Our Current Grad Students

Neil Abrams

I study comparative politics with a focus on Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. My dissertation is on corruption, organized crime, and big business in Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine. In my free time I run my own extortion racket here in Rockridge. If you're a prospective student, feel free to email me at nabrams@berkeley.edu.

Sener Akturk

I entered the Ph.D. program in Berkeley in 2003, after graduating from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies and an M.A. in International Relations. My subfields are, Comparative Politics, Post-Communist Studies (alternatively called, Eastern Europe, Russia, Eurasia), and Political Theory. I advanced to candidacy in April 2006 with a dissertation project comparing the regimes of ethnicity in Austria, Germany, Soviet Union/Russia, and Turkey, since the end of World War I. (Please especially feel free to e-mail me anything about policies on ethnicity in general or in these countries.) Berkeley is a heavenly place. Graduate students here are extremely intelligent and social at the same time, which is rather hard to find anywhere else that I can think of. For those foreigners reading this paragraph, I'd like to mention that, apart from my native language, which is not hard to guess (hint: what is my name?), I have a deteriorating proficiency in German and an elementary but improving knowledge of Russian.
Website: http://sener.akturk.googlepages.com Email: sakturk@berkeley.edu

Ben Allen

I arrived at Berkeley in the Fall of 2007, with the goal of studying Comparative Politics with a regional focus on Latin America (particularly Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina). I am especially interested in issues relating to poverty and social policy. After earning my BA in Latin American Studies from Wesleyan University, in 2002, I spent a year teaching high school Spanish in Seattle, served as a Rural Health Educator with the Peace Corps in Paraguay, and last year contracted as a Spanish/English Medical Interpreter (after a brief unglorious stint at Starbucks) in Portland, Oregon. I can be reached at ben_stewart_allen@berkeley.edu, and am happy to answer any questions from prospective students.

Celeste Arrington

I joined the department in 2004 and my subfields are East Asia, comparative politics and international relations. I am interested in East Asian security and its relationship to refugee and immigration policy in Japan and Korea. I am working on Japanese and Korean. Born in Seattle, I was raised in Basel, Switzerland and Davis, CA. After graduating from Princeton in 2003, I spent a year getting my MPhil in Japanese studies at Trinity College, Cambridge. I now live with my husband (a Berkeley Ph.D. student in Classical Archaeology) in the wonderful neighborhood of Rockridge. I am a member of Veritas, the graduate Christian fellowship. A retired coxswain after ten years of bossing people around, I have found new hobbies - running, cooking and anything to do with Japan or France. I would be happy to answer any queries, just email me at c_arrington(at)berkeley.edu.

Erik Baekkeskov

My professional interest is governance reform in advanced democracies. My dissertation focuses on the development and background of contracting-out, particularly in the UK, Sweden and Denmark. I have chosen to look at some basic, back-office activities that are first in line when contracting-out is considered, but that have rarely received scrutiny in empirical or theoretical work.

I like to cover the range – from the gritty details of reality to the broad, abstract concepts. I suppose that is why political science is where I have landed. The profession allows me to leverage several interests, including languages, history, current events and quantitative analysis. Because so much of politics is hidden, those of us who like to analyze it get to synthesize many types of knowledge to develop clarity.

I have a geographic interest in the successor states of the former Soviet Union, especially the Russian Federation and the Central Asian republics. I also have a topical interest in the origins of violent conflict and the role that group identity/ies play in such conflicts. As an undergraduate, I studied Economics and French literature at Northwestern University. I speak Russian, French, and Japanese. In my free time, I enjoy skiing, scuba diving, singing, and traveling.

Seaman (Guy) Barker

I am a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the University of California, Berkeley. I received two undergraduate degrees (history and Asian studies) at the University of Utah, and a master's degree (Asian studies) at Berkeley. My three sub-fields of interest for my Ph.D. are: area studies (China), international relations and comparative studies. My research interests include: China's leadership during the Deng Xiaoping era and beyond, political participation in China, political reform in China's urban areas, cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan, China's relationship with Vietnam, etc. At Berkeley, I have taken courses in history, anthropology, Chinese language and Vietnamese language, in addition to my coursework in political science. My personal interests include: cooking (and eating!), writing trivia questions, film, basketball, reading classic literature, traveling, gardening, etc. I have been married for ten years to my lovely wife Hong. As of yet, we have no children (or pets)...but who knows?

