Valeria Sinclair-Chapman is an

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

political scientist Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...

, currently a professor of political science and African-American studies at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

. Sinclair-Chapman studies American

political institutions In political science, a political system means the type of political organization that can be recognized, observed or otherwise declared by a state. It defines the process for making official government decisions. It usually comprizes the govern ...

, the representation of minority groups in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, and minority political participation, particularly how excluded groups come to be included in American politics.

Education and early career

Sinclair-Chapman attended the University of North Carolina-Asheville from which she obtained a BA in 1991, and then completed an MA and a PhD at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, graduating in 2002. After obtaining her PhD, Sinclair-Chapman became a professor at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

, where she later became the Director of Graduate Programs in the Kearns Center for Leadership and Diversity. She moved from the University of Rochester to Purdue University in the fall of 2013.

Career

Sinclair-Chapman coauthored a book with Frederick C. Harris and Brian D. McKenzie, called ''Countervailing Forces in African-American Political Activism, 1973-1994'' and published in 2006. The book uses group-level data to argue that poorer and less educated African Americans, who are more often the victims of crime, are also less likely to be politically active than wealthier African Americans. In addition to her book and journal articles on African American political participation, minority representation, and American political institutions, Sinclair-Chapman has also published on diversity and inclusion in political science. She is the Director for the Center for Research on Diversity and Inclusion at Purdue. She has contributed analyses for news outlets on topics relating to minority political participation in America. Sinclair-Chapman is a member of the 2020-2024 editorial leadership of the

American Political Science Review The ''American Political Science Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf by Cambridg ...

, which is the most selective political science journal. She has also been the co-lead editor of ''Politics, Gender, and Identities'', and has been a president of major caucuses within large professional organisations in political science.

Selected work

*''Countervailing Forces in African-American Political Activism, 1973-1994'' (2006) *"Diversity in Political Institutions and Congressional Responsiveness to Minority Interests", ''Political Research Quarterly'', with Michael D. Minta (2013) *"Leveraging Diversity in Political Science for Institutional and Disciplinary Change", ''PS: Political Science & Politics'' (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair-Chapman, Valeria Living people Date of birth missing (living people) American women academics African-American academics University of Rochester faculty Ohio State University alumni University of North Carolina alumni Purdue University faculty American women political scientists American political scientists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 21st-century African-American women