Volume1, Issue 2
April 8, 2014
The International
N E W S L E T T E R
S P E C I A L
P O I N T S O F
I N T E R E S T :

An interview with
Dean Emeritus
Louis Goodman

Faculty Profile:
Dr. Rachel Robinson

Alumni Profiles:
Dr. Robert
Kevlihan, Dr.
James Roberts,
and Dr. Nancy
Snow

Recent Graduate:
Yolande Bouka
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
Obituaries
2
Faculty Profiles
3-4
Alumni Profiles
5-8
Current Student
Profiles
7-8
First Year Profiles
9
News & Events
10-11
O F
S I S
A M E R I C A N
U N I V E R S I T Y ’ S
P H D
P R O G R A M
T h e
D i r e c t o r ’ s
U p d a t e
Greetings from the SIS PhD program! We’re pleased to share
with you these updates, works in
progress, publications, and general news about current students
as well as graduates of the program.
We are now almost a year into the
implementation of our new PhD
program.
The revised core
courses provide solid training in
international relations while preserving the multi-disciplinary
nature that has always been true
of any SIS degree. We’ve added
to the curriculum a Pro-Seminar
that exposes first year students to
a variety of different methodological approaches, plus brings in
both scholars and practitioners to
help students engage with the
many different ways to put their
degree to good use after graduation. For example, this year’s Pro
J o i n
U S
o n
f o r
O u r
Our alumni are cordially invited to
the SIS PhD Program’s End-ofYear Wine & Cheese Reception
which will be held on Thursday
May 1, 2014. The event will run
from 5:30-7:30 pm and will be
located in room T10 of the SIS
building located on AU’s main
campus. We welcome you and a
guest to drop by whenever you
can to enjoy appetizers, drinks,
and conversation with our current
-Seminar speakers included SIS
Professor Patrick Jackson, who
explained the value of neopositivist approaches to international
relations, Associate Dean Tamar
Gutner, who focused on the value
of empirical work, and Dr. Silvana
Rubino-Hallman, who puts her
PhD to use with the Inter-
American Development Bank.
To take advantage of core
strengths among the SIS faculty,
plus engage with new and cutting edge research, the program
now includes several new concentrations.
In addition to
(cont. on next page)
T h u r s d a y
M a y
1 ,
2 0 1 4
S p r i n g
E n d - o f - Y e a r
R e c e p t i o n
students, faculty, and other program alumni.
Free parking is available after
5:00 pm in the Nebraska Street
parking lot which is located
across the street from the SIS
building.
Please RSVP as soon as possible
by emailing Bryan Miller, SIS
PhD Program Assistant, at
sisphd@american.edu
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foreign policy, development studies,
global environment, and peace and
conflict resolution, PhD students can also
specialize in security, political violence,
global governance and international
organizations, plus technology, culture
and social change. We expect a few
more concentrations during the coming
year as key faculty members return from
sabbatical to play a greater role in the
PhD program.
I’d also like to introduce our new methods course. Many of you will remember
the Advanced Research Design Class,
affectionately known as “prospectus
bootcamp.” The quantitative and qualitative methods courses are also still part
of the curriculum. But during their second year, PhD students will also take
additional methods training in policy
analysis for international affairs. This
course, which will debut next fall, will be
taught by SIS Assistant Professor Daniel
Esser who researches violence, governance and aid effectiveness in cities and
global health policy, and who comes to
SIS after working with the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific as well as the UN Development Program.
Perhaps my favorite part of the revised
program is the new PhD Colloquium.
Twice a month we meet to critically
evaluate written work by a PhD student
or SIS faculty member. The rules are
simple: the work must be in progress,
the criticism must be constructive, and
everyone needs to enjoy the coffee and
pastries (which occasionally include a
few home baked goods)!
Over the coming year, our goal is to
improve the network we have with our
alumni. This newsletter, plus our new
end-of-the-year reception for alumni
and current students, are the first steps.
The program also has a revised website
and is looking for ways to make it easier
for everyone to share their successes
and stay in touch. With that in mind, let
R e m e m b e r i n g
A d e l
P r o f e s s o r
Earlier this year, we lost two valued members of the SIS community. SIS PhD student Adel Ait-Ghezala died as the result
of a diving accident in early January. Adel came to SIS in
2004, received his MA, and entered the PhD program in
2006. His dissertation, which he would likely have defended
this semester, focused on understanding how contemporary
tourism embodies colonial tendencies. Adel was a valued
member of the SIS PhD community. Tazreena Sajjad, a former PhD student at SIS and now a professorial lecturer, sums
up why so many members of the SIS community benefited
from knowing Adel: “Adel was incredibly kind, honest, sincere, compassionate and thoughtful--he looked out for people, and treated
everyone with tremendous
respect
and like they were
members of his own
family. It’s a trait
very few people
have, and that was
Adel's trademark.”
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
me share two pieces of good news that
we received just as this newsletter was
being finished. First, 2013 graduate
Ryan Briggs has just accepted a tenuretrack position with Virginia Tech University. And, soon-to- be-alumna Kia Hall is
the recipient of Humanity in Actions’
Diplomacy and Diversity Fellowship.
Now it’s your turn. Keep us informed of
your news or, if you are in the DC area
on May 1, come share it with us in person at the alumni reception (the link to
RSVP is provided in this newsletter).
Best,
Sharon K. Weiner
A i t - G h e z a l a
R o b e r t
&
P a s t o r
Professor Robert Pastor
lost his battle with cancer
in early January. Bob was
an expert on Latin American and North American
policy and diplomacy. He
served as a close advisor
to President Jimmy Carter
