Doctoral Candidates & Research

Doctoral Candidates & Research

Learn more about our PhD Candidates, including those who are actively searching for new opportunities on the job market.

All of these students have defended a dissertation proposal and advanced to candidacy. Many of our PhD candidates have published in leading journals, presented papers at conferences, and secured fellowships and awards. Feel free to contact the students, their advisors, or the Schar School for additional information.

Biodefense PhD Candidates

Biodefense PhD Candidates

Elise Rowe
Dissertation: The Public Health Ramifications of the US and International Rise of Health Securitization
Chair: Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley

Christopher Quillen
Christopher Quillen' Linkedin page
Dissertation: Pick Your Poison: Explaining Terrorist Selection of Chemical and Biological Agents
Chair: Greg Koblentz

Political Science PhD Candidates

Job Market Candidates

Dersu Ekim Tanca 
Dersu Ekim Tanca's Website | Dersu Ekim Tanca's LinkedIn page
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: From 'Hybrid' towards 'Full' Authoritarianism? Regime Transitions in Turkey after 2011.
Chair: Eric McGlinchey

 

Political Science PhD Candidates

Melissa Bejjani
Dissertation: Thriving War Economies: Implications of Prolonging the Conflict, The Case of Syria
Chair: Bassam Haddad

Timothy Bynion
Timothy Bynion's Linkedin page
Dissertation: Party Foul: The Causes and Consequences of Party Disloyalty in Congress
Chair: Robert McGrath

Matthew Costlow
Dissertation: Shields as Swords? Assessing the Stability of Active Defenses in the Nuclear Era
Chair: Edward Rhodes

Brian Davis
Dissertation: Patron-Client Relations and Democratization in Asia: US Influence on Taiwan, South Korea, and the Philippines
Chair: Ming Wan

Kyle Fowler
Dissertation: National Champions: Russian Energy Exports as an Instrument of State Power
Chair: Eric McGlinchey

Christine German
Christine German's Website
Dissertation: Extremist Group Ideology’s Impact on Violence
Chair: Eric McGlinchey

Doug Penhallegon
Dissertation: Self-Efficacy, Theories of Poverty, and Critical Pedagogy in the (Re)Design of Job Readiness Training for TANF Recipients
Chair: Mariely Lopez-Santana

Erica Seng-White
Dissertation: Why variations exist between states in their level of nationalism in response to rising regional powers.
Chair: Ming Wan

Lauren Sidrow
Dissertation: Chinese Aid and Soft Power: Examining Recipient State Views of China Over Time
Chair: Peter Mandaville

Jason Smith
Jason Smith's LinkedIn page
Dissertation: Delegate or Abdicate: How Public Interest Influences Congressional and Executive Interactions
Chair: Jennifer Victor

James Suits
James Suits' Linkedin page | James Suites' Website
Dissertation: The Impact of Local Health Policies and Fiscal Stresses of Growth
Chair: Hilton Root

Dersu Ekim Tanca 
Dersu Ekim Tanca's Website | Dersu Ekim Tanca's LinkedIn page
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: From 'Hybrid' towards 'Full' Authoritarianism? Regime Transitions in Turkey after 2011.
Chair: Eric McGlinchey

Caroline Wesson
Caroline Wesson's Linkedin page
Dissertation: Exploring Economic Clusters: Three Essays on the Determinants, Structures, and Policy Influence of Clusters Around the Globe
Chair: J.P. Singh

Yang Yang
Yang Yang's LinkedIn page
Dissertation: Examining Variation in States' Tax Expenditure Budgets
Chair: Robert McGrath

Public Policy PhD Candidates

Job Market Candidates

Damon Dade
Damon Dade's LinkedIn page
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: Ethical and Regulatory Frameworks for the Support of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Chair: Laurie Schintler

Aubrey Grant
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: Networks and Policy Outcomes: The Case of Refugee Integration
Chair: Jennifer Victor

