Professional Summary
My focus is in comparative and international politics, with an emphasis on women and politics. My dissertation, Nurturing Democracy in Difficult Political Environments: A Comparative Study of Women’s Political Participation through Political Motherhood in Argentina and Sri Lanka, examines the gendered form of women's political participation known as political motherhood. This dissertation is generously supported by a Graduate Enrichment Grant from Taft Research Center at the University of Cincinnati and a Dissertation Planning Grant from the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies and supported by year as a Taft Dissertation Fellow. My other research interests include social movements, women in government, international law and postcolonial and transnational feminisms. Broadly, my research is tied to efforts to strengthen democracy through inclusivity in terms of representation and participation.
Education
MA: Wright State University Dayton, OH, 2013 (International and Comparative Politics)
BA: Wright State University Dayton, OH, 2007 (International Studies)
Research and Practice Interests
- Women’s political participation in international and US contexts
- Social movements
- Women in government
- Postcolonial and transnational feminisms
- International law
- Identity politics
Positions and Work Experience
08-25-2014 -08-18-2017 Graduate Assistant, For the first three years of my doctoral program, I had the privilege of serving as a research assistant to several professors in my department. I helped with a number of projects in which I gained new skills in copyediting, transcribing, interpretive methodologies, descriptive statistics and qualitative research. I gained new knowledge in the areas of international law, transnational feminisms and South Asian politics. I also had the opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant for Introduction to American Politics, Introduction to International Relations, International Human Rights and Introduction to Comparative Politics. My main responsibilities included grading, entering grades and holding office hours. I delivered four lectures in total between Introduction to International Relations, International Human Rights and Comparative Politics, and developed quiz questions for Introduction to American Politics and designed the final exam for Introduction to Comparative Politics. I independently ran two weekly discussion section meetings in Introduction to Comparative Politics, the lesson plans of which I developed myself.,