Faculty and Staff

Full-Time Faculty

Headshot of Jeffrey Layne Blevins

Jeffrey Layne Blevins

Professor of Journalism & Public and International Affairs, A&S Journalism

5144 CLIFTCT

513-556-0788

Dr. Blevins is a Professor in the Department of Journalism (51%) & School of Public and International Affairs (49%). His recent book, Social Media, Social Justice, and the Political Economy of Online Networks (University of Cincinnati Press, 2022) won the 2023 National Indie Book Award for Non-Fiction E-Book, as it explores the role of social media in social justice and political campaigns.  In 2009 Dr. Blevins served as a federal grant reviewer for the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program administered by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce.  He is a frequent media contact for national outlets, including The Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, VOA, and other venues.
 
Headshot of Brian (Bri) Calfano

Brian (Bri) Calfano

Department of Journalism & School of International and Public Affairs , A&S Journalism

5149 CLIFTCT

940-300-8083

Google Scholar    Muck Rack    TV Reel

Brian Calfano (Ph.D., N. Texas) is a Professor of Journalism and directs UC's Digital Broadcast News Certificate
          
A working TV reporter with multiple EMMY nominations, Calfano is repped by CBK Media Management. His stories have appeared on Spectrum News 1, WKRC Cincinnati (Local12), Fox 2 St. Louis, Fox 4 Kansas City, Ozarks Fox, KOLR, KNWA, and KLBK, among others. In the last five years, he has received more than a dozen awards from the Broadcast Educator Asso., Missouri Broadcasters, Ohio AP, SPJ, and The Press Club of Cleveland. WABC-TV New York featured portions of his documentary work in its 75th anniversary celebration in August 2023. In 2022, Calfano established the Journomentary project. He is the director and executive producer of the award-winning 2024 documentary Al Primo & His Eyewitness News Revolution. The documentary made its New York City premiere at WABC in May. In 2023, Calfano created the first higher education partnership with the broadcast video management platform Latakoo

In total, Dr. Calfano has over 100 peer-reviewed publications across the social sciences. These include the books God Talk: Experimenting with the Religious Causes of Public Opinion (Temple), A Matter of Discretion: The Political Behavior of Catholic Priests (Rowman and Littlefield), Human Relations Commissions (Columbia), and Exploring the Public Effects of Religious Communication on Politics (Michigan).

Coverage of his academic work includes The Washington Post/Monkey Cage, Nieman Lab (Harvard), Newsweek, and The London School of Economics Blog. Research grantors include HUD, NSF, APSA, The Scripps Howard Foundation, and the SSSR. 

Headshot of Kimberly Horn Conger

Kimberly Horn Conger

Assoc Professor - Educator, A&S School of Public and International A

5137 CLIFTCT

513-556-3679

Kimberly H. Conger is an Associate Professor, Educator, and received her PhD from Ohio State University.  At UC, she teaches American politics and public administration. Her research focuses on the way religious advocacy makes an impact on American political parties and interest groups in state and local politics.  Her current projects examine the influence of the Christian Right and Religious Left in lobbying and political advocacy, and investigate the role of religious activism in reducing political inequalities in the U.S.  Professor Conger is a past president of the Religion and Politics section of the American Political Science Association and has published research in many scholarly outlets such as Perspectives on Politics, and Political Research Quarterly
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Anita Dhillon

Asst Professor, A&S School of Public and International A

5139 CLIFTCT

513-556-3395

Dr. Dhillon studies how public and nonprofit organizations can be designed and run to best achieve equitable social policy outcomes. She is especially interested in how such organizations manage their internal and external environments to implement complex social programs that serve vulnerable populations in society. She explores these topics from a cross-national perspective. 

Her research focuses on two key environmental factors (the influence of state and local political environments, and the management of organizational human capital), and how they interact to affect organizational outcomes. Her research has been published in International Public Management Journal, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, and the Journal of Nonprofit and Public Affairs. 
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Lauren Forbes

Asst Professor, A&S School of Public and International A

5136 CLIFTCT

513-556-3377

Dr. Lauren Forbes is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Cincinnati.  She is a community development policy scholar studying local food systems, equitable urban development, and collective action among low-income racialized populations.
Headshot of Brendan R Green

Brendan R Green

Associate Professor, A&S School of Public and International A

1103 Crosley Tower

513-556-5078

“The MAD Who Wasn’t There: Soviet Perceptions of U.S. Counterforce Capabilities in the Late Cold War,” Security Studies, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 606-641. Published online July 2017. With Austin Long.
  • Subject of a New York Times Article, “There’s a Big Lie Your History Teacher Told Your About Nuclear Weapons,” The Interpreter, July 19, 2017.
  • Winner, 2018 Outstanding Article in International History and Politics, American Political Science Association.
 
