Angela X. Ocampo is a LSA Collegiate Fellow in the Political Science Department at the University of Michigan. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  Dr. Ocampo specializes in American politics, race, ethnicity and politics and methodology. Her current book project examines the notion of perceived belonging to U.S. society and its influence on political interest and political engagement among racial and ethnic minorities. Dr. Ocampo’s research agenda examines the political incorporation of racial, ethnic and religious minorities both as every-day participants and as political leaders within American institutions. Specifically, she investigates the factors that mobilize Latinos and other minorities to engage politically at different levels. Her research also explores how political parties and institutional forces shape the path of minorities into elected office. Her research has been supported by the University of California Institute for Mexico and the U.S. (UC MEXUS), the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, UCLA’s Political Psychology Fellowship and APSA’s Fund for Latino Scholarship.  She is also the recipient of multiple awards including the MSPA Women’s Caucus Graduate Student Award, WPSA Pi Sigma Alpha Award, Edward A. Bouchet Honor Society, UCLA’s Swarr Prize and the MPSA Latina/o Caucus Best Graduate Student Paper. Her research has been published in Political Research Quarterly, Politics, Groups, and Identities and Social Science Research.