American University School of International Service
Faculty Profiles
Comparative & Regional Studies - Africa
Africa Focus
Covering North Africa as
well as states south of the
Sahara, the study of Africa
has four broad themes:
state, society, economy,
and international affairs.
African states have
grappled with the need
for effective institutions,
responsive political
processes, and
accountable leadership.
The problems of
autocracy and difficulties
of democratic
development are acute.
The course offerings on
the nature of African
societies pose important
questions such as the
context of governance,
the roles of civil society,
and ethnic and
communal diversity.
Carl LeVan
Professor Carl LeVan focuses on comparative political
institutions, democratization, and African security. His book,
Dictators and Democracy in African Development: The Political
Economy of Good Governance in Nigeria (Cambridge University
Press, 2015) explains two categories of public policy performance
over fifty years, challenging conventional explanations that blame
ethnicity, oil, foreign debt, and other factors. African Studies
Quarterly calls it a "seminal book." Dr.
LeVan's research interests include
comparative democratization, political
institutions and economic
development, and authoritarianism.
Contact him at levan@american.edu .
Rachel Robinson
Professor Rachel Robinson is a sociologist and demographer
whose research focuses on the politics of population,
reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. She
has studied the process of population policy adoption, the
emergence of reproductive health NGOs, and the impact of
NGOs on health outcomes. Her book, Intimate Interventions:
Preventing Pregnancy and Preventing HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa
(forthcoming, Cambridge University Press),investigates the
relationship between family planning and HIV/AIDS
interventions across the continent. She is
currently working on a project that
extends her research on population policy
to examine how countries’ political and
organizational responses to rapid
population growth have influenced their
ability to combat HIV/AIDS. Contact
her at robinson@american.edu .
Office of Comparative and Regional Studies
crs@american.edu
American University School of International Service
Sample Courses
Gina Lambright
SIS 619: Conflict in Africa
Professor Gina Lambright’s teaching and research focus broadly
on issues of political and economic development, addressing
many of the critical issues of development studies, comparative
politics, and international relations, including questions of statebuilding, governance, and institutional performance and reform.
Her regional expertise is sub-Saharan
Africa. Professor Lambright is a
published author with a book titled,
Decentralization in Uganda: Explaining
Successes and Failures in Local
Governances. Contact her at
lambright@american.edu .
- This course is a
historical and analytical
overview of conflict in
Africa. The bulk of the
course is concerned
with an exploration of
theories regarding the
causes of conflict in
Africa, ranging from the
economic and social
impact of colonialism,
political culture, ethnic
divisions, greed and
grievance, etc.
SIS 676: Political
Economy of Africa
- This course provides an
in-depth overview and
analysis of both the
economic and political
factors which have
helped to condition
Africa's position within
the global economic
system.
SIS 676: International
Relations of Africa
- This course provides an
in-depth overview of
the historical and
contemporary
interstate relations in
Africa and situates
Africa within world
affairs.
Claire Metelits
Professor Metelits’ research focuses on non-state armed actors
and governance, with an emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa. She
worked as an advisor to US Army TRADOC and US Africa
Command from 2009-2013, and taught at Washington State
University and Davidson College. She has conducted research on
insurgent groups in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Uganda, Angola,
Turkey, Colombia and Nicaragua and has interviewed members of
the Taliban, the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), and the Sudan
People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). She carried out monitoring and
evaluation of US military civil affairs projects Africa as an advisor
to the U.S. Africa Command. She is the author of Inside Insurgency
(2009) and co-editor of Democratic
Contestation on the Margins: Regimes
in Small African Countries (2015). Her
forthcoming book with Rowman
Littlefield is Security Threats in
Africa: A Critical Approach. Contact
her at metelits@american.edu .
Office of Comparative and Regional Studies
crs@american.edu