Political Science graduate students named 2017-2018 APSA MFP Fellows

Two graduate students in political science at the University of Chicago have been selected for the American Political Science Association (APSA) 2017-2018 Minority Fellowship Program (MFP). First-year doctoral student Margaret Brower and second-year doctoral student Cameron Cook were each named fellows as part of the Program’s spring cycle of awards.

The MFP was established in 1969 to increase the number of underrepresented scholars in the political science discipline. Since then, the APSA Minority Fellowship has designated more than 500 Fellows 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 PhD program in political science. Spring fellows are first and second year PhD students in political science. In the past three years, nine University of Chicago affiliated political science students have received fellowships through the program.

Visit apsanet.org/mfp to learn more about the APSA MFP program and other recent fellows.

MARGARET BROWER
Margaret Brower is a first-year PhD student studying American and comparative politics. She is also a University of Chicago Urban Fellow. She has an MA in higher education and public policy from the University of Michigan, and a BA in political science and education from Colgate University. As a graduate student, she focuses on the political socialization of young people, especially youth of color, and the ways in which urban settings contextualize and shape this experience. Brower previously worked for the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) and the Institute for Higher Education and Democracy (IDHE) at Tufts University. In that role, she managed the National Study for Learning, Voting, and Engagement and led qualitative research projects to study college student political learning and engagement.

CAMERON COOK
Cameron Cook is a second-year PhD student focusing on political theory and American politics. His primary research interests include the traditions of Black political thought, race, and capitalism in the Atlantic world, and the intersection between politics, aesthetics, and narrative. His master's thesis focused on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan and how contemporary accounts of neoliberalism often elide the ongoing reproduction of racial hierarchy, particularly in their conception of state violence. His current work focuses on the 20th century reception of 18th and 19th century revolutions, primarily in the works of C.L.R. James and Hannah Arendt. Before attending the University of Chicago, he earned his BA at Pomona College, where he received the Lee Cameron McDonald Prize in Political Theory and the Stauffacher Thesis Prize in Religious Studies.