on a variety of issues including human rights,
democracy promotion,
and was instrumental in
negotiating the return of
the Panama Canal Zone to
Panama. Before coming to AU, Bob taught at Emory University in
Atlanta and was involved with the Carter Center there. At SIS, he
was a valued member of several dissertation committees and
also Director of the Center for North American Studies. “Bob
had a knack for giving PhD students constructive criticism,” said
SIS PhD Director Sharon K. Weiner. “But he was also an enthusiastic and tireless promoter of the accomplishments of his students. We’ll all miss him.”
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D i s c u s s i o n
Many alumni of the PhD program remember Louis Goodman as the Dean of SIS. But
he is also a scholar and since he stepped
down as Dean in 2011, he has returned to
his work. Dr. Goodman received his PhD
in sociology with a minor in economics
from Northwestern University in 1970.
Before joining SIS in 1986, he held positions at the Woodrow Wilson Center for
International Scholars, the Social Science
Research Council, and the Sociology Department and School of Organization and
Management at Yale University. Dr. Goodman’s research interests throughout his
career have included determinants of
success for blue collar workers in developing nations, foreign investment decision
-making in developing countries, civilmilitary relations in Latin America, public
goods & regional alliances, and trends
and best practices in international relations higher education. He is currently
Professor and Dean Emeritus of SIS and
Affiliate Professor of Sociology.
How did you first become interested in
international relations?
Growing up during the Cold War I was
deeply distressed at all of the waste of
lives and treasure resulting from the
rivalry between the United States and the
Soviet Union. I was equally distressed
that too little attention was being paid to
human problems like reducing poverty.
When I got high marks in high school
Spanish I decided to focus those concerns on the Spanish-speaking world,
especially Latin America, and its relations to the United States. When I came to
SIS in 1986 I was able to expand my focus
beyond Latin America
You’ve been working in IR for over 40
years. In what ways do you think the
field has changed?
The field has changed in many ways. The
most important for me is that there is
more inductive work being done that
involves directly gathering and analyzing information from actual human experience. As a result, there are more complex ways to talk about phenomena of
interest and this has led to the realization
that there are often many differing perspectives on a single phenomenon.
In what ways has the SIS PhD Program
changed since you’ve been here?
T h e
w i t h D e a n
G o o d m a n
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
E m e r i t u s
L o u i s
What are your thoughts on pursuing a
career in academia vs. a career in
policy or as a practitioner?
Being able to think about things theoretically is thrilling and if you’re not in a
knowledge creating institution like a
university, it is very difficult to do this.
There might be more immediate gratification working in policy or as a practitioner but that career path does not
allow for the same amount of open theoretical thinking as one in academics.
Any thoughts on the PhD students
you’ve worked with over the years?
In 1980 Dean William Olson changed the
admission policy of the PhD Program
from open to selective. The result was an
increase in the overall quality of the
program. Another change is that the
program now focuses less on having
students jump through administrative
hoops and more on the new knowledge
they can create. There has also been an
increasing importance placed on the
role of faculty in mentoring our PhD
students.
Given that you did your PhD in sociology, what do you think are the advantages and the disadvantages of
doing a PhD in IR as opposed to another field?
SIS is self-consciously multidisciplinary.
If you value a multidisciplinary approach, then doing a PhD in IR at SIS will
be special. Individuals in the program
should have a special focus within IR but
it is important that one be exposed to a
variety of disciplinary approaches in
order to deal with the complex issues
that are at the center of IR.
What advice do you have for students
looking to do a PhD at SIS?
You should come to SIS if you are passionately interested in studying some
human phenomenon from multiple perspectives. Your research should be
policy relevant but it is important to
remember that the primary role of the
scholar is to generate new theory-based
knowledge which can both cast light on
the human condition and can help frame
policy decisions.
I created the Advanced Research Design course for PhD students when I
came to SIS in 1986 and I taught it until
2010. As a result I got to know practically all of the PhD students entering the
program during that time. It has been a
pleasure to get to know such a diverse
set of individuals. Furthermore, I applaud both the students and faculty that
choose to embrace the multidisciplinary
approach we endorse at SIS.
One thing that has puzzled me about our
field in general is the acceptance of the
term ‘academics’ to describe scholars.
‘Academic’ describes something that is
relevant only in the abstract whereas
‘scholars’ are those that pay serious
attention to particular real world phenomena and whose work is relevant for
understanding and improving the human experience. SIS is an institution of
scholars, not academics.
Were there any changes made while
you were dean of SIS of which you are
particularly proud?
While I was Dean, SIS substantially increased both enrollment and faculty size
and the wonderful new SIS Building was
constructed. More important, however,
for me is the fact that the program took
on a distinctive multidisciplinary and
multicultural character during this time.
Finally I am very proud that I was able to
support Nicholas Onuf, John Richardson,
and Stephen Silvia as they worked, as
directors of doctoral studies in SIS, to
improve the SIS PhD program. I am
equally proud to be able to offer my
support to the current director of doctoral studies, Sharon Weiner, as she
