Grae Roeder awarded APSA Diversity Fellowship

Congratulations to Grae Roeder, who graduated summa cum laude in December 2025, for receiving the American Politics Science Association (APSA) Diversity Fellowship. The APSA Diversity Fellowship Program awards $5,000 over two years to students applying to political science graduate programs. The fellowship gives particular attention to perspectives and backgrounds that positively shape what a student might bring to a classroom or the academy more generally.

Exploring possibilities

During their undergraduate career, Grae majored in political science, philosophy and global studies, along with a cultural studies & comparative literature minor. They tried out a variety of clubs, organizations and volunteer opportunities to find what they liked. These extracurriculars ranged from serving on the Foreign Policy Club's leadership team and being the founder and co-officer of the Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature Club to volunteering with The Advocates for Human Rights as a WATCH Court Monitor. Grae spent much of their time as a student with the Philosophy Club, for which they were the vice president for several years, and the undergraduate journal of philosophy, Epistemai, serving as the president their senior year.

However, Grae first became interested in politics and studying political science while in high school. They were on the speech and debate teams, which is where their interest really took off. The area they grew up in also played a role in piquing their interest. "I went to public high school in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, which has a significant first- and second-generation migrant population," Grae reflected. "This clashed with the conservatism of predominantly rural central Minnesota and the conservatism of my working class, blue-collar family."

At first, this clash drew Grae to migrant and labor law. When they started taking classes and exploring the political science major, they realized law was not for them. Nonetheless, they still wanted to work in politics in some regard. Grae's interest in feminist topics was becoming more pronounced at this time, and they became very passionately dedicated to political theory.

"I decided I would like to work in education as a professor or teacher, or alternatively in political journalism, however that might look considering the changing landscape of media and politics."

For their honor's thesis, Grae explored the "possibility of a feminist and queer political project that turns to coalition and conversation, in effort to avoid collapsing the political into liberal individualism and epistemological position." Grae hopes to continue doing work in graduate school that addresses the potential of political change, resistance, and relationships within, and through, oppressive conditions.

An instrument for good

As Grae applies to graduate school, the APSA Diversity Fellowship helps communicate to schools that they are motivated by their distinctive background in the work they do, making it more insightful and conducive to originality.

"The ultimate aim is to use my experience and approach as an instrument for good," Grae said. Doing this requires them to tackle the "concerns and contentions of political society head-on." Pursuing a doctoral degree will train them to work as a researcher and an educator, as well as help them hone their writing and thinking for a public audience if they instead pursue work in political journalism.

Moreover, to Grae, education and learning will always be valuable, but critical thinking and communication are not only important skills for being a member of a consonant political community — they are also a necessary responsibility to others. Grae sees political science as an excellent course of study to help practice this obligation, since knowing more about our political situation — and being able to think about and understand what you know — is essential to the task. "Our political situation is more than just mere 'politics'" to Grae. They see it as the "relationship we have with ourselves and others on both small and large scales. Cultivating that relationship is essential to our well-being and flourishing."

The political science program helped prepare Grae for graduate study both in terms of technical skills such as thinking, reading, writing and speaking, but also by being a "relentlessly challenging and open-ended environment." Grae's learning was supported through rigorous coursework and the opportunity to develop close relationships with peers and professors.

"Political science has made me more passionate in general about politics and cultural questions, and it has also honed in these passions so that I feel more assured than ever about what sorts of conversations I can contribute to and in what way."

By Sophia Paschke, communications associate