“Correspondence: The Limits of Damage Limitation,” International Security, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Summer 2017). With Austin Long.
  • A response to Charles L. Glaser and Steve Fetter, “Should the U.S. Reject MAD? Damage Limitation and U.S. Strategy towards China,” International Security, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Summer 2016).
 
“Primacy and Proliferation: Why Security Commitments Don’t Prevent Nuclear Weapons’ Spread,” in Trevor Thrall and Benjamin Friedman, eds., The Case for Restraint in U.S. Foreign Policy (New York: Routledge). Forthcoming, 2018.
 
“Signaling with Secrets: Evidence on Soviet Perceptions of U.S. Counterforce Developments in the Late Cold War,” in Erik Garzke and Jon Lindsay, eds., Cross-Domain Deterrence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2018). With Austin Long.
 
“Stalking the Secure Second Strike: Intelligence, Counterforce, and Nuclear Strategy,” Journal of Strategic Studies, No. 1-2 (February 2015), pp. 38-73.  With Austin Long.
  • Winner, 2014 Amos Perlmutter Prize for best article by untenured professors in the Journal of Strategic Studies.
  • Review: Andrew L. Ross, H-Diplo/ISSF, October 9, 2015.
  • Nominated for APSA’s 2015 Alexander L. George Article Award for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research.
  • Nominated for APSA’s 2016 Outstanding Article Award in International History and Politics.
 
Correspondence: “Debating American Engagement: the Future of U.S. Grand Strategy,” International Security, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Fall 2013).  With Benjamin Friedman and Justin Logan.
  • Response to Brooks, Ikenberry, and Wohlforth, “Don’t Come Home America: The Case against Retrenchment,” International Security, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Winter 2012/2013).
 
“Two Concepts of Liberty: U.S. Cold War Grand Strategies and the Liberal Tradition,” International Security, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Fall 2012).
  • Nominated for APSA’s 2013 Alexander L. George Article Award for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research.
  • Review: Paul C. Avey, H-Diplo/ISSF, April 12, 2013. 
  • Colloquy with Douglas MacDonald, H-Diplo/ISSF, May 4 and May 15, 2013.
 
Editor, U.S. Military Innovation after the Cold War: Creation without Destruction (New York: Routledge, 2009).  With Harvey Sapolsky and Benjamin Friedman.
  • The Missing Transformation.  With Harvey Sapolsky and Benjamin Friedman. In Creation Without Destruction.
  • Technology and the RMA.  With Benjamin Friedman and David Burbach.  In Creation Without Destruction.
  • The RMA and the Second Inter-war Period.  With Harvey Sapolsky and Benjamin Friedman.  In Creation Without Destruction.
Headshot of Richard J Harknett

Richard J Harknett

Director, SPIA, A&S School of Public and International A

5130 CLIFTCT

513-556-3314

Dr. Harknett is Professor of Political Science and Director of the School of Public and International Affairs, Co-Director of the Ohio Cyber Range Institute, and Chair of the Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy at the University of Cincinnati. He holds an afffilate faculty position with the School of Information Technology at UC and a professorial lectureship at the Diplomatic Academy Vienna, Austria, where he served as Fulbright Professor in 2001. In 2017, he served as inaugural Fulbright Professor in cyber studies at Oxford University, UK and in 2016 as the first Scholar-in-Residence at United States Cyber Command and NSA. His publications and research interests focus on international relations theory and international security studies with particular focus on cyber strategy. He also regularly advises at the US government and state of Ohio levels. He is the co-author of Cyber Persistence Theory: Redefining national security in cyberspace (UK: Oxford University Press, 2022).
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Ivan Dinev Ivanov

