D’ARLYN BELL, PH.D
Citizen of the Cherokee Nation
Postdoctoral Researcher
School of Public Affairs and Administration
Center for Democratic Governance
University of Kansas
Wescoe Hall, Room 4060 | Lawrence, KS 66045
Phone: 913-262-0441 | Email: darlynbell@ku.edu, darlynkay@gmail.com
ACADEMIC PROFILE
Public administration and socio-legal scholar specializing in nonprofit political advocacy, Indigenous governance, organizations, trust in the government with expertise in qualitative research, policy analysis and community-based research.
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Public Administration, University of Kansas. Spring 2025
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow
BGS, Public Administration; Minor, Law & Society, University of Kansas. Spring 2019
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Kansas Aug. 2024- Present
DISSSERTATION
Bell, D’Arlyn. (2025). Bureaucracy and Democracy: The Sources of Distrust and the Possibilities for Civic Renewal in Low-Income Urban Areas (Doctoral dissertation, University of Kansas. Bell, D. Disseration (2025)
PUBLICATIONS
King, P., Fedoroff, M.P., Merrill, S. C., Koliba, Bell, D., Raub, K.B., Couch, G., & Crow, L. (2025). Collaborative communication: Co-producing communication strategies with tribal partners in northeast Oklahoma. Proceedings of the 2025 International Crisis and Risk Communication
Conference, (13)1, 114-117. https://doi.org/10.69931/001c.142857
Bell, D.(2022). Watercooler Conversation: Public Sector Workforce. Public Personnel Management Watercooler.
Bell, D.(2022). Covid Disruptions, Student Engagement and Online Learning. Public Personnel Management Watercooler.
BOOK REVIEW
Libby, P. (2022). The Empowered Citizens Guide: 10 Steps to Passing a Law that Matters to You. Oxford University Press.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
Bell, D. “Federations, Native American Nonprofits and Indigenous Political Engagement.” Under review at Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, submitted September 2025.
Bell, D. “Indigenous Governance: Historical Precedent and Aspirational Model for Political Inclusion and Public Debate.” Manuscript in preparation to be submitted to Public Administration Review Symposium on Democracy and Public Administration.
Riley, B, Bell, D., Koliba, K. “The Bureaucracy of Silence: Storytelling, Suppression and the Administrative State.” Manuscript in preparation to be submitted to Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration.
Bell, D., and Epp, C. “Policing, Legal Cynicism and Self-Help Retribution.” Manuscript in preparation to be submitted to Law and Society Review.
Koliba, C., Bell, D., Morris, I. (Forthcoming). “Inclusive Governance as a Bedrock Principle of Liberal Democracy: Overcoming the Gaps Between Ideals and Reality,” Chapter 1. Handbook on Inclusive Governance. Saba Siddiki & Graham Ambrose, eds. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Bell, D. “Boundaries, Identity and Organizations: Rethinking Representative Bureaucracy Theory in Areas of Concentrated Poverty.” Manuscript in preparation to be submitted to American Review of Public Administration.
Bell, D., Boczkowksi, L. “The Preemptive State: How Policy Narratives Legitimize Democratic Backsliding.” Data collected, analysis and manuscript preparation in progress.
Bell, D. “Political Powerlessness, Double Consciousness and Political Creativity.” Data collected, analysis and manuscript preparation in progress.
Bell, D., Koliba, C. “Many Nations, One County: Emergency Management and Intergovernmental Collaboration.” Data collected, analysis and manuscript preparation in progress.
Fedoroff, M. P., King, P., Koliba, C., Bell, D., Raub, K. “The Architecture of Trust and the Meaning of Equity: Reframing Water Infrastructure Planning in Indian Country.” Data collected, analysis and manuscript preparation in progress.
GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. 2019 – 2024
School of Public Affairs and Administration Summer Research Award, 2023
School of Public Affairs and Administration Doctoral Research Fund, 2023
Summer Academy, American University, 2023
United Way of Kaw Valley Grant, Indigenous Community Center, 2023
Graduate Scholarly Development Fund, University of Kansas, 2023
Office of Graduate Studies 2023 Summer Research Scholarship, University of Kansas, 2023
Institute for Policy and Social Research Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Kansas, 2022
University Graduate Fellowship, 2019
Doctoral Retention Scholarship, 2019
SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Political Powerlessness, Double Consciousness and Political Creativity. American Political Science Association Annual Meeting. Vancouver, Canda. September 2025. Presented virtually
Federations in the Disarticulated Sate: How Nonprofits are Ensuring Democratic Representation at the Local Level Through Political Mobilization. Law and Society Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL. May 2025.
Koliba, Bell & Morris. Inclusion as a Bedrock Principle of Liberal Democratic Governance. The Handbook of Inclusive Governance Workshop. North Carolina State University. Non-presenting author. January 2025.
Policing and the Co-Production of Violence. Law and Society Annual Meeting. Denver, CO. June 2024.
Boundaries, Identity and Organizations: How Representation Contributes to Distrust and Disparities in Areas of Concentrated Poverty. Midwest Political Science Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. April 2024.
Stories of Democracy: Indigenous Knowledge Systems Outside the U.S. Political System. Hall Center for the Humanities, Interdisciplinary Graduate Research Workshop. March 2024.
Historical and Political Context of the New Public Administration Movement: A Critical Examination of Decentralization and Representative Bureaucracy. Social Equity Leadership Conference, National Academy of Public Administration. Kansas City, MO. June 2023
Urban Native American Power: Urban Indian Centers and Native Mobilization. Law and Society Annual Meeting. San Juan, Puerto Rico. June 2023.
