Most graduates from UC Irvine’s Department of Political Science doctoral program have proceeded to work at research universities and liberal arts colleges, while others have pursued non-academic careers in government, nongovernmental organizations, and private industry.

Below is a complete list of our Ph.D. graduates and their placements since the 2007-08 academic year.

 

Name	Dissertation	Placement*	Degree Awarded
Kristen Aanstoos	Local Voices at the Table: How Participation in Peace Processes Shapes Women's Political Empowerment	Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Public and International Affairs, University of Cincinnati	2024
Wondong Lee	The Discursive Politics of Transnational anti-LGBTQ+ Activism in South Korea	Center for International Studies at Inha University | Research Fellow	2024
Benjamin Hoyt	Scepticism Without Reductionism: A Reimagination of the Political Thought of Bernard Williams	Mercer University | Assistant Professor	2023
Benjamin Raynor	The Political Economy of Post-Sanction Reinvestment: Why Firms Dive in or Defer After Financial Sanctions	Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) | Senior Country Risk Analyst - The Americas	2023
Kyle McWagner	The Existence and Impact of Partisan Political Intolerance	University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee | Visiting Assistant Professor	2023
Prince Paa-Kwesi Heto	Regional Peace and Conflict: The Role of Global Value Chains	Soka University of America, Graduate School	2023
Robin Brooks Ishler	The Case for a New English School: A New Response To The Fourth Debate	Touro University | Assistant Professor of Political Science	2023
Misbah Hyder	Empowerment through Submission: Conceptualizing Ahmadiyya Muslim Agency as Sabr	Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Notre Dame | Postdoctoral Fellow	2022
Chaz Briscoe	Exhibiting a Black Ecology of Environmental Degradation: Anti-Blackness Coalescing Around Multiple Sites of Power	Virginia Tech | Postdoctoral Fellow	2022
Phoebe Moon	When the Target Fights Back:Economic Coercion and Interstate Conflict in the Era of Global Value Chains	Mercer University | Assistant Professor	2022
Pooya Safarzadeh	Legalizing Foreignness: The Supreme Court’s Adoption of Racial Stereotypes in its Wartime Civil Liberties Cases	Cal State University East Bay | Assistant Professor	2022
Nathan Chan	Youth Consciousness and Intergenerational Solidarity in American Political Behavior	Loyola Marymount University  | Assistant Professor	2022
Isabel Gonzales	And If the World Should End Tonight...: Racial Capitalism, Sexual Mythmaking, and Tumblr’s Queer-of-Color Worlds of Resistance	University of Virginia | Postdoctoral Fellow	2022
Bianca Rubalcava	Naming Racism, Confronting Anti-Blackness: Transnational Mexican American Racialization and Coalition Building	University of Pacific | Assistant Profoessor	2022
Shauna Gillooly	Incomplete Peace and Strategies of Resilience in Columbia	American Council on Learned Societies & The Carnegie Foundation | Leading Edge Postdoctoral Fellow	2021
James Nguyen	Cosmopolitan Intergenerational Justice and Climate Change	Canadian Federal Government, Ottawa | Policy Analyst at Natural Resources	2021
Elham Kazemi	"Narratives of 'Terror' and Transitional Justice: The Politics of Exclusion"	Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) | Senior Research Associate	2021
Chungjae Lee	Inventing "The People": The Discourse of Democratic Transformation in Early 20th Century Imperial Japan and Colonial Korea	Gettysburg College | Visiting Assistant Professor	2021
Lev Nachman	Movement Parties in Contested States: The Case of Taiwan's Post-Sunflower Movement Parties	Harvard University | Postdoctoral Fellow	2021
Daeun Song	The Asian American Division over Affirmative Action: Examining the Case of SCA5 and the Rise of Chinese American Conservatism	Ministry of Foreign Affairs, South Korea | Senior Analyst	2020
Brett Savage	California Special Districts – Accountability, Composition, and Trends	Cal Poly San Luis Obispo | Lecturer	2020
Stacey Liou	Political Intelligibility and the Performative Force of Assembly	University of Florida | Assistant Professor	2020
Jonathan Cervas	A Quantitative Assessment of the Electoral College, 1790-2020	Carnegie Mellon University, Institute for Politics and Strategy | Post doctoral Fellow	2020
Christopher Stoughton	The Tragedy of Climate Change	California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Lecturer	2020
Hallee Caron	Persuasion without Protection: Readmission Agreements, Informal Arrangesments, and the International Refugee Regime	California State Auditor Office | Auditor Evaluator	2020
