Job Market

Welcome to our list of current job market candidates and past placements.  For an idea of the kinds of research our students produce, please see the individual faculty pages for recent placements at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Fort Hays State, Florida International University, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, State University of New York-Oswego, University of Indianapolis, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, and Amity University.


    2023-24 PhD Candidates

    portrait of Saima Ahmed

    Saima Ahmed

    Working Dissertation Title: "Why do some states have carbon taxes when they do?"

    Fields: Environmental Politics, International Relations, International Organization and International Security

    Committee: Ronald B. Mitchell (chair), Jane K. Cramer, Craig Kauffman, and Richard York (Sociology)

    Website

    portrait of Dustin Ellis

    Dustin Ellis

    Dissertation: "States of Detention: A Comparative Historical Analysis of Migration Crises to the United States"

    Fields: Comparative Politics and US Political Culture

    Committee: Daniel Tichenor (chair), Priscilla Yamin, Debra Thompson, and Laura Pulido (Ethnic Studies)

    Website

    portrait of Mary Follo

    Mary Follo

    Working Dissertation Title: "The Politics and Placement of Fair Share Housing"

    Fields: American Politics, Public Policy, Land Use Policy, Governance, and Urban Politics

    Committee: Alison Gash (chair), Daniel Tichenor, Gerald Burk, and Rebecca Lewis (Planning, Public Policy and Management)

    portrait of Parichehr Kazemi

    Parichehr Kazemi

    Working Dissertation Title: "Visualizing Resistance, Capturing Repression: Exploring the Role of Women's Image-based Activism in Iran"

    Fields: Social Movements and Resistance Studies, Social Media and Digital Technology, Women and Gender Studies, Iranian Studies, Visual Theory, Authoritarian Regimes, Interpretive Methods. Regional Focus: Middle East and North Africa

    Committee: Erin Beck (chair), Tuong Vu, Gerald Berk, Jillian Schwedler (CUNY – Hunter College), and Anita Weiss (International Studies)

     

     

    portrait of Maxim Tyan

    Maxim Tyan

    Dissertation: "Prospect Theory-Based Explanation of Majority Nationalist Mobilization: Cases of Russia and Kazakhstan"

    Fields: Comparative Politics, Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict Studies, and Political Cognition

    Committee: Craig Parsons (chair), Tuong Vu, Mikhail Myagkov, and Julie Hessler (History)

     


    2022-23 Placements

    Craig Asberry

    • Working Dissertation: "Congress Speaks: Communication Strategies and Preference Formation in the U.S. House of Representatives"
    • Fields: U.S. Politics, Political Communication, Quantitative Methods, Interpretive Methods, Law & Courts, and Legislative Studies
    • Committee: Daniel Tichenor (chair), Alison Gash, James Conran, and Ryan Light (Sociology)

    Kahina Marie Freeman

    • Dissertation: "The Shadows of American Law: Enmity, Intersectionality and Police"
    • Committee: Alison Gash (chair), Gerald Berk, Debra Thompson, and Jeffrey Ostler (History)

    2021-22 Placements

    Alex Farrington

    • Dissertation: "Autonomous Problem-solving and the Creation of Community-controlled Housing Alternatives in the United States"
    • Committee: Alison Gash (chair), Gerald Berk, Anita Chari, and Howard Davis (Architecture)

    Thuy Nguyen

    • Dissertation: "Political Determinants of COVID-19 Mortality; Factional Politics in Vietnam; Rising Media Enclave Extremism"
    • Committee: Tuong Vu (chair), Yeling Tan, Clare Evans, and Michael Dreiling (Sociology)

    Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman

    • Dissertation: "The Clothing Curse: Institutional Causes and Political Consequences of Clothing Export Dependence in Developing Countries"
    • Committee: Tuong Vu (chair), Lars Skalnes, Craig Parsons, and Woan Foong Wong (Economics)

    John Rivera

    • Dissertation: "Good Order and Discipline: The Politics of Exclusion in the American Military"
    • Committee: Jane Cramer (chair), Craig Parsons, Priscilla Yamin, and Ellen Scott (Sociology

    2020-21 Placements

    Malori Musselman

    • Initial placement: Organizer, American Association of University Professors
    • Dissertation: “Faith and Change in Communities of Peril”
    • Committee Chair: Joseph Lowndes

    2019-20 Placements

    Crystal Brown

    • Initial placement: Assistant Professor in the Social Science Department; Director of the Society, Policy and Technology Program, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
    • Dissertation: “Never at Home: Immigrant Integration in Denmark and Sweden”
    • Committee Chairs: Jane Cramer and Daniel Tichenor

    Yongwoo Jeung

    • Initial placement: Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Incheon National University
    • Dissertation: “Labor Market Policy American Style: State Capacity and Policy Innovation, 1959-1968”
    • Committee Chair: Gerald Berk

    Jessica Neafie

    • Initial placement: Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, School of Sciences and Humanities, Nazarbeayev University
    • Dissertation: “Investigating the Effects of the Global Economy on Policy and Practice in Developing Countries: Foreign Direct Investment and the Environment”
    • Committee Chair: Ronald Mitchell

    Alberto Lioy

    • Initial placement: Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Latin American Politics, Department of Political Science, University of Kralové, Czech Republic
    • Dissertation: “Electoral Revolutions: A Comparative Study of Rapid Changes in Voter Turnout”
    • Committee Chair: Craig Kauffman