continues to develop and improve the
program.
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S I S
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F a c u l t y
m e m b e r
R a c h e l
used such policies strategically to
achieve locally important goals. As a
result of that work, I became very interested in the local (as opposed to international) nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) working on those topics. I have
thus tried to understand why some countries have more local NGOs than others,
as well as whether having more local
NGOs is associated with better health
outcomes. Spoiler alert: richer, more
stable, better governed countries with
greater connections to foreign development resources (international NGOs and
foreign aid) have more local NGOs, and
having more local NGOs is associated
with better provision of antiretroviral
therapy for HIV.
Rachel Robinson came to SIS in 2007 after
completing her PhD in sociology and
demography at the University of California, Berkeley. Her areas of specialization
include demography, organizations, and
institutions. Much of her research falls
under the umbrella of what’s called
“policy diffusion,” or the study of how
similar policies spread across countries,
even though she is very critical of many of
the assumptions behind this approach.
Her background in sociology and demography, combined with her long-standing
fascination with government intervention
in the most private aspects of citizens’
lives, has led her to study policies explicitly designed to reduce or increase fertility
in Sub-Saharan Africa. This work, in turn,
led to Dr. Robinson’s interest in international relations as she quickly discovered
the major role that global actors, particularly donor organizations, play in this
area.
What are some of the projects you
have worked on since pursuing your
PhD?
My first project (my dissertation) examined population policies in sub-Saharan
Africa: why some countries had them and
others didn’t, and why some adopted
them sooner than others. I found that
external pressure from international
organizations, particularly the World
Bank, mattered, but that countries also
My second project (my forthcoming
book with Cambridge University Press)
examines how the history of family planning programs within countries impacted their response to HIV/AIDS. I find
that countries with local NGOs that came
into existence to provide family planning services did a better job of responding to HIV/AIDS because of their
organizational resources, and also that
the valence of countries’ transnational
relationships has strongly shaped their
experiences importing prevention programs for both pregnancy and HIV.
What sort of research are you doing
now?
My most recent project, funded by the
MacArthur Foundation and in collaboration with Jeremy Shiffman in the School
of Public Affairs, examines the adoption
of sexuality education curriculum in
Nigeria (at both the national and state
levels) as well as in Mississippi, the US
state with the highest rate of teen pregnancy. We are just starting this work,
and I will be conducting fieldwork in
both Mississippi and Nigeria this year.
I am also co-authoring papers with two
SIS graduate students. One paper, with
Kate Tennis, aims to understand the
spread of population and refugee policies across sub-Saharan African countries through a close textual analysis.
The other paper, with Sara Lacy, analyzes data I collected on NGOs who participated in the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC in 2012. Our
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
R o b i n s o n
goal is to explain why some countries
sent more NGOs than others, what benefits NGOs see to participating in international conferences, and what NGOs
bring home with them from such conferences.
What do you think makes SIS a good
place to do a PhD in international
relations?
SIS is great place to pursue a PhD in
international relations because we are
committed to multidisciplinary perspectives, including an agnosticism towards
the particular methods that students use
to answer their research questions, we
believe that social justice can be furthered through the completion of good
research, and we are open to students
pursuing careers across a wide variety
of fields, including academe, the government, or the nonprofit sector.
What advice do you have for students
considering a PhD at SIS?
I would offer the following suggestions
to students pursuing a PhD. First, pick a
topic that you are either (a) passionate
about, or (b) will take only a very short
period of time to complete and can be
executed flawlessly. Since (b) is almost
impossible, I suggest (a)! Second, if you
wish to be an academic, work hard to
understand how your research relates to
the major subfields of the discipline with
which you most identify, so that when
you say, “I am in expert in X,” “X”
means something to a broader group of
scholars. Third, Publish! Unfortunately,
it’s hard to get a job interview these
days without a publication, and the
more the better. Use conferences to
push dissertation chapters or publications along – there is nothing quite like a
deadline to help get a draft done. Fourth
and finally, enjoy being in grad school!
Be sure to make friends with your fellow
grad students as they, along with your
professors, form the core of what will
become your professional network. Do
fun things with these people (including
drinking beer). Travel. Exercise. Even
though your budget may be limited,
your obligations are (perhaps unbelievably!) fewer than they will be in the
future, and your time is certainly more
flexible.
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R o b e r t
Robert Kevlihan’s work focuses on conflict, development, security and especially human security. His approach is
cross regional and comparative in orientation and draws from over 15 years of
research and direct field experience
working in Africa (Sudan, Angola, Ghana
and the Sahel region), Central and South
East Asia (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and
Vietnam), and Ireland. In addition to this
work, Dr. Kevlihan has several ongoing
collaborative projects. One, with Karl De
Rouen Jr. and Glen Biglasier, examines
