US Politics | Race & Ethnicity | Gender | Political Institutions | Political Behavior
Melissa Watanabe Mata is a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California. Her research examines the reciprocal relationship between race and political institutions in the United States, exploring both how government institutions shape racial and ethnic identities and how those identities influence political attitudes, behavior, and representation.
Her dissertation investigates the historical development of racial classification on the U.S. Census, using archival research and process tracing to examine how institutional decisions shaped the construction of race in the United States. Beyond her dissertation, her research explores race, ethnicity, gender, immigration, and political behavior, with particular attention to Asian American, Latino, and multiracial communities. She employs both qualitative and quantitative methods, including archival research and the analysis of large-scale survey data.
Her research has been published in the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics and has been presented at national political science conferences. She has taught undergraduate courses in American government and is committed to fostering inclusive, engaging classrooms that connect political science to contemporary issues.