Associate Professor Educator, A&S School of Public and International A

5114 CLIFTCT

513-556-3318

Dr. Ivan Dinev Ivanov's primary areas of teaching and research interests are international relations and comparative politics with focus on international security and cooperation, alliance politics and NATO and the European Union (EU). For latest information about teaching, research and service, check his CV. His book entitled "Transforming NATO: new allies, missions and capabilities" was published by Lexington Books/ Rowman & Littlefield Publishers in 2011 (paperback, April 2013, Chinese edition 2014). Author's update is posted here.
Dr. Ivanov served as Director of Undergraduate Studies (2015-2019) and works with students interested in research on international institutions, global governance and European affairs. He was awarded the 2012 Sarah Grant Barber Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award at the University of Cincinnati. Updated information about his course offerings and office hours is available here. Please visit the SPIA's advising webpage for list of other advisors and office hours. More information about academic programs and requirements is available on the Undergraduate Advising Portal.
Dr. Ivanov supervises the Internship for Academic Credit Program. If you are interested to complete academic credit for your internship, visit the Internship for Academic Credit page for more information. Note that students need to obtain permission to register for POL 4090 (offered in the Fall) and provide documentation related to their internship.
Dr. Ivanov leads a study abroad program on International Institutions and Global Governance (POL 2097) which takes students to Brussels and the Hague. The program will be offered again in Spring 2021 via the University Honors Program. For up-to-date information please visit the program's webpage.
Please, visit his webpage if you need a letter of recommendation or click here for detailed instructions. Master students who need a thesis supervisor or reader for their MA theses or professional papers should click here for more information about my rules and expectations.
Dr. Ivanov won the May 2017 e-Learning Champion award for his use of Echo 360 lecture capture and engagement software in the POL 1080 Introduction to International Relations. His article on the use of Echo 360 in large enrollment classes can be accessed here and its findings are summarized here. In 2023, he published a study on "Resilience and Vulnerabilities Related to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: The Emergence of a New Club of NATO and EU Members." The article can be accessed here
Headshot of Laura D. Jenkins

Laura D. Jenkins

Professor of Political Science, Faculty Affiliate WGSS and Asian Studies , A&S School of Public and International A

CLIFTCT

513-556-3308

Laura Dudley Jenkins' research focuses on social justice policies in the context of culturally diverse democracies, including India, Indonesia, South Africa, and the United States.

Her book Religious Freedom and Mass Conversion in India (Penn Press 2019) won the Hubert Morken Best Book Prize from the Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA). A study of mass conversions to Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism and ongoing efforts to prevent conversions, Jenkins reveals how "religious freedom" arguments and laws have actually undermined the religious freedom of women, lower castes, and religious minorities. 

Jenkins' book Identity and Identification in India: Defining the Disadvantaged (Routledge, 2003, 2009) examines competing demands for affirmative action on the basis of caste, religion, class, and gender and the ways the government identifies recipients through the courts, census, and official certificates. Her research as a Fulbright New Century Scholar in South Africa and India resulted in Affirmative Action Matters: Creating Opportunities for Students Around the World, co-edited with Michele S. Moses (Routledge 2014).

In her articles, she analyzes religious freedom and conversion, competing minorities’ claims for affirmative action, colonial and contemporary government anthropology, the role of social science in anti-discrimination law, reserved legislative seats for women, and the role of culture and the arts in sustainable development.

Jenkins' book chapters examine anti-Muslim political communication in the US and India, religious family laws, mass religious conversion as protest, comparative affirmative action, minority rights, historically Dalit colleges, anxious secularism, women and development, regulation of religion, and methodological diversity in political science. 

In addition to two Fulbrights, Dr. Jenkins has received fellowships from the Dartmouth Humanities Center and the United States Institute of Peace.

Religious Freedom and Mass Conversion in India. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019. 
Hubert Morken Best Book Award 
APSA Religion and Politics Section 


Affirmative action matters: Creating opportunities for students around the world. (with Michele S. Moses). New York: Routledge, 2014.

Identity and Identification in India: Defining the Disadvantaged. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon 2003, reissued in paperback by Routledge 2009.


