PhD Students

Ruqaya Abdirahman
Ph.D. Student– International Relations

Simon Ballesteros
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government

Yixin Bai
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory

Nicholas Barden
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory
Early Modern Political Thought, Sovereignty, Constitutionalism, Civil War
Ph.D. dissertation
Bridling the Prince: Reforming French Constitutional Thought, 1532-1586

Niccolò W. Bonifai
Ph.D. Candidate – International Relations
BS Bocconi University; MS London School of Economics and Political Science International Political Economy; Globalization; Economic Nationalism
Ph.D. dissertation
The Dog That Stopped Barking: Firms and the State in the New Phase of Globalization.
Publications
Economic Risk and Willingness to Learn about Globalization: A Field Experiment with Migrants and Other Underprivileged Groups in Vietnam (with Eddy Malesky and Nita Rudra), Conditionally Accepted, American Journal of Political Science.

Quinn Bornstein
Ph.D. Student – American Government
BA Brown University; MA Georgetown University
Political Behavior, Policy Feedback, Rural Public Opinion, Rural Development, Food and Agriculture Public Policy
Ph.D. dissertation
What Do Rural Americans Want? Policy Feedback and Rural Public Opinion. Committee: John D. Griffin (Chair), Jonathan M. Ladd, Kristin Lunz Trujillo
Publications
State Uses of COVID-19 Funding for Local and Regional Food Systems (2024)

Benjamin Burnley
Ph.D. Candidate – American Government
BA Florida State University; MS Middle Tennessee University
Technology; Political communication; Political knowledge; Tech policy; Public opinion

Justin Casey
Ph.D. Candidate – International Relations
BS Towson University; MA Georgetown University
Propaganda; Ideology; Power Politics; Subversion; Hegemony; the Far Right
Ph.D. dissertation
Enemy Voices: The Evolution of Anglo-American Propaganda
Daniel Nexon (Chair), David Edelstein, Abraham L. Newman
Publications
Ideological Topography in World Politics: A Guide to the End of the Unipolar-Homogeneous Moment (International Studies Quarterly)
With Friends Like These: The Disadvantages of Total Ideology (working) Alternate Universalities: The Sources, Conduct, and Outcomes of Ideological Bloc Conflicts(with Daniel Nexon, Working)

Joel Chavez
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government
BA University of Texas at Austin; MPA Texas A&M
U.S. Energy Policy; Intergovernmental Relations; Oil and Gas Production Markets; Curbing the Natural Resource Curse

Joseph Dains
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory

Manon Fortemps
Ph.D. Student – International Relations
MA Sciences Po Paris
State fragility, state conflict, western foreign aid, political economy of international organizations

Christian Alejandro Gonzales
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government
BA Columbia University
18th and 19th-century political thought; historiography and philosophy of history; moral philosophy; slavery and abolition; the French Revolution and the rise of modern democracy

Mikael Good
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory

Matthew David Hamilton
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory
BA Moody Bible Institute; MA Princeton Theological Seminary
Normative and International Relations Theory
Ph.D. dissertation
Whose Autonomy? Which Self-Determination?
Publications
“Opening the Thucydides Trap” “Laughing to Death”

Rashaud Hannah
Ph.D. Student – American Government

Sarah Hayes
Ph.D. Student – American Government
BA California State University; MA University of California
Race & Ethnic Politics, Gender Politics, Political Behavior, and Public Policy

Jonas Heering
Ph.D. Student – International Relations
BA Texas Christian University; MA Georgetown University
Internet governance and International relations; Regulation of social media, disinformation, and digital authoritarianism

Suna Jeong
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government

Sebastian Kennelly
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory

Da Sul Kim
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government
BA Chung-Ang University (South Korea)
Political economy of poverty; Characteristics of regimes(authoritarianism) and institutions; Foreign investment & redistribution policy

Min Ha Kim
Ph.D. Student – International Relations

Thijs Kleinpaste
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory

Nick Kodama
Ph.D. Candidate – International Relations
BA Brandeis University; MA Georgetown University
Nuclear deterrence; Non-proliferation; East Asian security; Japanese foreign policy.
Publications
Nick Kodama. (2021). “Threatening the Unthinkable: Strategic Stability and the Credibility of North Korea’s Nuclear Threats”. Journal of Global Security Studies 6 (1): 1-15.
Nick Kodama. (2019). “Dynamic Institutionalization: The Foundations of Japan’s Radioactive Problem”. The Nonproliferation Review 26 (1-2): 43-60.