    2017-18 Placements

    Cary Fontana

    • Initial placement: US Department of Homeland Security
    • Dissertation: “Regionalist Party Electoral Outcomes and the Supply-side of Party Politics”
    • Committee Chair: Craig Parsons

    John Valdez

    • Initial placement: Visiting Assistant Professor, College of Wooster
    • Dissertation: “Building More Bombs: The Discursive Emergence of US Nuclear Weapons Policy”
    • Committee Chair: Jane Cramer

    Patrick Van Orden

    • Initial placement: Policy Analyst, Oregon Homecare Commission, State of Oregon
    • Dissertation: “The Foreign Policy of Revolutionary Leaders: Identity, Emotion, and Conflict Initiation”
    • Committee Chair: Tuong Vu

    2016-17 Placements

    Thibaud Henin

    • Initial placement: LTA Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Concordia University in Montreal
    • Dissertation: “The Strategic Use of Transnational Private Standards: Strengthening or Weakening Government Regulations?”
    • Committee Chair: Ronald Mitchell

    Gulce Tarhan Celebi

    • Initial placement: Instructor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Hacettepe University
    • Dissertation: “The Constitutional Court of Turkey from State-in-society Perspective”
    • Committee Chair: Tuong Vu

    2015-16 Placements

    Robin Barklis

    • Initial placement: Adjunct Faculty, Department of Political Science, Linfield College
    • Dissertation: “Together in Time: Historical Injustice, Collective Memory, and the Boundaries of Membership”
    • Committee Chair: Deborah Baumgold

    Lisa Beard

    • Initial placement: Assistant Professor, Department of American Politics, Western Washington University
    • Dissertation: “If We Were Kin: Race, Identification, and Intimate Political Appeal”
    • Committee Chairs: Daniel HoSang and Joseph Lowndes

    Mehmet Celil Celebi

    • Initial placement: Instructor, Department of Political Science, University of Oregon
    • Dissertation: “Contesting Democracy: A Relational Approach to the Study of Regime Change in Turkey Under the JDP Governments Until 2013”
    • Committee Chair: Craig Parsons

    Meian Chen

    • Initial placement: Senior Analyst, innovative Green Development Program (iGDP)
    • Dissertation: “Seizing the Opportunity: Climate Politics in Developing Countries”
    • Committee Chair: Ronald Mitchell

    David Root

    • Initial placement: Assistant Professor of Political Science; University Pre-Law Advisor, University of Indianapolis; Attorney at Law – Indiana
    • Dissertation: “The Chief Justice: Democratic Leadership of Judicial Decision-making in the Hidden Branch”
    • Committee Chair: Alison Gash

    John (Jay) Steinmetz

    • Initial placement: Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Fort Hays State University
    • Dissertation: “Reel American Creed: Race and Liberalism in Hollywood Cinema”
    • Committee Chair: Gerald Berk

    2014-15 Placements

    Jessica Hejny

    • Initial placement: Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Middle Tennessee State University
    • Dissertation: “Pragmatist Policymaking: Rethinking Deliberation and Experimentation in Contemporary Environmental Governance”
    • Committee Chair: Gerald Berk

    Kelley Littlepage

    • Initial placement: Instructional Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Houston
    • Dissertation: “Crafting International Legal Orders: Horizontal Legal Intergration and the Borrowing of Foreign Law in British Courts”
    • Committee Chair: Craig Parsons

    Kathryn Miller

    • Initial placement: Joint Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Politics and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies Program, Oberlin College
    • Dissertation: “Violence on the Periphery: Gender, Migration, and Violence against Women in the US Context”
    • Committee Chair: Daniel Tichenor

    Joshua Plencner

    • Initial placement: Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, State University of New York-Oswego
    • Dissertation: “Four-color Political Visions: Origins, Affect, and Assemblage in American Superhero Comic Books”
    • Committee Chair: Joseph Lowndes

    Jeremy Strickler

    • Initial placement: Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Service, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
    • Dissertation: “Between Guns and Butter: Cold War Presidents, Agenda-Setting, and Visions of National Strength”
    • Committee Chair: Daniel Tichenor

    Nicolas Thompson

    • Initial placement: Assistant Professor, School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, University of South Florida
    • Dissertation: “Imagining the Fed: Central Bank Structure and United States Monetary Governance (1913-1968)”
    • Committee Chair: Gerald Berk

    2013-14 Placements

    Debasis Bhattacharya

    • Initial placement: Professor, Amity University Gurugram, National Capital Region, India
    • Dissertation: “Legislative-Executive Relations and U.S. Foreign Policy: Continuum of Consensus and Dissension in Strategic Political Decision Process from 1970-2010”
    • Committee Chair: Priscilla Southwell

    Jekatyerina (Katya) Dunajeva

    • Initial placement: Assistant Professor, Pázmány Péter Catholic University; Researcher and Program Manager, Center for Teaching and Learning, Central European University; Senior Researcher, Public Policy and Management Institute, Lithuania
    • Dissertation: “‘Bad Gypsies’ and ‘Good Roma’: Constructing Ethnic and Political Identities through Education in Russia and Hungary”
    • Committee Chair: Craig Parsons

    Abdurrahman Pasha

    • Initial placement: Graduate Student in Social Work, Case Western University
    • Dissertation: “Between Conservatism and Socialism: Political Ambiguity and the Self-help Cooperative Movement in Los Angeles, 1931-1940”
    • Committee Chair: Joseph Lowndes