Melissa Keller is a first-year PhD student in the Political Science department at the University of Oregon.

After completing her Bachelor’s degree at American University in political science with a public policy focus, Melissa attended the London School of Economics and graduated with a Master’s degree in Comparative Politics.

Her research focuses on comparative welfare state regimes, studying the impacts of diversity on welfare state benefits in the United States and in Europe.

Her master’s dissertation focused on racial discrimination in welfare following the 1996 welfare reforms in the United States, specifically looking at how decentralization impacted Illinois and Michigan.

She hopes to continue to look at the intersections between race, federalism, and the welfare state while at the University of Oregon, and she is thankful for the Raymond Fellowship for this opportunity.