Synar Graduate Research Fellows

2024 Synar Graduate Research Fellows

Kirstin Krussell

Class of 2025
2024 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Kirstin Krusell is a PhD candidate in sociology at UC Berkeley. Kirstin’s research is united by an interest in risk and uncertainty—from how risk is felt at an everyday level to its political economy. Previously she has studied how labor unions are navigating the challenges of AI and...Read more about Kirstin Krussell

Lawrence Jonefan Liu

Class of 2025
2024 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Lawrence J. Liu is a Ph.D. candidate in Jurisprudence and Social Policy at Berkeley Law. His research interests include regulatory politics and administrative law, globalization, state-society relations, the legal profession, and contemporary Chinese law and politics. His research has been...Read more about Lawrence Jonefan Liu

Anna Weissman

Class of 2026
2024 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. My research agenda is broadly focused on representation in American Politics, with specific interests in descriptive representation and the local politics of small-town America. Prior to...Read more about Anna Weissman

2013-2014 Synar Fellows with IGS benefactors William Brandt and Patrice Bugelas-Brandt on the steps of South Hall, UC BerkeleyThe 2013-14 Synar Fellows with IGS benefactors William Brandt and Patrice Bugelas-Brandt on the steps of South Hall, UC Berkeley. 

Back row: Beth Pearson and Phil Rocco; middle row: Bobbie Lee, Tria Andrews, and Michael Dougal; front row: Patrice Bugelas-Brandt and Bill Brandt.

2023 Synar Graduate Research Fellows

Bonnie Cherry

2023 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Bonnie Cherry is a PhD candidate in Jurisprudence and Social Policy at Berkeley Law, with a Designated Emphasis in the Study of Religion. Bonnie is a recipient of the Berkeley Mentored Research Award and the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, and is currently a Berkeley...Read more about Bonnie Cherry

Isaac Dalke

2023 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

I am a doctoral candidate in sociology at UC-Berkeley. Across my work, I use an array of methods to understand how different actors within and outside of the criminal-legal system in the U.S. attempt to manage and make sense of violence, and how those efforts are intertwined with...Read more about Isaac Dalke

Christian Hosam

2022 David M. Howard Prize Recipient
2023 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship
David M. Howard Prize

Christian Hosam is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests include race and politics, with particular interests in Black elite politics, coalition and conflict between communities of color, public health, and...Read more about Christian Hosam

2022 Synar Graduate Research Fellows

Annie Benn

2022 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Annie Benn is a PhD candidate in political science at UC Berkeley. She studies US political institutions, with a particular interest in executive branch policymaking. Prior to Berkeley, she worked for the energy and climate nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute. She holds an MPA from New York...Read more about Annie Benn

Anna Mikkelborg

2022 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

I am a PhD candidate in the Travers Department of Political Science at UC Berkeley. Before coming to Berkeley, I graduated with a BA in political science and sociolegal studies from the University of Washington and earned a MSc in politics research at the University of Oxford (Nuffield College...Read more about Anna Mikkelborg

Luis Tenorio

2022 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Luis Tenorio is a Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology as a Chancellor's Fellow and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Luis's research explores the intersections of immigration, social policy, citizenship, and the law. While his current work explores the effects of obtaining legal...Read more about Luis Tenorio

2021 Synar Graduate Research Fellows

David Robert Foster

2021 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

David’s work uses game theory to understand American political institutions. Its focus has been the opportunities for policy and political change that exist given gridlock in Congress. In particular, his dissertation examines presidential unilateral action. Before starting his PhD, he studied...Read more about David Robert Foster

Joe LaBriola

2021 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at UC Berkeley. My research examines the origins of socioeconomic and racial inequalities in the United States, drawing from urban sociology, sociology of the family, and the sociology of work. One strand of my research is geared towards understanding...Read more about Joe LaBriola

Mary Shi

2021 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Mary Shi is a PhD Candidate in Sociology at UC Berkeley. Mary's research examines the intersection of society, space, and politics in multiple domains, from the political economy of the San Francisco Bay Area to the historical formation of the American state. Mary received her BA from Yale...Read more about Mary Shi

Joseph Warren

2021 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

I grew up in Bethel, Alaska, where I exercised an interest in politics by serving as a student representative on the local school board. I later interned in the DC offices of Senator Lisa Murkowski and Congressman Don Young. Prior to UC Berkeley, I attended Reed College, where I majored in...Read more about Joseph Warren

2020 Synar Graduate Research Fellows

Charlotte Hill

2020 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Thesis: Block the Vote: Low Youth Turnout and the Costs of VotingRead more about Charlotte Hill

Alexander Sahn

2020 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Thesis: Land Use and Local Government in the United StatesRead more about Alexander Sahn

Isabel García Valdivia

2020 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Thesis: The Effects of Legal Status on Older Mexican Immigrants in the U.S. and MexicoRead more about Isabel García Valdivia

2019 Synar Graduate Research Fellows

Anthony Gregory

2019 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Thesis: From the War on Crime to the Liberal Security State: The New Deal and American Political LegitimacyRead more about Anthony Gregory

Kate Pennington

2019 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Thesis: Poisoned by Policy: The Impact of the Flint Water Crisis on Political ParticipationRead more about Kate Pennington

Caleb Scoville

2019 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Thesis: Facing Extinction in California’s Delta: Endangered Species Law, Water Policy and the Politics of Science in Uncertain TimeRead more about Caleb Scoville

Samuel Trachtman

2019 Synar Graduate Research Fellowship

Thesis: When State Policy Makes National PoliticsRead more about Samuel Trachtman

Topics

Synar Fellowship Recipients topic page