Mary Anne Mendoza	Educated into Violence: The Colonial Origins of Separatist Rebellion	California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Assistant Professor	2020
Maneesh Arora	Which Race Card? Understanding Racial Appeals in U.S. Politics	Wellesley College | Assistant Professor	2019
Archie Delshad	Politicization and Racialization: Iranian American Political Participation and Identity Formation	Fullerton College | Associate Professor	2019
John Emery	War by Algorithm: Giambattista Vico and Ethics of War in the Technological Era	University of Oklahoma | Assistant Professor of International Security	2019
Jovan Milojevich	Yugoslavia Revisited: An Examination of the Immediate Effects and Long-Term Implications of Western (Foreign) Policies During and After the Yugoslav Crisis	Oklahoma State University | Visiting Assistant Professor	2019
Alexandra Raleigh	Transitional Justice as a Complex System: The Dynamics of Holistic Justice in South Africa	Case Western Reserve University School of Law | Law Student	2019
Alex Lee	Nuclear Debates and Political Competition in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan: Denuclearization or Nuclear Latency in the aftermath of Fukushima	Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Postdoctoral Fellow	2019
Hannah Kim	Middle Class and Democratic Citizenship in East Asia	University of Nebraska Omaha | Assistant Professor	2019
Dirk Horn	Two Paths: A Comparative Analysis of the Narco-economics and Drug Control Policies in Latin America--The Case of Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, and Uruguay	California State University, Bakersfield | Visiting Assistant Professor	2018
Pernilla Johansson	External Actors in International Peacebuilding	Sida | Head of Sida Partnership Forum	2018
Marcos Scauso	Indianismo: Debating Conditions of Possibility for Multi-relational Coexistence	Quinnipiac University | Assistant Professor	2018
Trevor Allen	The Far Right and the Left Behind: The Demographic Deepening and Surprising Durability of Far Right Parties in Western Europe, 2009-2014	Central Connecticut State University | Assistant Professor	2017
Carrie Reiling	Advocating for Themselves: Seeking Security Through Women's Peacebuilding Organizations in Cote D'Ivoire	Washington College | Assistant Professor	2017
Misty Knight-Finley	Rights, Regimes, and Reinvention: The Role of the Welfare State in Same-Sex Relationship Recognition Policy	Rowan University | Assistant Professor	2017
Hannah Alarian	Migrant Employment and the Foundations of Integration: A Multimethod Approach	University of Florida | Assistant Professor	2017
Peter Beattie	Crooked Timber and the Broken Branch: The Invisible Hand in the Marketplace of Ideas	The Chinese University of Hong Kong | Assistant Professor	2017
Katelyn Finley	Inequality Across Transition Counties: The Demand for and Supply of Income Redistribution	University of California, Irvine | Lecturer	2017
Jennifer Jones	Talk "Like a Man:" Feminine Style in the Pursuit of Political Power	Loyola Marymount University | Visiting Assistant Professor	2017
Sahar Khan	Legitimizing State-sponsored Militants: The Role of Civil Institutions in Pakistan	Cato Institute, Washington, DC | Post-Doc	2017
Joshua Malnight	Economic Coercion and the Logics of Global Business	Signet Jewelers | Citizen Data Scientist	2017
Kelsey Norman	Reluctant Reception: Understanding Host State Migration and Refugee Policies in Egypt, Morocco and Turkey	Rice University, Baker Institute for Public Policy | Director, Women's Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program & Fellow for the Middle East	2017
Graham Odell	From the Ashes Shall Rise: Determinants of State Reconstitution in Republican China and Sengoku Japan	Pomona College | Lecturer	2017
James Alexander Keena	The Electoral Consequences of Size in American Politics	Virginia Commonwealth University | Assistant Professor	2016
Kenneth Chaiprasert	The Political Incorporation of Children of Refugees: The Experience of Central Americans and Southeast Asians in the U.S.	East Los Angeles College | Assistant Professor	2016
Heather Cox	Essays of Foreign Direct Investment, Financial Development, and Economic Institutions	U.S. International Trade Commission | International Economist	2016
John Cuffe	Marginals, Mavericks, and Majorities: Elements of Legislative Behavior, Politics, and Elections	U.S. Census Bureau | Statistician	2016
Jennifer Garcia	From Protest to Policymaking: African American Legislative Behavior in the Post-War Era	Oberlin College | Assistant Professor	2016
Lev Marder	Economies of Ignorance: Genealogical Study of Political Ignorance in Late Modernity	Queen's University | SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow	2016