 
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Albert W Klein

Doctor or Colonel, A&S School of Public and International A

5117 CLIFTCT

937-306-8494

Al's concentrations are in international law and relations especially regarding war and post-conflict resolution leading to peace.
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Heewon Lee

Asst Professor, A&S School of Public and International A

5118 CLIFTCT

513-556-3300

Dr. Heewon Lee studies the management of collaborative governance for the successful transition to sustainable and smart cities. Her research investigates the institutional and organizational-level strategies of federal and local governments for effective collaborative governance with non-governmental actors in the sustainability policy arena. Her second area of research focuses on digital governance to address urban public service delivery problems and explore the drivers of citizen engagement using technology. Her work has been published in Governance, Public Administration, Public Performance & Management Review, and the International Journal of Public Administration.
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Andrew Lewis

Associate Professor, A&S School of Public and International A

5131 CLIFTCT

513-556-2303

Professor Lewis's research interests are at the intersection of law and politics in America. He has specific expertise in religion and politics in the U.S., with a focus on First Amendment law and politics, rights politics, and conservative political movements. His research engages the fields of political behavior, law and courts, interest groups, law and society, and religion and politics.

Professor Lewis's book The Rights Turn in Conservative Christian Politics: How Abortion Transformed the Culture Wars (Cambridge, 2017), was the winner of the 2018 Humbert Morken Award for the best book in Religion and Politics from the American Political Science Association. He is also the co-author of The Full Armor of God: The Mobilization of Christian Nationalism in American Politics (Cambridge Elements, 2023), along with many peer-reviewed social science articles. Professor Lewis has authored op-eds at The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, FiveThirtyEightVox, and is a frequent contributor to national media outlets. 

A dedicated teacher, in 2022 Professor Lewis was awarded the A. B. Dolly Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching by the Office of the Provost at the University of Cincinnati.

As of July 2023, Professor Lewis is serving as the Interim Executive Director of the Portman Center for Policy Solutions. He is also currently the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the political science journal Politics and Religion. 
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Michael Evan Loadenthal

Asst Professor - Research, A&S School of Public and International A

5119 CLIFTCT

202-681-2057

Headshot of Jack Michael Mewhirter

Jack Michael Mewhirter

Assistant Professor, A&S School of Public and International A

Crosley Tower

513-556-3302

Dr. Mewhirter's research expertise is in the subfield of public policy: a  field of study which examines the emergence of societal problems and inefficiencies, the policy tools available to correct them, the organizations charged with the implementation of policies, the factors that impact organizational effectiveness, and the evaluation of implemented policies.

His published and ongoing research focuses on two, distinct topics. His main area of research focuses on the study of complex governance systems (generally in the context of water governance): governance structures where decision making authority is delegated to multiple organizations that (often) collectively make policy decisions across a set of interdependent decision making venues (or “forums”). His research in this area generally attempts to answer two, related questions: 1) How do organizations build political influence across the system to better influence the forums in which they participate? 2) How does forum interdependence affect the policy decisions made in the related forums?

His second area of interest focuses on the evaluation of current policies of pressing public importance. Here, he utilizes a variety of quantitative techniques to assess the causal impact of public policies and tease out whether and to what extent they can be considered effective. 
Headshot of Dinshaw Mistry

Dinshaw Mistry

Professor, International Affairs & Asian Studies
Head, Department of Asian, East European, and German Studies
, A&S School of Public and International A

4215 CLIFTCT

513-556-9313

  Dinshaw Mistry is a Professor of International Affairs and Asian Studies at the University of Cincinnati, and Head of the Department of Asian, East European, and German Studies. He has also been a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center; the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University; and the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University. 
  He specializes in international relations, security studies, Asian security, and technology and politics. Within these fields, his research covers two main areas: nuclear and missile proliferation, and South Asian security and US foreign policy in the region. 
  Dr. Mistry is author of two major books and co-author / editor of a third. The first, Containing Missile Proliferation, is a comprehensive study of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and its impact on 14 missile programs; it also analyzes the supply-side approach to nonproliferation. The second, The US-India Nuclear Agreement, offers the most detailed analysis of nuclear negotiations with India; it highlights the impact of domestic politics on nuclear diplomacy. The third is an edited volume, Enduring and Emerging Issues in South Asian Security, where he authored the leading chapters on US foreign policy interests in South Asia, ranging from strategic issues to democracy and development, and regional challenges in these areas.
  His additional writings appear in journals such as International SecuritySecurity StudiesAsian SurveyPolitical Science Quarterly, Asian Security, and Arms Control Today, and in the International Herald TribuneNew York Times, and Washington Post
  His current research projects examine regional nuclear issues and the global arms control regime; the new dimensions of missile proliferation and missile defense; and US foreign policy in South Asia and its implications for Asian security. 
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Stephen T Mockabee