the dynamics associated with the delivery of humanitarian aid, and the other,
with Donnacha Ó Beacháin, looks at
issues related to state-building in Central
Asia. His book, Aid, Insurgencies and
Conflict Transformation, When Greed is
Good, was recently published.
Dr.
Kevlihan is currently Executive Director
and faculty member at the Kimmage
Development Studies Centre, Ireland's
oldest center for development studies.
(More details on KDSC can be found at:
kimmagedsc.ie)
Though Dr. Kevlihan has always had an
interest in international politics, history,
and economics, he originally chose to
study business and accounting in Ireland
(undergraduate degree in business,
masters in accounting) for pragmatic
reasons. After completing his professional training and qualifying as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse,
he volunteered to serve as an accountant
for GOAL, an Irish humanitarian aid or-
J a m e s
K e v l i h a n ,
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ganization, in Khartoum, Sudan in 1997.
This experience sparked an interest in
international development that led to a
masters program in IR at Dublin City
University in 1999/2000 and three more
years working for NGOs in conflict
zones before coming to SIS in 2003. Dr.
Kevlihan’s reasons for choosing SIS
included the collegial atmosphere between PhD students, SIS’s focus on doing
research that is both policy relevant and
that meets the highest academic standards, and the school’s location in DC (his
wife was assigned to DC for a two year
period).
Unlike most students, Dr. Kevlihan only
spent his first two years on campus. He
completed his PhD remotely while living
and working in Almaty, Kazakhstan and
Accra, Ghana. “The two years on campus getting to ABD status were great,”
Dr. Kevlihan reports. “My cohort
worked very well together and we provided great encouragement to each
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James Roberts is Professor of Political
Science at Towson University. He completed his PhD at SIS in 1989 and subsequently joined the faculty at Towson. Dr.
Roberts has held numerous positions at
Towson including chairperson of the
Department of Political Science for nine
years, Director of the International Studies Program for nine years, five years as
the co-chairperson of the university’s
Council of Chairperson’s, and member of
the Provost’s Council. He has recently
taught courses in international relations,
rational choice politics, and research
methods. Dr. Roberts’ wrote his dissertation under the supervision of Nicholas
Onuf who was then in the early stages of
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
( 2 0 0 9 )
other. The faculty was also very supportive. Working from a distance required a lot of discipline on my part to
maintain progress, but I was fortunate to
have a very supportive doctoral committee who were always willing to help,
especially on my episodic visits back to
DC.” Dr. Kevlihan believes that the
large, engaged faculty is a core strength
of SIS as it allows “space for students to
adopt methodologically diverse approaches and to find scholars who have
expertise in areas related to almost any
research program.” The number of
faculty can also present challenges as
many will not necessarily know doctoral
students on a one to one level. He recommends that Ph.D students consider
taking a class with faculty they think
they might like to work with while working towards ABD status as a way of
building relationships.
When asked about how SIS prepared
him for life after the program, Dr.
Kevlihan remarks: “My experience at
SIS helped me to grow as a scholar,
allowing me to develop the skills I need
to research questions that arose from
field experiences and reflection through
my studies. I have worked in both practice and the academy since completing
my PhD and have found that the experience informs my approach to all the
work that I do, giving me greater
breadth and depth in my knowledge
base and expertise.”
( 1 9 8 9 )
his work on constructivism. His research
continues to focus on a critique and synthesis of rational choice theory in constructivist terms.
How did you become interested in
international relations?
I became interested in international
relations during my undergraduate
studies at Ohio State University. I began
my studies as a physics major but I got
caught up in the politics of the 1970’s
and switched to political science. I had
the good fortune to take classes with
Charles Hermann, a foreign policy
scholar, and Chadwick Alger, a specialist in international organizations who
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became my undergraduate mentor. Alger
taught a seminar in peace research that
included many guest lecturers, including
Johan Galtung. I think it was Galtung’s work
on structural imperialism and structural
violence that finally convinced me to pursue
a career in the study and practice of international relations. Initially, these interests
were manifested in my master’s study and
work in international development and later
in my interest in international political economy and international relations theory when
I returned for my PhD.
Why did you choose to do a PhD in International Relations at SIS?
I came to SIS to pursue my MA in 1975. I
wanted to study in Washington and I was
very interested in the international development program that, at the time, was just
starting at American University. While I was
studying for my MA, I took a job with ACTION, the agency that administered the
federally sponsored volunteer programs
(Peace Corps, VISTA, etc.). I lost the job in
the Reagan era reductions in force and then
was rehired as a temporary consultant. I
felt it was time to return to school and pursue a PhD By then, I was married and firmly
entrenched in the DC area so I decided to
return to SIS to continue my studies.
N a n c y
Dr. Nancy Snow, class of 1992, is Professor of
Communications at California State University, Fullerton and Adjunct Professor at USC’s
Annenberg School. She has held visiting
professor appointments at Syracuse University’s Newhouse and Maxwell Schools, Tsinghua University’s School of Journalism and
Communication in Beijing, China, the Lauder
School at IDC-Herzliya, Keio University’s
