Carla Garcia

PhD Candidate
MIT Political Science

Hi! I am a fifth year PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I study the impacts of social movements on public opinion and political behavior, with a focus on university student protest movements in Latin America. More broadly, my research seeks to center Latin America’s public universities as sites of political socialization and contestation. In my dissertation, I leverage a variety of research methods including a natural experiment, a survey experiment, and interviews.

My research has been supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the APSA Diversity Fellowship Program.

I am involved in various mentorship and outreach initiatives on campus, and currently serve as a Social & Cultural Chair for MIT’s Latinx Graduate Student Association.

Prior to MIT, I attended the University of Central Florida, where I graduated in 2020 with a BA in Political Science and a BS in Economics. I am a proud alumna of UCF’s McNair Scholars Program, and remain passionate about improving equity and access in higher education.