Associate Professor, A&S School of Public and International A

5111 CLIFTCT

513-556-3394

Stephen T. Mockabee is Associate Professor of Political Science in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Cincinnati, where he directs the Graduate Certificate in Public Opinion and Survey Research. His research interests include elections, public opinion, survey research methodology, and religion and politics. Dr. Mockabee's work has appeared in a variety of professional journals such as Political Research Quarterly, Political Analysis, Political Behavior, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and Politics and Religion, as well as in numerous edited volumes. His research on poll workers, conducted in collaboration with colleagues at the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, where he has served as a visiting scholar, was funded by the Pew Center on the States' Make Voting Work project. Prof. Mockabee has served on the editorial board of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion and as Program Chair of the Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. Prior to joining the faculty at Cincinnati, he served for several years as a research associate of the Center for Survey Research at Ohio State University.
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Thomas G. Moore

Assistant Director, School of Public and International Affairs, and Affiliated Faculty, Asian Studies Program, A&S School of Public and International A

5115 CLIFTCT

513-556-3376

Thomas G. Moore (Ph.D., Princeton University) teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on globalization, international political economy, U.S.-China relations, and the politics and international relations of East Asia. After earning a B.A. from Hamilton College, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the Department of Politics at Princeton University. Moore’s publications include China in the World Market (Cambridge University Press), as well as numerous book chapters and scholarly articles in journals such as The Washington Quarterly, The International Spectator, and The Journal of Contemporary China. These publications have focused on China's participation in the world economy, U.S. relations with East Asia, and Chinese foreign policy. Moore's research has been supported in the past by external awards from the U.S. Fulbright program and the Smith Richardson Foundation. His ongoing projects examine various aspects of international relations in an era of globalized economic production, with a particular emphasis on the nature of US-China economic interdependence and the implications of globalized production for Chinese economic power. For example, a current book project examines the extent to which multinational corporations from large developing countries such as China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, and South Africa have been able to break into the top echelon of global companies in key industries dominated since the end of World War II by the Group of Seven and other developed countries in North America, Western Europe, and the Asia-Pacific.
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David Niven

Associate Professor, A&S School of Public and International A

5116 CLIFTCT

513-556-3305

David Niven (Ph.D., Ohio State University) teaches American politics and conducts research on political campaigns, gerrymandering, political communication and death penalty policy. David is the author of several books including The Politics of Injustice: The Kennedys, The Freedom Rides and the Electoral Consequences of a Moral Compromise (University of Tennessee Press) and has published research in numerous journals including the Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Polity, Social Science Quarterly, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, and the Journal of Black Studies. David has testified as an expert witness and consulted on gerrymandering cases in state and federal courts and wrote an amicus brief submitted to the Ohio Supreme Court in Preterm Cleveland v. Yost. David's political analysis has been quoted widely including in the New York Times, Washington Post, and The New Yorker. David has worked as a speechwriter for political and academic leaders including Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, and Ohio State University President Gordon Gee.
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Anne Sisson Runyan

Professor, School of Public and International Affairs and Faculty Affiliate, Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

5132 Childrens Hospital Bldg R

Anne Sisson Runyan, PhD in International Relations, is Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) and a faculty affiliate of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) at the University of Cincinnati (UC). She founded and coordinates the Political Science doctoral concentration in Feminist Comparative and International Politics, formerly headed the Department of Women’s Studies, and served as the Interim Faculty Chair and Director of the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center at UC. She previously founded and directed women’s studies programs at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam and at Wright State University (WSU) where she held tenured appointments in political science and chaired the SUNY Potsdam Politics Department. She has also taught in Canada and Europe, including serving as a Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in North American Integration at York University in Toronto and a visiting scholar and fellow at the University of Amsterdam, and studied and guest-lectured in many parts of the world. A pioneer in the field of feminist international relations, a recipient of the Eminent Scholar Award from the Feminist Theory and Gender Studies Section of the International Studies Association (ISA), and a former Vice President of ISA and currently on its Status of Women Committee, her books include Global Gender Politics, Global Gender Issues (4 editions), Gender and Global Restructuring (2 editions, third in progress), and Feminist (Im)Mobilities in Fortress(ing) North America and she has published widely in the fields of feminist world politics and transnational feminisms. She serves on a range of editorial boards and was an associate editor of the International Feminist Journal of Politics for which she organized and hosted its fifth annual conference. In addition to her experience leading a major humanities research center funded by a substantial endowment yielding a $1.3 million annual budget as well as four academic departments and programs offering graduate and undergraduate degrees, she has been a leader in several professional organizations, including ISA, the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA), and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). She was awarded the AAUP Georgina M. Smith Award in 2020 for her contributions to raising the status of academic women through her union, scholarly, campus, and professional association work. She has also won multiple external and internal grants; completed a $1.5 million capital campaign for Women’s Studies; directed or co-directed several collaborative polcy, research, international exchange, curricular, and conference projects; and chaired and/or served on countless campus and faculty union governance bodies. She has taught a range of graduate and undergraduate courses particularly in the areas of feminist global political economy and security studies, feminist political and international relations theory, and transnational feminism at multiple institutions as well as chaired and/or served on many MA and PhD committees. For her achievements as a feminist scholar, administrator, organizer, fundraiser, outreach coordinator, and mentor, she has received numerous other internal and external awards, including the Society for Women in International Poltiical Economy Mentor Award and induction as a UC Fellow of the Graduate School for career achievments. Her full CV can be found at https://runyanas.wixsite.com/polisci (as this CV site is no longer updated)..  
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Rebecca Sanders