Jackie Bass

Matthew Baxter

Matt was born in upstate New York, graduated from Oberlin College, and has spent a number of years in Tamil Nadu, India. His dissertation is a project in comparative political theory with a geographic focus on the Dravidian South. Matt can be contacted at mhbaxter@berkeley.edu.

Jason Blakely

Jason was born and raised in Colorado. He graduated with honors from Vassar College in 2003. His scholarly interests at Berkeley include conservatism, the connections between religion and politics, American founding theory, ancient Greek philosophy and German idealism.

My dissertation examines the changing nature of presidential election campaigns in Chile, Peru, and Brazil, focusing on the linkages between politicians and citizens and the cleavages being emphasized in candidates' appeals to voters. I have also published an article on the influence of television on voting behavior in Latin American elections involving neopopulist candidates. My previous research agenda, which resulted in a co-authored book and a number of articles, examined the impact of the Internet on authoritarian rule. I also served as editorial assistant for the journal Studies in Comparative International Development for two years, and recently co-edited the special issue "The Digital Revolution and International Development" with my colleague Thad Dunning. Finally, I am interested in both qualitative and quantitative methodology. I have taken several graduate-level classes in the Berkeley Statistics department, have written a concept paper on path dependence, and am writing one on neoliberalism (co-authored with fellow grad student Jordan Gans-Morse). When not occupied with academic pursuits, I enjoy cycling, hiking, and cooking. To read more about all of the above, please visit socs.berkeley.edu/~tboas.

I'm interested in comparative politics and international relations, with an emphasis on the political economy of developing regions. I'm also intrigued by the interaction of digital communications technologies and politics, with regard to governance, development practices and the redefinition of our understanding of property and markets. Regionally my main interest is sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to arrival in Berkeley I did an undergraduate degree in Anthropology at The University of Chicago and worked in management and technology consulting for five years. I particularly value the Berkeley political science department's appreciation for diverse backgrounds and interests and am constantly amazed by the wealth of opportunities here. The university as a whole is also great, especially given the recent successes of the football and basketball teams! Outside of school the native Ohioan in me thinks the Bay area is simply brilliant and feels no need to see snow when there are irises blooming in January. I'm slowly but surely making may way to all the local hiking trails. I'm happy to talk with any prospective grad students about the department, the transition from the corporate world to academia or any other general issues. jbussell@uclink.berkeley.edu.

Jennifer Brass

My primary research interests pertain to the political economy and public administration of Sub-Saharan Africa. My dissertation research is on public service provision in Africa, and examines the growth of non-governmental organizations providing services to the populace, as relating to theories of privatization & governance, civil society and African politics. I received an undergrad degree in Foreign Service and African Studies from Georgetown University. I then spent several years working in international development orgs in DC, Dublin and Nairobi - and traveling as much as possible. I started the PhD program in Fall 2003. I highly recommend Berkeley both for the supportive student and faculty environment, and perhaps even more for the weather and the location. When I’m not researching, I like to hike, rock climb, travel and cook. jbrass@berkeley.edu.

I study comparative politics and Latin America, with a particular interest in state formation, party system development, and historical modes of explanation. My main country of interest is Colombia, where I spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar from 1995-96 and where my parents are from originally. My dissertation will look at the relationship between party system dynamics and the creation of a national army in Colombia and seek to develop comparative insights into the linkages between state formation and the development of democratic party competition in Latin America. I joined the department in the fall of 2000 after having worked at a nonprofit organziation for four years. Since 1999, I've volunteered on the Advisory Board of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (www.ynpn.org). I graduated from Williams College with a BA in Political Science in 1995, and I'm so glad to have gotten away from winters in western Massachusetts. However, that's where I met my wife, so the frostbite was worth it. We live in the Lake Merritt neighborhood of Oakland, where I keep the neighbors awake with my unfortunate guitar playing. You can reach me at cardonac@socrates.berkeley.edu.

I'm studying the political economy of Western Europe, specifically labor market reforms in France, Britain, and Germany. I'm especially interested in issues of equity, worker security, and economic growth. My undergraduate degrees are in economics and philosophy—from Whitman College, in the onion and vineyard town of Walla Walla, WA—and I have an M.A. in international studies and an M.P.A. from the University of Washington. Before coming to Berkeley, I taught at the Academie de Paris and at Yunnan University. I currently consult for the World Bank on governance and corruption. I love to travel and I have never met a European capital or a sandy beach I didn't like. I'm originally from Seattle and I've found Berkeley shares a lot of the beauty, liberal character, and musical richness of Seattle, but without the rain! Feel free to contact me at betsy@berkeley.edu if you have any questions regarding the program in general, or, more specifically, European political economy.