Institute for Media and Communications Research, and the Institute of American and
Canadian Studies at Sophia University in
Tokyo. In addition to her work in academia,
Dr. Snow has served as Speaker and Specialist in Public Diplomacy for the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, as
well as consulting with many countries (for
example, Great Britain, China, Israel, Japan,
Malaysia) on nation brand image management. She regularly teaches courses on
American media history and philosophy,
persuasive communications, persuasive writing and speaking, and global communications, and occasionally teaches adjunct and
graduate courses in international exchanges,
public diplomacy, war, media and propaganda.
What sort of research are you doing
now?
My current research addresses questions
related to the provision of global public
goods. Specifically, I am interested in the
provision of global social goods – those
public goods that have no pecuniary value, such as human rights advocacy and
intervention, management of the global
commons, and the prevention of structural
violence. Most models of public goods
provision that are based on rational choice
theory rely strictly on the structure of
strategic interaction among the participants to explain participation or freeriding. These models fail to account for
the social construction of preferences and
agents’ identities. Traditional paradoxes
in the public goods literature can be explained by understanding how preferences socially construct agents that are
inclined to produce public goods in the
face of high costs and free-riding by other
members of the regime.
How was your experience at SIS?
I thoroughly enjoyed both my master’s
and PhD studies at SIS. It was exciting to
be one of the first students in the new
S n o w ,
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I n t e r n a t i o n a l
international development curriculum.
Another highlight was the camaraderie
that developed with other students and
faculty.
I also found that the program
prepared me well for my professional life
by insuring that I had the experience,
training and skills necessary to be a
teacher and scholar of international relations.
What makes SIS a good place for PhD
work in international relations?
There are many factors that make SIS a
good place for a PhD in international relations. Perhaps the greatest asset is the
openness of the PhD curriculum that permits students to explore the full interdisciplinary range of international affairs and
does not channel students into one career
track or methodological approach. The
diversity of the SIS graduate student body
and the SIS faculty allows PhD students to
experience many different points of view.
The location in Washington provides
access to the agencies of the Federal
government as well as many international
organizations and non-governmental
organizations. The facilities of the new SIS
building provide exceptional spaces that
encourage collaboration.
( 1 9 9 2 )
guages. Her 2013 book, Truth is the Best
Propaganda, is a selection of ten persuasive
speeches of Edward R. Murrow, who served
as the director of the United States Information Agency during the Kennedy years.
What sort of projects have you been
working on recently?
Dr. Snow’s areas of specialization include
US foreign policy, cultural policies, peace
and conflict resolution, and global civic
activism related to shaping foreign policy.
She is the author/co-editor of nine books,
including Propaganda and American Democracy, Persuader-in-Chief, Citizen Arianna, Information War, and Propaganda, Inc.,
the latter two published in multiple lan-
My recent research interests and projects
mainly concern US foreign policy, US
public diplomacy, US propaganda and
persuasion, and global media relations. I
have worked on several projects related
to US-sponsored international broadcasting, Japanese public diplomacy, and
Japan’s nation image brand after 3/11 (as
an Abe/Social Science Research Fellow).
I have twice participated as a US Speaker/
Specialist with the US Embassy in Tokyo/
US State Department in giving public
lectures on US Public Diplomacy, including a 2012 discussion entitled “The Lady
Gaga Effect: Celebrity Diplomacy and
Japan’s Recovery.”
Where there any specific life-events
that led to your interest in international
relations?
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I was a Fulbright student to the Federal
Republic of Germany and lived there for
a year as a very young woman just out of
Clemson University in South Carolina. I
had traveled abroad just once before
participating in the Fulbright program.
After this long-term sojourn, I was at a
crossroads between pursuing a law degree or a doctorate in international relations. Most Ph.D. programs were in political science but I wanted IR. SIS at AU
was the right fit for my IR orientation that
developed following the Fulbright.
How was your experience at SIS?
It was very positive. I met people from
all over the world. The SIS Lounge was
like a Model UN Program unto itself. I
was no longer in South Carolina, but
was meeting people from across America and the world. On top of it all, I was
in Washington, DC so I felt as though I
wasn’t just studying IR, but that I was
living it.
How did SIS prepare you for life after
the program?
C u r r e n t
S t u d e n t
N i c k
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
SIS prepared me well for my first job, the
Presidential Management Fellows Program. The school was very involved in the
program and I pursued the PMF so that I
would have some “real world” experience
before beginning my college teaching
career. SIS also allowed me to meet some
of the most interesting people, lifelong
friends like Pamela Norick and Asra Q.
Nomani, two women who inspire me with
their leadership and passionate commitment to a human rights- and social justicecentered world.
S m i t h
Nick Smith is a third year PhD student at SIS.
He received a BA in Business Economics
and Global Studies from the University of
California, Santa Barbara and an MA in African Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the founder of two
development projects, one in Uganda (The
Buseesa Community Development Centre)
