2022
Summer Marion
Dissertation: “Governance in Crisis: Philanthropy and the Politics of Global Outbreaks“
Dissertation Chair: Daniel Aldrich
Timothy Fraser
Dissertation: “Communities in Crisis: How Cities Adapt to Climate Change in the US and Japan“
Dissertation Chair: Daniel Aldrich
Yitzhak Henry
Dissertation: “Governing Resilience: The Role of Government in Shaping Disaster Outcomes“
Dissertation Chair: Daniel Aldrich
2021
Alice Verticelli
Dissertation: “First Impressions at Europe’s Border: The Micro-Effects of Securitization on Migrants“
Dissertation Chair: Denis Sullivan
Kendall Bailey
Dissertation: “Nationalization of Gubernatorial Elections: The Impact of National and State Factors on Gubernatorial Vote Choice“
Dissertation Chair: Costas Panagopoulos
Zeynep Balcioglu
Dissertation: “Stretching the Limits of Authority: Why Do Local Governments Provide for Refugees?“
Dissertation Chair: Daniel Aldrich
Dylan Maguire
Dissertation: “Militia-State Partnerships in the Middle East: A Program of Action Approach“
Dissertation Chair: John Portz and Dov Waxman
Maria Robson
Dissertation: “Beyond Borders: How Public and Private Actors Institutionalize Intelligence Cooperation“
Dissertation Chair: Mai’a Cross
2020
Ioana Panaitiu
Dissertation: “Of Monsters and Men: The Political Implications of Dehumanization“
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Antonio Barreto
Ulrika Bonnier
Dissertation: “The Link Between Trafficking in Persons and Corruption: Connecting the Dots Between Public Officials and Organized Crime“
Dissertation Chair: Mai’a Cross
Current Position: Director of Programs at TRACE
Jaclyn Northrup
Dissertation: “U.S. Senatorial Campaigns and Legislative Promise Keeping on LGBTQ and Women’s Issues“
Dissertation Chair: Michael Tolley
2019
Juheon Lee
Dissertation: “Social Capital In The Face Of Natural Hazards: Community Resilience, Post-Disaster Trust, And Disaster Preparedness In East Asian Societies “
Dissertation Chair: Daniel Aldrich
Current Position: Assistant Professor at Midwestern State University
Courtney Page-Tan
Dissertation: “Building community resilience in public spaces: How online social media platforms and built structures for community activity are investments into our future”
Dissertation Chair: Daniel Aldrich
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Human Resilience in the Department of Security and Emergency Services at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Aeshna Badruzzaman
Dissertation: “The Weight of the State: Balancing Acts of NGOs in Bangladesh“
Dissertation Chair: Liza Weinstein
Current Position: Assistant Editor, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
Katharine Petrich
Dissertation: “The Resilient Terrorist: How Criminal Diversification Alters Group Longevity and Durability“
Dissertation Chair: Max Abrahms
Current Position: Visiting Researcher at the Center for Policy Research at the University of Albany
2018
Joseph Mroszczyk
Dissertation: “Dying for a Reason: An Empirical Assessment of the Tactical Utility of Suicide Operations“
Dissertation Chair: Max Abrahms
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Naval War College
Matthew Cohen
Dissertation: “Beyond Theory: Applying Empirical Evidence to Cyberspace Theories“
Dissertation Chair: Denise Garcia
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Practice, Merrimack College
Sidita Kushi
Dissertation: “Saving our Western Neighbors: How Regional Institutions and Conflict Perceptions Drive Humanitarian Military Interventions“
Dissertation Chair: Mai’a Cross
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Political Science, Bridgewater State University
Andrew McPherson
Dissertation: “Electronic Surveillance as a Counterterrorism Tool: Is Technology A Viable Strategy?“
Dissertation Chair: Stephen Flynn
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of New Hampshire, Manchester
Benjamin Larsen
Dissertation: “Cities Take the Lead: LGBT Nondiscrimination Policy Adoption by Local Governments“
Dissertation Chair: Thomas Vicino
Current Position: Research Associate, Idaho Policy Institute, Boise State University
2017
Elizabeth Moore
Dissertation: “Transnational Actors and New Venture Growth: Examining Formal and Informal Entrepreneurship from an Inter-Disciplinary Perspective“
Dissertation Chair: Thomas Vicino