I'm a Bay Area native who is happy to be back home in the sunshine after ten years back East (including one year in England). While I retained my usage of the word hella during my long Eastern exile, I did pick up a few new habits, including a love of choral singing, an addiction to good cheese, a penchant for eccentric thrift-store clothing, and a passion for American (especially Southern) politics. I did my undergrad at Yale, worked for a year in Arlington (VA, not TX), got an MPhil in History at Cambridge, and entered the PhD program at UC Berkeley in the fall of 2006. My academic interests are mysterious and varied, but among them are American Political Development, historical and rational-choice institutionalism, the politics of the American South, and comparative political economy. My heroes include J.S. Bach, V.O. Key, and Steely Dan. I can't say enough good things about Berkeley, both as a place to live and as a community of scholars, and I would be happy to answer questions from prospective students at caughey@berkeley.edu.

Crystal Chang joined the department of political science at the University of California, Berkeley in Fall 2004. Her primary research interests include the political economy of Asia and global technology trends. She is currently interested in the evolving regulatory environment in countries like India and China, especially issues concerning intellectual property, venture capital, and innovation. Prior to attending UC Berkeley, Crystal spent two years in business development for a global computer and server manufacturer, Tyan Computer, in their Shanghai office. She also worked for two years as an investment manager at Harbinger Venture Management, a Taiwanese-invested venture capital firm with offices in Taiwan, China, and California. She holds a Master’s of Pacific International Affairs from UC San Diego’s School of International Relations and Pacific Studies and a Bachelor’s in International Relations with a Minor in Chinese Language from Stanford University. On a more personal level, Crystal is an aspiring geek who loves cooking for friends, running in the Berkeley hills, and traveling to the ends of the earth. Please feel free to email her regarding the program, her interests, or life in California. crystalchang@berkeley.edu

Robia Charles

I entered the department in fall 2004 with a focus in Post-Communist Studies and Comparative Politics. While I am interested in all the successor states of the former Soviet Union, my special geographic interest is in the Russian Federation (North Caucasus and Ural republics). I am also interested in nationalism, succession, federalism, and violent conflict. I grew up in Sacramento (CA), Senegal and Ghana. At the University of California, Davis, I studied Russian and math. Following this I received a Masters Degree in Russian Politics at the European University of St. Petersburg, Russia. I speak Russian, eroding French and am currently working on Turkish and Amharic. In my spare time I love to travel, learn to cook, and listen to Portishead. Please feel free to email me at robia@berkeley.edu.

Sara Chatfield

I entered Berkeley's PhD program in 2006 after graduating from Oberlin College with a major in Politics. My two primary fields are American politics and public law, and my third subfield is methods. I am particularly interested in the intersection between American political development and constitutional law. I'm on the Diversity Committee and the Social Committee in the department. In my spare time, I enjoy baking, checking out new coffee shops, and of course polisci happy hour on Fridays.
Email: schatfield@berkeley.edu

I’m interested in comparative politics, specifically the dynamics of European integration and post-Communist transitions. The elements of multi-level governance, identity politics, and the role of media on political mobilization are what fascinates me the most at this point. I received my B.A. from Cornell in 2001 and happy to converse about the good ole days of Ithacan life. I’ve also spent considerable time in France - studied at Sciences Po Paris, taught English in Lille, and backpacked quite a bit (wine-tasting, bakery-hopping, etc). Aside from academics, I do my best to create a semblance of a social existence... I enjoy listening to electronic music: drum and bass, jazz fusion, or anything with a danceable groovy beat. I’m an avid fan of loungy bars, contemporary art, board games, digital film-making, the Sunday New York Times crossword, architecture, and travel! Get in touch via email: rkchen@uclink.berkeley.edu.

Naomi’s research interests at Berkeley have focused mainly on the philosophy of social sciences and contemporary political theory, with emphasis on liberal theories, its critics, and the problem of justification. In addition, she has written on methodology in the social sciences in Qualitative Methods 3:2, 2005 as well as contemporary analytic jurisprudence in the Journal of the Philosophy of History 1:3, 2007. Naomi is currently writing her dissertation on the historical development of the philosophy of Charles Taylor. More broadly, her project serves to examine how we might understand the role of interpretation in human life, not only in scientific inquiry but also in the goods we value and what politics itself is all about. She is also co-editing, with Mark Bevir, Encyclopedia of Political Theory, forthcoming from SAGE publications. Her email address is: nchoi@berkeley.edu.