Narae Lee
Narae Lee's website
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: Labor Market Policy, Infrastructure, and Jobs in Developing Countries
Chair: Maurice Kugler

Rich Outzen
Rich Outzen's LinkedIn page
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: Turning the Stripped Screw: Thirty Years of U.S. Coercive Diplomacy
Chair: Peter Mandaville

 

Public Policy PhD Candidates

 

Lutfi Anggara
Dissertation: The Long-Run Effects of a Colonial Institution on Development and Political Economic Preferences: Evidence from Indonesia
Chair: Hilton Root

Patrick Baxter
Dissertation: Evaluating the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing and Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Programs’ Penalty Methodologies
Chair: Naoru Koizumi

Kurt Birson
Dissertation: Bringing Back a Nation: A Human Capital Focus on the Relationship Between Education, Employment, and Migration in Honduras
Chair: Kenneth Reinert,

Heejoo Cheon
Heejoo Cheon's Linkedin page
Dissertation: Mass Mobilization and the Level of Democracy
Chair: Jack A. Goldstone

Patrick Condray
Dissertation: The Maine Event: A Case Study of Ranked Choice Voting and Democracy in the United States
Chair: Jeremy D. Mayer

Daniel Da Silva Grimaldi
Dissertation: Credit constraints and firms growth in the developing world
Chair: Maurice Kugler

Damon Dade
Dissertation: Ethical and Regulatory Frameworks for The Support of Trushworthy Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Chair: Laurie Schintler

Aaron Finney
Dissertation: Understanding the Digital Divide in U.S. Public Schools: An Case of Federal Technology Subsidies and Access in Virginia
Chair: Connie McNeely

Aubrey Grant
Dissertation: Networks and Policy Outcomes: The Case of Refugee Integration
Chair: Jennifer Nicoll Victor

Allison Grayson 
Dissertation: Communicating the Nonprofit Sector to the Federal Policy Arena
Chair: Alan Abramson

Narae Lee
Dissertation: Labor Market Policy, Infrastructure, and Jobs in Developing Countries
Chair: Maurice Kugler

Matthew Lundgren
Dissertation: General Deterrence and Seapower: A case study of Japan, the United States, and the road to World War II
Chair: Michael Hunzeker

Lauren N. McCarthy
Lauren N. McCarthy's website | Lauren N. McCarthy's LinkedIn page
Dissertation: Hacking the Bureaucracy: Micro-mobility and the policy process - policy-making in the age of the smart city
Chair: Jonathan Gifford

Neslihan McCorkel
Dissertation: Refugees and their Labor Market Integration: Three Essays on Factors Influencing Employment Outcomes in the Global South
Chair: Kenneth Reinert

Daniel L. Ofori-Addo
Daniel L. Ofori-Addo’s LinkedIn page
Dissertation: Essays On Socioeconomic Determinants and Impact of Information and Communications Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa
Chair: Kenneth Reinert

Andrew Paterson
Dissertation: The Political Economy of Nuclear Energy: A Risk-based Framework for Policy Implementation
Chair: David Hart

Geoffrey Scott
Dissertation: Institutional Design in Community-Based Natural Resource Management for Wildlife Conservation
Chair: Louise Shelley

Jennifer Smith-Heys
Dissertation: A Roadmap to Reform: Building a Theory of Intelligence Commissions
Chair: Jim Pfiffner

Sasithorn Supakienmongkol
Dissertation: Mismatch Among Thai STEM Certificate Holders: Determinants and Consequences
Chair: David Hart

Joseph Swiecki
Dissertation: A Study on Presidential Approval and the Use of Force
Chair: Colin Dueck

Merve Ulukaya
Merve Ulukaya's Linkedin page
Dissertation: Essays on the Impact of Refugee Flow on Turkey’s Healthcare System and Refugees’ Access to Healthcare
Chair: Jack Goldstone