DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Program Area(s):  Comparative Politics; Methods

Regional Specialization(s):  Africa

Dissertation Title:

The Legacies of Liberation: Revolution, Liberal Reformism, and Political Development in Southern Africa

Dissertation Committee:  James Mahoney (Co-chair); Will Reno (Co-chair); Ana Arjona

Research Interests: Comparative democratization; colonialism and development; post-liberation politics and society; comparative-historical analysis, qualitative and small-N methods, historical experiments.

Publications:

• “Colonialism, Marginality, and Path Dependence in Cabo Delgado,” Clio Newsletter of Politics & History (APSA), 30 (2), 2021.
• "Third Wave Democratization in Post-Cold War Africa: The Rise of Illiberal Democracy in Comparative Perspective," CEU Political Science Journal 10: 1-2 (2016), 51-83.
• "From SAPs to PRSPs: The Annals of Neoliberal Ideological Dogmatism in Governance and Development Policy," Critique (Fall 2015), 68-104.
• "A Squandered Potential for Development in Post-liberation Eritrea: A Review Essay", Africa Spectrum 1 (2015), 99-103.
• “Eritrea’s Foreign Policy Explained in Light of the Democratic Peace Proposition.” International Journal of Peace and Development Studies 4:5 (2013), 76-89.
• "Community Organizing to End Displacement in Eritrea: A Narrative of Community and Institutional Resilience," (with A. Almedom and A. Nayr) In Global Grassroots: Perspectives on International Organizing, Wade Rathke, ed. (2011), 81-92.

Awards: 

• NSF-APSA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (2023)
• Harry Frank Guggenheim Emerging Scholar Award (2022)
• APSA First Generation Scholars in the Profession Grant (2021)
• Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship (2019)
• Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship (2018)
• Hans E. Panofsky Pre-dissertation Research Award (2017)
• Swedish Research Council - Varieties of Democracy Institute Doctoral Fellowship (2015)
• German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Public Policy & Good Governance Scholarship (2010, 2011)