Poverty Governance and Kansas Welfare Policies. Invited Talk. Institute for Public Affairs at Lund University; Seminar Series on Trust and Administrative Burdens hosted by Malmo University- remote, 2021.
INVITED TALKS
Celebrating Urban Indian Centers Panel Discussion. Invited Speaker. University of Kansas. October 2023.
Scholar Reflections. McNair Scholars Program Awards Banquet. Invited Speaker. University of Kansas. May 2023.
Poverty Governance and Kansas Welfare Policies. Invited Speaker. Institute for Public Affairs at Lund University; Seminar Series on Trust and Administrative Burdens hosted by Malmo University- remote. 2021
Federalism, Political Mobilization and Urban Politics. Invited Speaker. Local Politics in an Intergovernmental Setting- UT- Arlington- remote. 2020
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Research Assistant, Distinguished Prof. Chris Koliba. June 2024- Present. “CIROH: Modeling Community Trust: A Collaborative Approach to Scoping Water Forecasting Needs and NOAA Product Use in Indigenous Communities of Northeast Oklahoma.” Conduct interviews and focus groups, Establish relationships with tribes and emergency managers. Create cultural competency and data sovereignty guidebooks.
Research Assistant, Distinguished Prof. Chris Koliba. June 2024- Present. “The Role of Formal & Informal State Preemption on the Economic Security & Health Equity of Communities of Color of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area.” Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Support outreach and planning of the Community Advisory Council. Research state preemptive policies on minimum wage, housing, and health equity. Collect and analyze policy narratives at the national, state and community level.
Research Assistant, Distinguished Prof. Charles Epp.” 2023. Community Perspectives and American Policing.” Conducted interviews with low-income communities cataloguing police interactions. Coordinated with community organizations and leaders. Ethnographic observations. Led a team of two undergraduate students, coordinated their onsite participation, oversaw their research projects and team participation.
APPLIED RESEARCH AND CONSUTLING
Consultant, Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services; Death Penalty Defense Unit. 2023 – Present.
Political Advocacy and Voter Engagement Coordinator (Part-Time), Kansas City Indian Center, March 2025- Present.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Graduate Instructor: Law and Society Methods LWS 332- solo instructor in charge of course design, delivery, and grading
Graduate TA: Creating Good Public Policy PUAD 824- Prof. Rachel Krause – assisted with team projects and grading.
Graduate TA: Administration of Justice PUAD 401/701- Prof. Charles Epp, University of Kansas – assisted with grading weekly essays.
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Undergraduate Mentorship: McNair Scholars Program, Ayomide Okosun. “The Impact of Police Presence in Low-Income Communities on Social Stability and Health.” 2023.
Undergraduate Mentorship: McNair Scholars Program, Arasi Faleta. “ The Missing Voices: Kansas City, Kansas & Police Interactions with Low-Income Communities.” 2023.
Editorial Assistant Public Personnel Management. 2022
KJHK 90.7 FM College Radio Advisory Board and DJ – Punk Rock Steady. 2022-2023
Franklin D. Murphy Lecture Series- Land and Sovereignty: The Foundation for Public Art and Studio Practice. Presented by the Spencer Museum of Art, KU Kress Foundation, Dept. of Art History, Graduate Students of the History of Art, Haskell Indian Nations, and First Nations Student Association. 2021
KU Commons: Community Series- Learning & Practice: Native Ways of Thinking, Knowing, Being Lead FNSA representative, presented by First Nations Student Association. 2021.
KU Land Acknowledgement Committee. 2021.
KU First Nations Student Association (FNSA)- Secretary and Communications. 2021.
KU Student Senate Representative. 2021.
KU Student Senate: Student Rights Committee. 2021
KU Center for Undergraduate Research Symposium. 2021.
NSF GRFP Graduate Studies Grant Proposal Workshop Presenter. 2019.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Building Peace, Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Board Member. 2025- Present
Indigenous Community Center (ICC) Lawrence, KS Board of Directors. 2022-2023.
Building Peace and the Douglas County District’s Attorney’s Office, Restorative Justice Circle. 2023
Community Police Advisory Board Member City of Shawnee, KS 2021- 2024
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)
American Political Science Association (APSA)
American Society for Public Administration (ASPA)
Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA)
Law and Society Association (LSA)
Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education (KACEE)
Kansas City Cherokee Community
DOCTORAL COURSES TAKEN_________________________________________ _____________
Intellectual History of Public Administration- 2019, Heather Getha-Taylor
Research Methods in Public Administration-2019, Dorothy Daley
Directed Readings in Sociology: Social Movements and Political Development- 2019, Eric Hanley
Directed Readings in Psychology: Political Rhetoric and Social Psychology- 2020, Mark Landau
State and Local Public Finance- 2020, Jacob Fowels
Public Management- 2020, Holly Goerdel
Qualitative Methods in Public Administration -2020, Steven Maynard-Moody
Human Resource Management – 2020, Heather Getha-Taylor
Constitutional Foundations of Public Administration- 2020, Charles Epp
Analytic Methods in Sociology – 2020
Public Administration and Democracy 2021, Ben Merriman
Organizational Theory – 2021, Rosemary O’Leary
Directed Readings in Public Administration: Legal Mobilization- 2021, Charles Epp & Micheal McCann
Directed Readings in Public Administration: Law and Public Management- 2021, Charles Epp
Policy Analysis- 2021, Jacob Fowels
Directed Readings in Public Administration: Law, Equity and Organizations, Charles Epp