School of Public & International Affairs , A&S School of Public and International A

5112 CLIFTCT

513-556-3316

Website: https://www.rebeccasandersphd.com

I am an Associate Professor of Political Science in the School of Public and International Affairs and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Cincinnati. I previously completed my Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Toronto and received my M.A. and B.A. from McGill University.

My research agenda addresses pressing global challenges at the intersection of international human rights, international security, and public health. I am especially interested in how societies grapple with rights tradeoffs in real and perceived emergencies and the dynamics of rights advancement and retrenchment.  

My book, Plausible Legality: Legal Culture and Political Imperative in the Global War on Terror (Oxford University Press, 2018), and related journal articles examine the capacity of international human rights and humanitarian law to constrain controversial state security practices such as torture, indefinite detention, targeted killing, and mass surveillance. Further ongoing research examines the consequences of authoritarian populism for international legal norms as well as uneven state responses to the rapid proliferation of far-right political violence and terrorism.

My next major project is focused on backlash against international women's rights and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) rights at the United Nations and across comparative national cases. Transnationally coordinated attacks on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and conservative efforts to revive biologically deterministic understandings of gender roles and identities threaten to erode rights protections and reverse efforts to achieve gender equity. My concern for women’s rights also animates my participation in a community-engaged feminist research initiative with the Cities for CEDAW movement, which aims to promote international human rights norms through local politics.

Alongside this work, I have received National Science Foundation funding for a large study of public perceptions of civil rights and public health tradeoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. This project examines similarities and differences between tradeoffs in the post-9/11 counterterrorism context and the current pandemic crisis and analyzes the dynamics of threat construction and blame attribution. Additional research investigates the opportunistic securitization of health and implications for migration and asylum policy around the world. 
Headshot of Alexander John Thurston

Alexander John Thurston

Assoc Professor, A&S School of Public and International A

5133 CLIFTCT

513-237-2955

I study Islam and politics in northwest Africa, with a focus on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I have conducted field research in Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso.
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William P Umphres

Assistant Professor-Educator, A&S School of Public and International A

5134 CLIFTCT

513-556-6332

William P. Umphres, Ph.D is a political theorist whose research focuses on norms of deliberation, theories of inclusion, and questions of equality and inequality in democratic institutions. His teaching focus covers the intersections of Law, Politics and Society, with emphasis on Political Theory and Constitutional Law. He challenges students to understand the structural dynamics of politics, re-examine fundamental assumptions about the nature and legitimacy of political institutions, and to participate in the ongoing process of constructing the “We” of “We the People.”
 
Professor Umphres earned his Ph.D from the University of Virginia, where his dissertation addressed the legitimacy of the use of religious and non-shared reasons and justifications in political discourse. He has published in prominent journals such as “Constellations” and “Political Theory.” His publications engage questions about how democratic processes of debate and deliberation can yield inclusive outcomes that uphold democratic norms of equality and self-government. His current research project builds on this work, deploying a systems-focused view of democratic deliberation to articulate a normative case for the importance of silence, listening, and the ceding of deliberative space amongst historically privileged groups. 
 