Jonathan Chow is a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of California-Berkeley. His research currently revolves around constructivist theories of international relations, processes of national identity change, and the impact of norm and ideational change on political outcomes. Jonathan's dissertation examines how the Roman Catholic Church shapes social norms concerning controversial moral issues such as contraception and capital punishment, and the process by which those norms are contested both within the Church and between the Church and other actors such as governments and NGOs.

Jonathan has been a fellow at UC-Berkeley's Center for the Development of Peace and Wellbeing where he helped to produce the Center's magazine, "Greater Good", and conducted research on how hostile nationalist attitudes can be altered after wars. He has also served as Project Director at the Berkeley Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Study Center (BASC) where he has conducted research on the development of regional economic and security institutions in East Asia.

A native of the Boston area, Jonathan received his B.A. from Williams College in 2003 where he majored in Political Science and Chinese. In his spare time, he plays classical piano, sings, fences with the foil, experiments with podcasting and participates in the Catholic students' fellowship at Newman Hall.

George Ciccariello Maher is a student of political theory, with interests in revolutionary - especially autonomist and anarcho-communist - theory, social movements (especially variants of squatting), black nationalism, existentialism, feminism, hip-hop and rap music, and Latin American political praxis. He has a healthy skepticism of the canon, but nevertheless maintains an interest in the theoretical lineage that runs from German Idealism through Marx, and on to the various sorts of neo and post-Marxisms. He is currently on the editorial board of the interdisciplinary journal Critical Sense (ttp://criticalsense.berkeley.edu). Personal interests include organizing, cooking, collecting books, and wine. In the past, he has been spotted in Poland Spring, Maine; upstate New York; Madrid; and Cambridge, UK. His e-mail is gjcm@berkeley.edu.

My fields of interest are political economy, international relations, comparative politics, and methodology. I am particularly interested in studying how technological change alters the strategic environment facing political actors, such as with the apparent rise of a capitalist peace through financial integration. I came to Berkeley in 2006, via a childhood in Ottawa, Canada, a liberal arts undergrad at McMaster University (Canada) and a Master's in the history and sociology of science and technology at Cornell University. Most of my work introduces economics into political theories, or politics into economic theories, and the great thing about UC Berkeley is that it offers ample opportunity for such cross-disciplinary scholarship. When not staring at a screen, I play squash, ultimate and guitar, and go on outdoor adventures with my wife. Email: dafoe@berkeley.edu

I study theories of East Asian development as it fits within the development literature by focusing on Japan and China. In particular, I am interested in the role of labor in the development process. As a secondary interest, I study debates within comparative postsocialism and transitology. Email: sharkmail6@yahoo.com. Email: sharkmail6@yahoo.com.

Robert de Neufville is working on a dissertation in political theory, which draws on both the classics of political theory and contemporary analytic philosophy to examine the question of to what extent political and social phenomena can be studied scientifically. He holds am M.A. in political science from Berkeley and an A.B. magna cum laude in Government from Harvard, and has also studied at the Santa Fe Institute for the Study of Complex Systems in New Mexico. His other professional interests include political economy, comparative politics, international relations, and complexity theory. He has taught six different classes at Berkeley, most recently including "Theories of Governance" with Professor Mark Bevir and "Ancient and Medieval Political Theory" with Professor Shannon Stimson.

I entered the PhD program in the Fall of 2003, and advanced to candidacy in June 2006. My fields of concentration are international relations and comparative politics. Broadly speaking, I am interested in the politics of memory and the construction of national identity. Specifically, I am interested in how states remember, forget, teach and commemorate the past; in how states construct and disseminate ideas and myths about the nation and citizenship; and in the consequences of these constructed memories and identities for both domestic and foreign policy. My dissertation is an in-depth, qualitative analysis of changes in statesÕ official narratives of contested historical events. In my research, I am investigating what factors lead states to change their official narratives of contested events, and what factors prevent such change. Tracing changes over a 50-plus-year period, I am studying official narratives in two states Ð Turkey and Japan. I received a BA in Government from Dartmouth College in 1999, and worked in New York for four years before starting graduate school. In addition to coursework in political science, I have studied Turkish for five years, and German for one year at Berkeley. j_dixon@berkeley.edu

