Ph.D. candidate Douglas Van Steel co-organized and co-founded the inaugural Southern Symposium for Political Thought, held March 1–2 at the University of Memphis. Hosted at the FedEx Institute of Technology, the symposium brought together scholars from across the U.S. South to cultivate a regional intellectual community focused on political thought. Congratulations, Douglas!
Graduate Alumni News
Ph.D. candidate Juan Carlos Campos has been selected to present his job market paper, “The Politics of Subnational Police Reform,” at the 2025 Empirical Studies of Conflict (ESOC) Conference in Taipei. Hosted by National Taiwan University and co-sponsored by Emory University, the ESOC Conference brings together leading research on conflict, governance, and political development. Juan will present his work this June among a highly competitive...
Ph.D. candidate Oren Samet has accepted a position as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Rice University. Before beginning his faculty appointment in Fall 2026, Oren will spend the 2025–2026 academic year as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL). Congratulations, Oren!
Ph.D. candidate Adam Bouyamourn will join Princeton University as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Politics and Machine Learning. His research focuses on causal inference, selective inference, and the politics of machine learning and AI. With a strong foundation in methodological innovation and an interdisciplinary approach, Adam is poised to make significant contributions to the field. Congratulations, Adam!
Ph.D. candidate Vanessa Navarro Rodríguez will join the University of Colorado, Denver as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2025. Her research explores indigenous politics, identity, and political behavior in Latin America, with a focus on Chile. A rising scholar in gender and security studies, Vanessa brings an impressive record of research and international collaboration to her new role. Congratulations, Vanessa!
Professor James Robinson , who served as a faculty member in the UC Berkeley Political Science Department from 1999 to 2004, has been named one of the winners of the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences . This prestigious recognition highlights his groundbreaking contributions to understanding the role of political institutions in the development of low-income countries. For more information visit here: https://tinyurl.com/39wnept5
We are very pleased to share the recipient of the 2024 APSA-IPSA Theodore J. Lowi First Book Award is PhD alumna Rochelle Terman. She won the award her book entitled The Geopolitics of Shaming: When Human Rights Pressure Works – and When It Backfires. Rochelle is the 3rd winner in a row to be a UC Berkeley PhD alumni. Congrats Rochelle,as well as 2023 winner...
We are very pleased to share that a couple of our recent alums are the 2024 recipients of a few APSA Awards. We want to congratulate our alums, Anna Callis & Anirvan Chowdhury. Please see the awards they received below. Anna Callis Sage Best Paper Prize for her paper, “When Economic Elites Support Democratization: Evidence from Argentina.” Anirvan Chowdhury Aaron Wildavsky Award for Best Dissertation...
The Political Science Department is thrilled to announce Alum Shterna Friedman as the recipient of the Inaugural Melvin Richter Prize, which is awarded by t he International Conference for the Study of Political Thought. She receives this for the best dissertation in the history of political thought, for “Kant, Hegel, and the Rise of Systemic Social Theory.” Her dissertation committee was Kinch Hoekstra (chair), Daniela...
We are delighted to share that PhD alum Jason Klocek has been awarded the JPR article of the year for the article he co-author with Hyun Jeong Ha and Nathanael Gratias Sumaktoyo entitled “ Regime change and religious discrimination after the Arab uprisings.” To learn more about his award, click this link, https://www.prio.org/news/3501#:~:text=Phillips%20(University%20of%20Essex)%20has,(JPR%2060%3A3)