Hashem Krayem
Ph.D. Student – International Relations

Theodore Lai
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory
BA Yale-NUS College(Singapore); MA University of Chicago
Rhetoric and Conceptual Change, Ancient Greek and Roman Civil Wars, American Civil War

Theodore Landsman
Ph.D. Student – American Government

Pedro Lara de Arruda
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government

Cathy Lee
Ph.D. Student – International Relations

Claire Lee
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government

Keeheon Lee
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government
BA University of California, Los Angeles
Natural Resource and Environmental Politics of Developing Countries; Indonesian (and Southeast Asian) Politics; Political Institutions; Political Economy

Timothy Liptrot
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government

Marcel Mejia Taveras
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government

Kylie McGlothlin
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory
BA Indiana University
Early French liberal thought, the individual and society, Mme de Staël, literature and politics
Ph.D. dissertation
Literature and Liberal Thought: Theatre, the Novel, and Mme de Staēl

Patrick McSweeney
Ph.D. Student – American Government

Shea Minter
Ph.D. Student – International Relations

Ankushi Mitra
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government
BS Georgetown University; MS Trinity College Dublin
Comparative citizenship, meaningful citizenship, and uneven development; Sustainable development

Jessica Norris
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government
BA University of California, Santa Barbara
Energy and environmental policy design, specifically within the Chinese political context; Focuses on the origins and viability of China’s burgeoning cap and trade policy

Maria Pachon
Ph.D. Student – International Relations

Gabrielle Panzo
Ph.D. Student – American Government
BA University of Miami; MA University of Miami

Parushya
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government

Ana Paula Pellegrino
Ph.D. Candidate – Comparative Government
BS PUC-Rio; MA PUC-Rio
Political and criminal violence; Bureaucracies in developing countries; Brazil and Latin America
Ph.D. dissertation
The Warrior’s Paradox: The Rise of Parapolice Groups in Brazil

Kerney Perlik
Ph.D. Student – International Relations
BS United States Military Academy, West Point; MA Fletcher School at Tufts University
War Termination, Rapprochement Theory, Post-Conflict Interstate Relations, Conflict-Cooperation Spectrum

Ludovico Picciotto
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory
BS London School of Economics; Dual MA/MSc Columbia University & LSE
Early Modern Political Theory; History of Money and Finance

Rong Qin
Ph.D. Student – International Relations
BA William & Mary; MA Johns Hopkins SAIS
Interdependence; Disruptive Technologies; Technology Governance; Diplomacy; Trade and Investment

Benjamin Reese
Ph.D. Student – American Government
BA Hood College
Political Economy; Public Administration; Public Policy; Causal Inference; Data Science
Ph.D. Dissertation
The Political Economy of Labor Activity in the United States

Nayeli L. Riano
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory
BA University of Pennsylvania; MA University of St Andrews
History of political thought; 19th-20th century Latin American political thought; Hispanic and German intellectual influences; Spanish liberal philosophy; Theories of citizenship; Philosophy of History

Cecilia Ritacco
Ph.D. Student – American Government
BA Rutgers University
Gender, Identity Politics, Representation, Legislative Studies
Publications
Ritacco, Cecilia. 2022. “Virtual Realities: Intersectional and Online Violence Against Women in the 117th Congress.” Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics.
“Trust in Government and its Implications for Policy Attitudes.” with Nadia E. Brown, Jamil S. Scott, India S. Lenear, Sarah V. Hayes, and Quinn Bornstein (working paper)
“Intersectionality and Violence Against Women in Politics: A Research Agenda.” with Nadia E. Brown, Paru Shah, Liza Mügge, and Myrte Van der Zwet (working paper)

Henry Saroyan
Ph.D. Student – Political Theory
BA The University of Chicago
History of republican thought; English Civil War; Ancient Greek political thought; International relations theory

John Severini
Ph.D. Student – International Relations
BA Ohio State University; MPA Columbia University
Military Effectiveness, Naval Warfare, Civil-Military Relations

Tomohiro Shibata
Ph.D. Candidate – International Relations
MA The University of Chicago
International relations theory

Daniel Solomon
Ph.D. Student – Comparative Government

Gabriela Schroer do Nascimento
Ph.D. Student – American Government
BA Clark University

Howard Tai
Ph.D. Candidate – Political Theory
BA Georgetown University
American liberalism; Immigration; Citizenship; Transnationalism

Mackenzie Taradalsky
Ph.D. Student – American Government

Kenton Thibaut
Ph.D. Student – International Relations
MA John Hopkins University SAIS
China domestic politics; Technology governance; Emerging technologies; Chinese foreign policies.

Brian Thorn
Ph.D. Candidate – Political Theory
BA University of New Hampshire; MA The University of Chicago
History of political economic thought.

Anushka Vishahan
Ph.D. Student – American Government
BA The College of New Jersey

Dain Yoo
Ph.D. Candidate – Comparative Government
BA Binghamton University; MA Seoul National University
Political violence and repression; authoritarian resilience; public opinion; terrorism; political framing; Middle East and North Africa region
Publications
“The Invisible Impact of Conflict: A Study of Terrorism, Regime Type and the Shadow Economy,” International Interactions, 2024. (with Da Sul Kim)