and one in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. He plans to graduate in 2015 and
then pursue a career in a development
institution doing a mix of impact evaluation,
designing development programs, and
designing development policy.
Nick’s fascination with how to build local
development institutions that are sustainably run and maximize socio-economic impact was the catalyst for his decision to
pursue a PhD in international relations. He
knew that doing a PhD would allow him to
immerse himself in fieldwork and research,
two things that he sees as “key requisites to
pursuing a career in development policy.”
Nick chose to do his PhD at SIS for two reasons: the faculty and the school’s location.
“The wide array of experiences of the faculty working in international development
and the fact that many of these faculty members have one foot in the practitioner milieu
and the other in academia was especially
important to me,” Nick notes. “Additionally,
being in Washington, D.C. has enabled me
to be emerged in a world of experts at various research and economic development
institutions. All of this has enabled me to
gain valuable insights for my work in Uganda with people at the World Bank and InterAmerican Development Bank. It also ena-
Nick in Uganda doing public health and HIV/Aids education.
bled me to get work experience with the
World Bank doing development policy.”
Nick is presently conducting field research for his doctoral dissertation, Why
Variance Matters: A mixed-methods approach to microcredit impact evaluation.
His study follows the two-year expansion
of the Buseesa Community Development
Centre (BCDC)’s microcredit work into 11
new villages in Kibaale District, Uganda.
The study utilizes a randomized controlled
trial to examine the impact of microcredit
on a rural population over the course of 12
months. The goal of Nick’s dissertation is
to not only analyze impact, but to also
ascertain why socio-economic impact, or
lack thereof on things like consumption,
health, or education, varies amongst microcredit borrowers. This research entails
managing the expansion of, and adding
623 new borrowers to, the BCDC.
Outside of his dissertation activities and
his BCDC activities, Nick works as a research assistant for Jim Mittelman at SIS,
has led a team of nurses from UC Davis to
Buseesa to conduct health outreach in
local villages, is learning how to manage
a non-profit institution, and is trying to
raise money to build a school in a remote
village where the main classroom is under
a tree that three villages share.
For more on Nick’s work in Uganda, please check out the Buseesa Community Development
Centre’s website at: www.bcdcmicrocredit.org or watch their documentary at: http://
www.bcdcmicrocredit.org/bcdc-full-length-documentary/
P a g e
8
T h e
Y o l a n d e
B o u k a ,
P h D
for the Central Africa/Great Lakes Region
in the Nairobi office of the Institute of Security Studies, one of the leading think
tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa, and an instructor for AU Abroad in Nairobi. Her
recent work has focused on transitional
justice in post-genocide Rwanda, particularly the manner in which power relations
“control and structure conceptions of
criminality, justice, and truth, and, thereby
impact prospects of reconciliation at the
micro-level.”
Yolande Bouka (left) at graduation next to Susan
Shepler, her dissertation committee chair.
Yolande Bouka completed her PhD in international relations at SIS in the Spring of
2013. She is currently the lead researcher
C u r r e n t
Prior to attending SIS, Eddy Lucas spent
tens years as a sea-going officer in the
royal Canadian Navy and completed an
MA in International Conflict Studies at
King’s College London and a BA at the
Royal Military College of Canada. After
discovering an interest in conducting
serious, in-depth analysis of international
security issues, Eddy decided to pursue a
PhD in international relations. The large
faculty and excellent reputation of SIS,
combined with the school’s location in
Washington, DC, are the reasons he chose
to pursue his PhD at SIS, a choice he fells
was well-made. “I have really enjoyed my
time at SIS,” Eddy notes. “As a PhD student I feel that I have all the support I need
to succeed, while at the same time I am
given the independence to carve out my
own path. The camaraderie between PhD
students is something else that makes me
very happy with my choice to come to
SIS.”
Dr. Bouka traces her early interest in international relations to three childhood
events: 1) the evening ritual of watching
the Canadian AND the French news with
her father and then having him explain it,
2) the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and 3) the
release of Nelson Mandela. She continued
to develop her interest as she doublemajored in international studies and
French as an undergraduate and then
pursued a Masters in international relations before attending SIS. “My experience at SIS was great,” Dr. Bouka relates.
“The faculty were accessible and eager to
share their knowledge and experience.
S t u d e n t
E d d y
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
( 2 0 1 3 )
The diversity in disciplines, regional interests, and methodological approaches
insured that I could find what I needed to
pursue my specific research question.”
A major factor in Dr. Bouka deciding to
pursue her PhD at SIS was her realization
that many members of the faculty are both
scholars and practitioners. This aspect of
the faculty was particularly important for
her as she knew early on that she wished
to pursue a career that blended both policy and academics. She believes that her
interactions “with faculty members who
were both academics and practitioners
allowed her a sense of how to work toward
being able to do both, and doing it well.”
According to Dr. Bouka, she is currently
engaged in two projects. The most important is carrying her third child which is
expected this summer. This first postdissertation child will join her two dissertation babies. The other project involves
her recent fact-finding mission to Burundi
to assess the current political situation
ahead of the 2015 elections.
L u c a s
Eddy is currently completing his dissertation research on great power interests in