I joined the program in Fall 2004 to study American politics. In particular, I have decided that interest groups, especially businesses, are worth studying because they spend a lot of time trying to influence policymaking, and who knows – they might know something about it. My relevant life-history details are as follows: Grew up in Westchester County, NY. Graduated Brown University in December 1999. Moved shortly thereafter to Philadelphia, to become an intrepid reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Did not win any Pulitzer Prizes while toiling in the suburbs. Grew disillusioned. Moved to Washington, DC and spent some time working for Citizen Works, a “progressive” advocacy organization founded by everybody’s favorite perennial presidential spoiler, Ralph Nader. In that crazy environment, grew righteously indignant about corporate power and co-wrote a book about it, the not-so-bestseller The People’s Business: Controlling Corporations and Restoring Democracy. Decided politics was interesting enough to study it from a disinterested perspective. So here I am in the ivory tower on the hill. Non-academic interests that make me a multi-dimensional human being include: I like to cook. I like to play the piano and sometimes listen to other people play the piano and other musical instruments. I like to play basketball and occasionally think of myself “sporty,” in an ironic sort of way (I wear glasses, after all). I like to pretend that one day all my book-learning will do this crazy world some good.

I joined the department in the fall of '05 after spending a year in Cairo studying Arabic. My research interests include Islam and politics in the Middle East and South Asia, political economy, and Islamic and western political thought; I'm planning to focus my dissertation research on how Islamist movements transform themselves into political parties. My language interests include Arabic, Urdu, and Spanish. I'm originally from Boston, so I spend a respectably obscene amount of time following the Sox. I like to spend my remaining free time traveling, running in the Berkeley hills, hanging out on my family's farm, and cooking with chilies. If you have any questions about grad life at Berkeley, feel free to email me at tari@berkeley.edu.

Christian's main subfields are International Relations, formal theory and methodology, and public law and jurisprudence. He is presently researching how international law influences the decision-making of nonstate actors during armed conflict. Christian has a M.A. in International Relations from Yale University and a B.A. from UC Berkeley. He is also a J.D. candidate at the School of Law (Boalt Hall). Email: cford@berkeley.edu.

Andrius Galisanka

I joined the Department in the fall of 2006, a summer after finishing my studies at Brown University, Providence, where I studied a little bit of everything but mostly International Relations. Here at Berkeley I study political theory, search for justice, abuse the word 'ought,' enjoy myself sitting in lectures of John Searle, find Aristotle humorous, and like to talk about little things that people do in their lives.

andrius_galisanka@berkeley.edu

Angelo Gonzales

I study American politics, public administration, and organization theory, and I have specific interests in American political history, religion & politics, and social network analysis. Currently, I am researching and writing my dissertation, which examines religious responses to the teaching of evolution in public schools since the 1920s. I came to this program in 2003 after working for my home state senator in both his DC office and re-election campaign. Prior to that, I graduated from Pomona College in 1998 with a B.A. in chemistry. I have also worked at Sandia National Laboratories and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In my spare time, I love to read sci-fi novels and watch way too much television (but only the good stuff). I'd be happy to talk to anyone who is coming from a background in either public policy or the physical sciences or who has similar research interests. Feel free to contact me at angelo@berkeley.edu, or visit my personal website for more information about my research and teaching interests: http://www.angelogonzales.com.

Kristi Govella

My subfields are comparative politics, international relations, and East Asia. I'm particularly interested in regionalism, institution-building, and political economy. Prior to joining the department in 2006, I received a B.A. in Political Science and Japanese from the University of Washington and spent a year teaching English in Japan through the JET Programme. Although probably best described as a Seattleite, I spent a number of formative years in Houston, Texas. My hobbies include playing the piano, listening to live music of the indie rock persuasion, taking pictures, traveling, knitting, and keeping up with Japanese pop culture. I love Berkeley and would be happy to answer any questions you might have - feel free to email me at kgovella@berkeley.edu!

Theocharis N. Grigoriadis

I am interested in business-government relations, the political economy of regulation and comparative bureaucracies in the post-Soviet space and the European Union. My subfields are comparative politics, public organization and methods. I came to Berkeley in 2007 after having completed an LL.B. and an LL.M. at the University of Athens School of Law, an MA in Russian and East European Studies at Yale University, and two research internships in the Moscow offices of the World Bank and the European Commission. Because of the highly interdisciplinary character of my work, I consider UC Berkeley to be my ideal academic home. I am currently learning my eighth foreign and third Slavic language (Bulgarian), which partly confirms my irrational obsession with anything East European. When I do not read Dostoevskii, play the oud, study or exercise, I will most likely be in BeckettÕs drinking Black Russian. Email: thgrigoriadis@berkeley.edu.