Robert Nyenhuis	The Prevalence of Populism in Latin America: Contenders, Citizens, and Campaigns	California Polytechnic University, Pomona | Assistant Professor	2016
Tanya Schwarz	Instruments of the Divine? Faith-Based Organizations in International Politics	American Political Science Association, Director	2016
Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi	Speaking Law to War: International Law, Legal Advisers, and Bureaucratic Contestation in U.S. Defense Policy	University of South Florida | Assistant Professor	2015
Johanna Solomon	Identity Change in Jewish-Muslim Inter-Group Contact: A Longitudinal Study of Two Inter-Group Dialogue Programs	Kent State University | Assistant Professor	2015
John Altick	Radical Democracy: A Principled Disruption	The Citadel | Visiting Assistant Professor	2015
Mark Berlin	Implementing International Law: The Criminalization of Atrocities in Domestic Legal Systems Since World War II	Marquette University | Assistant Professor	2015
Alfredo Carlos	Economic Democracy: From Continual Crisis to a People Oriented Economy	California State University, Long Beach | Lecturer	2015
Leah Hemze	Antinomy as Critique: Popular Sovereignty as Practice and Theory	Anthem Inc. | Metrics Executive Advisor	2015
Tom Le	Where Power Projection Ends: Constraints and Restraints on Japanese Militarism	Pomona College | Assistant Professor	2015
Bryan Nelle	Finding the Political: The Ethical Consumer and Neoliberalism	Chadwick International School, Songdo, South Korea	2015
Sierra Powell	The Political Potential of Americans with Disabilities: A Study of Political Engagement and Preferences	Mt. San Antonio College Professor | Associate Professor	2015
Jason Vick	A Twenty-First Century Defense of Participatory Democracy	Freelance Writer & Independent Scholar	2015
Josh Gellers	Global Norms and Green Constitutions: Explaining the Emergence of Constitutional Environmental Rights	University of North Florida | Associate Professor	2014
Kris Coulter	The Personal is Juridical: Explaining the Variation in the Legal Treatment of Women and Men in the United States Supreme Court	University of Wisconsin, Green Bay | Assistant Professor	2014
Heidi Haddad	Advocates, Institution Builders, and Gatekeepers: NGOs and International Human Rights Justice	Pomona College | Associate Professor of Politics	2014
Ryan Shirah	Institutional Legacy and the Stability of New Democracies: The Lasting Effects of Competitive Authoritarianism	University of Tennessee | Institutional Research Analyst	2014
Bron Tamulis	Louis Althusser, Leo Strauss, and the Theoretical Turn in Political Leadership	Charter Oak State College | Teaching Faculty	2014
Wilfred Wan	Institutional Change and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime	United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research | Lead Researcher	2014
Amy Grubb	The microdynamics of violence and order : variations in community security processes	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University | Associate Professor	2014
Neil Chaturvedi	Hiding and Hedging: Surviving the Ideological Center in the United States Senate	California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Associate Professor	2013
Nathan Jones	The State Reaction: A Theory of Illicit Network Resilience	Sam Houston State University | Assistant Professor	2013
Victoria Wilson	Deconstructing race and gender in the 2008 presidential election	Asian Pacific American Legal Center | Research Analyst	2013
Andrea Vandom	The effect of wages on extortion	House 47 | Managing Partner	2013
Danvy Le	Under pressure? : effects of social pressure on political participation in a vietnamese community in California	Cal State University East Bay | Assistant Professor	2013
Colin Moore	Foreign policy and the six-party talks: the effects of regime type and state vulnerability	Sacramento City College Adjunct Professor	2012
Karl Kruse	Markets in regulation: the regulators, incentives, and pathways for change	Management Consultant	2012
Adam Martin	Forgiveness in an age of terror: the political psychology of forgiving the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks	Graceland University, Iowa | Assistant Professor	2012
Kathryn Cooper	Discrimination and participation : the effect of perceived gender discrimination on women's political activity	Federal Government	2012
Amy Alexander	The gender gap in parliamentarians' pathways, roles, styles and policy attitudes: comparisons across parties and nations in Western Europe	Assistant Professor, Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden	2011