countering maritime piracy. This project
involves researching Britain’s response to
piracy in China in the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries and US counter-piracy
efforts off Somalia and Nigeria. Eddy’s
interest in maritime piracy springs from
his time in the Canadian Navy even though
he never actually saw any real pirates
during this period. In addition to this research, he is also co-authoring a paper
with Professor Jeff Colgan on revolutionary states and teaching a course in the
online MA program at SIS on the domestic
sources of national security policy.
Although Eddy came into the program
with the intention of pursuing a career in
policy, he now hopes to go into academia.
The reason for his change of mind: teaching! “Before I had the opportunity to lead
my own section as a World Politics TA” he
reflects, “I didn’t really “get” what academia was all about. However, now that I
have the opportunity to interact with students on a regular basis I can’t think of
anything I’d rather do than be an academic.”
P a g e
9
F i r s t
T h e
y e a r
S t u d e n t
E l e n i
E k m e t s i o g l o u
given my deep interest in security and
foreign policy questions and because it
would allow me to focus on the issues
about which I am most passionate.” She
decided to attend SIS because of its
“remarkably interesting and interdisciplinary faculty, its emphasis on
high-quality teaching and mentoring,
and its ability to create well-rounded
students as a result of its commitment to
both practice and theory.” When asked
about her first year experience at SIS,
Eleni noted that the program is very
demanding. But, she believes that because “faculty and staff are available to
answer questions and help whenever
needed, PhD life is far easier both psychologically and practically.” Furthermore, she feels like the work she is
doing in her first year is helping her
develop “a very solid foundation upon
which [her] dissertation will be built.”
European Union Institute for Security
Studies (EUISS) focusing on EU-China
relations. Eleni’s present interests center on security-related questions in East
Asia, the US-China relationship, and the
role of middle-size powers in the region.
She is also interested in better understanding Chinese naval modernization
and asymmetric strategies along with US
response and defense plans.
Upon
graduation, Eleni hopes to pursue a
career as an academic engaged in work
that is relevant to the real-world questions policy makers must address.
Eleni Ekmektsioglou came to SIS after
obtaining a BA from Athens, Greece
and an MA from the War Studies department at King’s College London.
Her extensive public sector experience
includes serving as a Handa fellow with
the Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu and
working as a Project Manager in the
F i r s t
y e a r
Uday Sharad Joshi entered the PhD
program in 2013 after spending more
than a decade working on projects
focused on the role of the arts in education and human rights. His work has
included managing and producing two
National Arts, Media, and Civic Action
Campaigns at the Kennedy Center for
the Performing Arts, helping implement
social impact performance curriculum
in the Newark, NJ Unified School District, starting a youth mentorship in the
arts program in East Oakland, CA, and
producing and directing Project 2050, a
multi-year performing arts and global
political action and education program
at the New WORLD Theater at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst from
2001-2004. Uday is also a Kennedy
Center Arts Management Institute Fellow and a former Americans for the Arts
Emerging Leaders Scholar.
Uday’s academic interests center on
arts education, human rights, social
justice, and youth leadership. His proposed research seeks to better understand how international arts and peacebuilding programs can contribute most
Eleni credits her desire for personal
progress and career development as
central to her decision to pursue a PhD.
“As much as I enjoyed working, going
back to school appeared to be a very
promising choice in terms of personal
development and progress,” she says.
“A PhD in IR was the obvious option
S t u d e n t
U d a y
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
S h a r a d
effectively to the diplomatic and peacebuilding process. Though he holds a
master’s degree from Harvard University
and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell
University, Uday realized some years
ago that pursuing a PhD in international
relations was the next step if he was going to pursue his dream of securing a
university position and establishing a
university based arts, international relations, diplomacy and peace-building
research institute. His decision to attend
J o s h i
SIS was primarily influenced by the
program’s reputation as a multidisciplinary institute. “SIS was the most attractive program in the country for me,”
Uday notes, “since my proposed research is in a relatively new sub-field of
IR—the role of the arts in international
relations—and needs to be done in a
place that supports novel approaches
and innovative solutions to real world
issues.” When asked about his first year
at SIS, Uday had the following to say:
“This has been an eye opening experience as expected. The rigorous training in IR theory and its subfields are
exactly what I need to advance the arts
and education fields in the international
realm. The faculty and staff have been
extremely supportive, and it is clear
that SIS is a place that not only is rigorous in its foundations, but adaptable
enough to know that the field has unlimited possibilities in its application.”
Upon completion of the PhD program,
Uday hopes to secure a position in a
university where he can establish undergraduate and graduate courses of
study in arts and IR.
P a g e
1 0
T h e
F r o m
t h e
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
F i e l d
SIS prides itself on the fact that we have students doing fieldwork in so many areas of the world. Each star on the map
represents an area where a current or recently graduated student has done or is doing fieldwork. Some of the projects that
are being carried out in these areas are listed below.