Current Position: Assistant Teaching Professor, International Business and Strategy, D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University
2016
James Sutherland
Dissertation: “Municipal Institutions, Electoral System Designs, and Voter Turnout in Large American Cities“
Dissertation Chair: William Mayer
Current Position: Director of Policy and Research, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
Jarvis Chen
Dissertation: “Charter Schools and Accountability: A Study of Market and Compliance Accountability by Charter Authorizers“
Dissertation Chair: John Portz
Current Position: Program Director, McNair Scholars Program, Suffolk University
Dennis Dallaire
Dissertation: “Party Registration and Party Vote: The Relationship between Registration and Results in Massachusetts Elections“
Dissertation Chair: Bill Mayer
Current Position: Part Time Faculty, Bridgewater State University
Claudia Larson
Dissertation: “Party Registration and Party Vote: The Relationship between Registration and Results in Massachusetts Elections“
Dissertation Chair: Ron Hedlund
Current Position: Senior Director, Governmental Relations, National Milk Producers Federation
2015
Veronica Czastkiewicz
Dissertation: “Victims, Villains, Heroes: Melodrama and the Narrative of Charter School Policy Making”
Dissertation Chair: David Rochefort
Mladen Mrdalj
Dissertation: “Stasis Among Powers: Yugoslav Destruction After the Cold War”
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Barreto
Current Position: Adjunct Faculty, Department of History, Politics, International Relations and Religious Studies, Webster University
Julie M. Garey
Dissertation: “Understanding The U.S. – NATO Relationship In The Post-Cold War Era”
Dissertation Chair: David Schmitt
Current Position: Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science, Northeastern University
Panagoula “Youly” Diamanti-Karanou
Dissertation: “The Relationship Between Homeland and Diaspora: The Case of Greece and Greek-American Community”
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Barreto
Current Position: Assistant Teaching Professor in the International Affairs Program, Northeastern University
Alison Uzdella
Dissertation: “Changing Structures, Changing Identities: A Rational Choice Examination of Basque National Identity”
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Barreto
2014
Lacey Bradley-Storey
Dissertation: “Institutional Change and Social Instability in China”
Dissertation Chair: Suzanne Ogden
Guy Bellino
Dissertation: “Fuel Efficiency Regulation in the United States”
Dissertation Chair: Christopher Bosso
Current Position: Visiting Lecturer, Salem State University
Florencia Gabriele
Dissertation: “Where Do Delegative Democracies Go Wrong: The Case of Argentina”
Dissertation Chair: William Crotty
Current Position: Lecturer, Department of Business and Economics, Emmanuel College
Yipin Wu
Dissertation: “They Dynamics of Policy Change in China: Problem Definition, Agenda Setting and Actors”
Dissertation Chair: Suzanne Ogden
2013
Chris Chanyasulkit
Dissertation: “An Examination of the Influences on Massachusetts Legislators’ Level of Awareness regarding Health Disparities: Implications for Public Health Policymaking”
Dissertation Chair: Ronald Hedlund
Current Position: Senior Lecturer and Course Designer in the Department of Public Health, Simmons University
Christopher Cunningham
Dissertation: “Diasporas, Ethnic Conflict and Traumatic Events”
Dissertation Chair: David Schmitt
Robert A. Deleo
Dissertation: “Anticipatory Policymaking: When Government Acts to Prevent Problems and Why it is so Hard”
Dissertation Chair: David Rochefort
Current Position: Associate Professor of Public Policy, Bentley University
Johannes Eijmberts
Dissertation: “Government Support of Emerging Technologies: A Comparative View of Nanotechnology in the Netherlands and the United States of America”
Dissertation Chair: Christopher Bosso
Current Position: Senior Lecturer, Comparative Government and Politics, International Relations, and Globalization, Bentley University
David Smith
Dissertation: “Perceived Threats and the Integration of National Minorities: A Comparative Study of the United States and the United Kingdom”
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Barreto
Current Position: Senior Finance Manager, Security Technology Group, Akamai Technologies