Madeline Baer	Privatizing water: globalization, states and human rights	Occidental College | Associate Professor, Diplomacy & World Affairs	2011
Alix Van Sickle	Beyond electoral democracy: civil society and the construction of democratic citizenship in Latin America	Point Loma Nazarine University, Adjunct Professor	2011
Nathan Jones	The state reaction: a theory of illicit network resilience	Sam Houston State University, Associate Professor of Security Studies	2011
Denise Robb	The effect of instant runoff voting on democracy [electronic resource]	Pierce College (CA), Assistant Professor	2011
Bridget Portman	Death anxiety and political ideology: a multimethod investigation	Santa Clara University, Adjunct Professor	2011
Zahra Ahmed	Service learning in policy and practice: a study of service learning across three universities	UC Irvine, Director, Civic & Community Engagement	2010
Thomas Doyle	Moral dilemmas: acquiring nuclear weapons in the second nuclear age	Associate Professor, Political Science, Texas State University, San Marcos	2010
Kathy Rim	In solidarity? the influence of racial group consciousness on Asian American political behavior	Wesleyan University, Assistant Professor	2010
Christopher Stout	Black empowerment in the Age of Obama	Wellesley College, Assistant Professor	2010
Armando Ibarra Salazar	Poverty in the valley of plenty: Mexican families and migrant work in California	University of Wisconsin, School for Workers, Assistant Professor	2010
Willy Jou	Left-right orientations in new democracies [electronic resource]: cognition, contents, consequences	Waseda University, Japan, Postdoc	2010
Reuben Kline	Essays in political economy	SUNY, Stonybrook, Associate Professor	2010
Christopher Balding	The political economics of international trade: the impact of institutions, governance quality, and public spending	HSBC School of Business, Beijing University, Assistant Professor	2009
Robin Bowman	Uncovering the conditions of terrorism by armed Muslim separatist groups in the Philippines through the variable interaction analysis	Defense Department	2009
John Ensch	Electoral systems and regional cooperation: politics and economics in Metropolitan Planning Organizations	Private Industry, Germany	2009
P. Brian Fisher	Reframing global climate change: achieving human security for vulnerable communities	College of Charleston, Assistant Professor	2009
Bruce Hemmer	The democratization of peacebuilding: the political engagement of peacebuilding NGOs in democratizing societies	U.S. Department of State	2009
Nhu-Ngoc Ong	Governing music in Vietnam: from socialist to post-socialist use of nationalism	Publisher and Editor in Chief, Viet Tide Magazine, Garden Grove CA	2009
Saba Ozyurt	Integrating Muslim immigrant women in the United States and the Netherlands: effects of religiosity and migrant religious institutions	Alliant International University, Assistant Professor	2009
Becki Scola	Are all states created equal: the supply and demand of women state legislators	St. Joseph's University (PA), Associate Professor	2009
Daniel Wehrenfennig	The missing link: citizen dialogue in Northern Ireland and Israel/Palestine	Executive Director, The Olive Tree Initiative, UC Irvine	2009
Molly Patterson	The dynamics of deliberation: power and structuration in democratic communication	Associate Professor, Aquinas College	2008
Ballestero Lee	Citizen support in democracies: the effects of media exposure and content on attitudes toward democracy	Moorpark College Professor	2008
Joe Bergeron	Social movement promotion of public policy during challenging times	University of Wisconsin-Parkside Assistant Professor	2008
Titus Chen	Capped socialization: how have international norms changed China, 1860-2007	National Chenchi University, Taipei, Assistant Research Fellow	2008
Natalie Masuoka	Rethinking race and politics: mixed race and the trajectory of minority politics in the United States	University of California Los Angeles, Associate Professor	2008
Stephen Nuño	Messenger politics: the influence of co-ethnic partisan recruitment on Latino vote choice	Northern Arizona University Assistant Professor	2008
Michael Latner	Metropolitan fragmentation and electoral mobilization: a study of the impact of residential settlement patterns on voter turnout in the United States	Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Assistant Professor	2008
Bogdan Radu	Traditional believers and democratic citizens: a contextualized analysis of the effects of religion on support for democracy in East Central Europe	Babes-Bolyai University, Bucharest, Assistant Professor	2008

 

* (in most cases, initial placement after leaving UCI Only)