Dr. Frances Marquez receives prestigious fellowship

Dr. Frances Marquez, an associate professor in the Department of Government and History, has received a Congressional Fellowship from the American Political Science Association. She joins Dr. Khadijat Rashid, chair of the Department of Business, as Gallaudet faculty members who have been selected for fellowships of this kind.

Marquez is one of five political scientists selected nationwide for this program, which is described as the oldest Congressional fellowship program in Washington, D.C. During her fellowship, which began in November, Marquez will work with a member of Congress. She is participating in an orientation program through Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies that includes an international relations course and daily seminars with legislators, congressional staffers, journalists, lobbyists, political scientists, and policy specialists. She will also travel to Canada to participate in a parliamentary exchange and study comparative government.

Marquez brings many years of political experience to this position. She has campaigned for candidates at the local, state, and national levels, including presidents Obama and Clinton, U.S. senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, U.S. Congressional representatives Xavier Becerra and Hilda Solis, and Los Angeles County (Calif.) Supervisor Gloria Molina. In 2006, she conducted a comprehensive study on Latino/a political appointees in the United States.

Enthusiasm for political science and political activism has long been a part of Marquez’s interaction with the students of Kendall Green. She had the chance to monitor the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2009, and shared what she learned when she taught the class, “The Latina Experience: Borders and Boundaries.”  Marquez also led a student delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo., and has assisted her students in obtaining internships at the White House and on Capitol Hill. Students who have taken her class know her motto, “If you are not at the policymaking table when decisions are made, your community’s issues will not be addressed.” Marquez’s goal is to see greater representation of the deaf and hard of hearing community on Capitol Hill.