2012
Heather Browne
Dissertation: “Education Reform in Egypt: Sources of Resistance in State and Society”
Dissertation Chair: Denis Sullivan
Current Position: Senior Instructor, Northeastern University College of Professional Studies
Mary Cardaras
Dissertation: “America’s Missteps: How Fear, Power, and Politics Led the United States Into Iraq”
Dissertation Chair: Robert Gilbert
Current Position: Chair of the Communications Department, California State University – East Bay
David Green
Dissertation: “Local Autonomy in face of Central Domination: an Examination of Japanese Immigration Policy”
Dissertation Chair: Suzanne Ogden
Current Position: Associate Professor of Political Science at Nagoya University
Sheila Kohanteb
Dissertation: “Decision Making Under Threat: Israeli and Palestinian Public Opinions”
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Barreto
Current Position: Forum Executive Director & Executive Director of External Relations for the Pearson Institute, University of Chicago
Marian Simion
Dissertation: “Religion in Political Conflict: A Constructivist Theoretical Model for Public Policy Analysis, Design and Implementation”
Dissertation Chair: W. D. Kay
Current Position: Field Education Supervisor, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University.
2011
Alison Dickson
Dissertation: “The First Steps on the Ladder to College Success: Understanding the Secondary School Factors that Determine the College Enrollment and Retention Outcomes of High School Graduates in Massachusetts”
Dissertation Chair: John Portz
Kimberly Jones
Dissertation: “Constructing the Nation in Opposition: Human Rights as Strategic Building Blocks- A Comparative Analysis of Sinn Fein and the IRA, the Egyptian Brotherhood, and Hamas”
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Barreto
Peter W. Richardson
Dissertation: “Russian Relations with Japan from 2000-2010: Enduring Obstacles, Limited Opportunities”
Dissertation Chair: Milton Goldman
Current Position: Senior Lecturer, Northeastern University College of Professional Studies
2010
Marwa Abdel Samei
Dissertation: “Public Diplomacy in the Age of Regional Media: Winning the War of Hearts and Minds in the Middle East- Al- Jazeera and Al-Hurra”
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Barreto
Current Position: Assistant professor, faculty of economics and political science; Cairo University, Egypt.
Chow Bing Ngeow
Dissertation: “Democratic Development in China’s Urban Communities”
Dissertation Chair: Suzanne Ogden
Current Position: Senior Lecturer, Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya
Martin Comack
Dissertation: “Comrades and Citizens: The Effect of Militant Labor Organizations Upon the Processes of Democratization in Communist Poland and Corporate Mexico”
Dissertation Chair: William Crotty
Current Position: Adjuct Faculty, Business & Professional Studies, Massachusetts Bay Community College
Kristen Hudak
Dissertation: “Political Institutions and Grassroots Development: The Political Economy of Microfinance”
Dissertation Chair: Kirsten Rodine-Hardy
Current Position: Associate Professor, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Emily Neal
Dissertation: “Playtime Preservation: Public-Private Partnerships in Public Land Management”
Dissertation Chair: Christopher Bosso
Current position: Professor, St. Louis Community College, Meramec Campus
Liubomir Topaloff
Dissertation: “Cuing Euroscepticism, or What Parties Make of It”
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Barreto
Current position: Associate Professor, Meiji University in Japan
2009
Joseph Coelho
Dissertation: “Building Stable and Effective States Through International Governance: The Politics of Technocratic Interventions”
Dissertation Chair: David Schmitt
Current position: Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science, Framingham State University
Kevin Donnelly
Dissertation: “The Rhetoric of Reform: Examining the Role of Political Language in Rhode Island’s Health Care Debate”
Dissertation Chair: David Rochefort
Current position: Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Bridgewater State University
Kaitlyn Kenney Walsh
Dissertation: “Deadlock: A Political Economy Perspective on the Massachusetts Health Policy Reform Experience”.
