduate Environmental and Community Planning student from the Graduate School of Planning of the University of Puerto Rico. In the past decade, she has leaded community development through urban agroecology projects, as well as the environmental restoration of abandoned buildings and underused plots near public housings and schools in marginalized communities in Puerto Rico. One of her main interest is to develop the public policy necessary to attend food security and sovereignty in her country, focused on the agriculture education provided in the public K-12 schools.
Steven Ramos
Steven A. Ramos Ayala is a Political Science undergraduate aspiring to earn a doctorate in that area. His research emphasis is focused on the voting process, and what makes people select their leaders. He hopes his research helps people see with a different perspective what democracy entails and what can it become.
Sabrina Rodríguez
Sabrina Rodríguez recently graduated Summa Cum Laude in Political Science, with a concentration in International Relations, from the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus. She plans to investigate the stagnant growth of woman occupying positions in the Puerto Rican legislature and its effects on woman-based public policy. She aspires to enter a program by August 2020 to obtain a Master's in Public Policy.
Steven Salgado
My name is Steven G. Salgado and I am currently an Economics student at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus. The research topic/idea that I want to start working on is based on Puerto Rico's current economic status, and how our Island's former governmental leaders have contributed both positively and negatively with their policy and how we can learn from them in order to make the best decisions possible for our future. After I finish my bachelor's degree, I'm committed to pursuing graduate degrees both in Political Science and Law with the goal of becoming a lawyer and one day working for a government organization or agency. I want to make one of my life's goals of working for my Island's best interests a reality.