Davina Durgana: Adult services
and anti-trafficking in the United
States.

Efe Sevin: Swedish and Turkish
Public Diplomacy as a Foreign
Policy Instrument.

Sebastian Bitar: US military bases in Colombia and Ecuador.

Sheherazade Jafari: Religious
and secular women's rights activism in Malaysia.

Sonja Kelly: Financial inclusion
policy and regulation in Chile,
India, and Mexico.
D o n ’ t F o r
t h e - Y e a r
1 , 2
e m a i l
g
r
0
:

Emma Fawcett: The political
economy of tourism and development in the Dominican Republic
and Cuba.

Kia Hall: Women’s Cassava bread
production and community development in the Afro-Indigenous
Garifuna community in Honduras.

Katherine Collin: Peace processes & referendums in Indonesia,
East Timor, Republic of Cyprus,
Northern Cyprus/Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and South
Sudan.

Edward Lucas: British counterpiracy efforts in China in the
19th and early 20th centuries.

Elizabeth Rossmiller: Cultural
memory of martial law in Poland.

Nicholas Smith: Microfinance's
impact on socio-economic development in rural Uganda.

Namalie Jayasinghe: The Gendered Natural Disasters: Narratives of Vulnerability and resiliency in Sri Lanka.
e t t o R S V P f o r t h e E n d - o f e c e p t i o n o n T h u r s d a y , M a y
1 4 f r o m 5 : 3 0 – 7 : 3 0 p m
s i s p h d @ a m e r i c a n . e d u
P a g e
1 1
T h e
A l u m n i

Ryan Briggs (2013) is happy to announce that he will
start in Fall 2014 as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Virginia Tech.

Joseph Bock (1985), Teaching Professor at the Eck
Institute for Global Health, published The Technology
of Nonviolence in 2012. Dr. Bock is also a Congressional candidate for Indiana’s 2nd congressional district.

Daniel Chong (2006), Assistant professor at Rollins
College, has just published his book Debating Human
Rights (Lynne Rienner, 2014).
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
N e w s

Nancy Snow (1992), Professor of Communications at
California State University, Fullerton and Adjunct Professor at USC’s Annenberg School, had two books
published recently: Truth is the Best Propaganda: Edward R. Murrow’s Speeches in the Kennedy Years
(Miniver Press, 2013) and American Propaganda and
Democracy (LSU Press, 2014).

Thomas Jandl (2011), Scholar-in-residence at SIS, had
his book Vietnam in the Global Economy: The Dynamics of Integration, Decentralization and Contested Politics, published by Lexington Books in 2013. Dr. Jandl
also has several other publications forthcoming in
collected volumes.
Keep us informed!
If you have a recent accomplishment, publication, or announcement that you would like to share with other program alumni,
please contact Bryan Miller, SIS PhD Program Assistant, at sisphd@american.edu
Feeling Generous?
The PhD suite is in need of a sofa! If you are in the DC area and have an old sofa you’d like to donate to the program,
please contact Bryan at sisphd@american.edu
Your Sofa Here