Dissertation Chair: David Rochefort
Current Position: Senior Director of Policy and Research, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation
Robyn Olson
Dissertation: “The Politics of Water Fluoridation from a Problem Definition Perspective”.
Dissertation Chair: Christopher Bosso
Current position: Partner, Boston Benefit Partners
2008
Riham Bahi
Dissertation: “Networking for Power and Change: Muslim Women Activism and the Transformation of Muslim Public Sphere”
Dissertation Chair: Denis Sullivan
Current Position: Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University
Rachel Ellett
Dissertation: “Emerging Judicial Power in Transitional Democracies: Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda”
Dissertation Chair: Michael Tolley
Current position: Professor of Political Science, Beloit College
Eugenia Hristova
Dissertation: “New Regime, Old Myths: Construction of Gender Identity and Women’s Political Participation in Egypt.”
Dissertation Chair: Eileen McDonough
2007
Milica Golubovic
Dissertation: “Assisting Democratization: Impact of International Organizations on Rule of Law Reform in Serbia.”
Dissertation Chair: William Crotty
Current Position: Lecturer, College of Professional Studies, Northeastern University
Petra Polaskova
Dissertation: “Institution-Building and Stability in Post-Conflict Societies.”
Dissertation Chair: William Crotty
Itir Toksoz
Dissertation: “Security Dilemmas and Threat Perceptions: Turkey at the Crossroads.”
Dissertation Chair: Amilcar Barreto
Current position: Assistant Professor of International Relations, Istanbul- Turkey
2006
Philip D’Agati
Dissertation: “Nationalism on the World Stage: Cultural Performances at the Modern Olympic Games”
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Barreto
Michelle Lee
Dissertation: ”The Rhetoric of Nationalism in Public Policy: Immigration and Indigenous Land Rights Policies in Australia”
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Barreto
2005
Leanne Doherty
Dissertation: “Level Playing Field for All?: Female Political Leadership and Athletics”.
Dissertation Chair: Christopher Bosso
Current position: Associate Professor and Chair of Political Science and International Relations, Simmons University
Marie Ganim
Dissertation: State Health Policy Analysis: The Promise of Reform
Chair: David Rochefort
Current position: Clinical Assistant Professor, Brown University; formerly, Health Insurance Commissioner, State of Rhode Island
Natalja Zabeida
Dissertation: “Making Space for Rape: Identity, Nationalism and Gender in the Disintegration of the former Yugoslavia”
Dissertation Chair: Amílcar Barreto
2004
Paul Beran
Dissertation: “Civil Society and Transitions to Participatory Governance: Palestinian NGOs Stuck Between Regime Control and Pragmatism”
Dissertation Chair: Denis Sullivan
Current position: Consultant, 1for3
Shadrack Nasong’o
Dissertation: “Contending Political Paradigms in Africa: Democratization vs. Authoritarianism in Kenya and Zambia”
Dissertation Chair: William Crotty
Current position: Professor of International Studies, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN.
Cynthia Newton
Dissertation: “Obesity as an Emerging Policy Domain, and Strategies to Combat Youth Obesity in Massachusetts”
Dissertation Chair: David Rochefort
Current Position: Associate Professor, Norwich University, Northfield, VT.
2003
Abdullah Al-Faqih
Dissertation: “The Struggle for Liberalization and Democratization in Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen.”
Dissertation Chair: Denis Sullivan
Current Position: Professor of Politics, Sana’a University, Yemen.
Nasser A. Qaedi
Dissertation: “The Security Motivated Cooperative Relationship and Development of the Gulf Cooperation Council”
Dissertation Chair: Denis Sullivan
Current Position: CEO, Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority
2002
Rosalie Arcala-Hall
Current Position: Professor, University of the Philippines Visayas