In the classroom, Professor Umphres teaches courses in the History of Political Thought, Law and Society, Constitutional Law, and Courts and Judicial Politics. In these classes, he invites students to explore the theoretical and historical underpinnings of central aspects of the American Legal and Constitutional regime. Core ideas like human nature, the purpose of politics, freedom, equality and inequality, free speech, the nature and purpose of punishment, freedom of religion, freedom from religion, separation of powers, and executive privilege are examined in detail. Problems of racial and gender inequality, mass incarceration, access to goods such as healthcare, basic income, and courts are discussed and debated. Throughout, these theoretical concepts are tied back to specific manifestations in the American political context. Students are encouraged to apply these ideas to their lives as citizens. 
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Rina Williams

Associate Dean for Social Sciences; Professor of Political Science; Affiliate Faculty, Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Sociology, and Asian Studies, A&S College of Arts and Sciences

155A ARTSCI

513-556-5858

Rina Verma Williams received her A.M and Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University, and B.A. (Political Science) and B.S. (Chemistry) from the University of California at Irvine. She is currently serving as Associate Dean for the Social Sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences. Her home department is the School of Public and International Affairs, with affiliate appointments in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies; Sociology; and Asian Studies. Her areas of specialization include South Asian politics; women and gender; ethnicity and nationalism; religion and politics; and politics of the developing nations. She has published extensively in these areas, inlcuding numerous articles and two books with Oxford University Press. Before coming to UC, she taught at the University of Virginia and University of Houston.
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Gregory H. Winger

Assistant Professor, A&S School of Public and International A

5113 CLIFTCT

513-556-7276

Dr. Gregory H. Winger is an Assistant Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs at the University of Cincinnati.  He specializes in cybersecurity, U.S. foreign policy, and security studies. His reasearch examines security cooperation and in particular how collaborative activities like defense diplomacy have been used to facility cooperation on emerging security issues. Dr. Winger has done significant work on how these activies have occured within the U.S.-Philippine alliance and how they are now being adapted to cybersecurity. 

He has authored several works on these subjects in publications such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy Analysis, and Armed Forces & Society. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the World Politics and Statecraft Fellowship from the Smith Richardson Foundation and the Liefur Erikisson Scholarship. He has also held research fellowships with esteemed institutions including the Center for Small State Studies at the University of Iceland,  the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, and as a Fulbright Fellow in the Philippines. 

Staff

Headshot of Shawn  Michael Adkins

Shawn Michael Adkins

Program Manager, Portman Center for Policy Solutions, A&S Portman Center

ARTSCI

Shawn Adkins serves as the Program Manager for the Portman Center for Policy Solution in the College of Arts & Sciences.  
Headshot of Stephanie  Ellis

Stephanie Ellis

Program Director, Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy, A&S School of Public and International A

5115A CLIFTCT

513-556-3698

Stephanie Ellis works for the Ohio Cyber Range Institute by supporting the Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy in the School of Public and International Affairs.
Headshot of Brent Toshio Nakagama

Brent Toshio Nakagama

Program Coordinator, A&S School of Public and International A

5110 CLIFTCT

407-314-0215

Headshot of Evajean S ONeal

Evajean S ONeal

Business Administrator, School of Public and International Affairs

1210B Crosley Tower

513-556-6657

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Bethany Stollar

Program Coordinator - Undergraduate, A&S School of Public and International A

5114A CLIFTCT

513-556-3320

Adjunct Faculty

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Leah Merchant Dean

Ph.D. Student, Junior Research Associate, A&S SPIA Adjuncts

Crosley Tower

513-556-3300

Leah's concentrations are in Research Methodology and American Politics, with a focus on policy analysis. Her research interests include health, poverty, and education policies.
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Jenn Dye

Asst Dean, Law Jones Center for Race, Gend, Soc Jus

320 COLLAW

513-556-7467

Dr. Dye combines her interdisciplinary research, scholarly background, and community work to continue her work in the space of race, gender, and social justice in her current role as Director of the Nathaniel R. Jones Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice.  As Director, she is responsible for overseeing programming, community outreach, Social Justice Fellows, among other initiatives.   

With a Ph.D. in political science, J.D., and graduate certificate in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Dr. Dye's earlier research focused on marginalized communities, access to resources, and the resulting relationship to political power and structures.  Her more recent research focuses on race and gender and how these impact identity, agency, and political power, looking at systems and structures within soceity.  Dr. Dye has taught the following courses: Introduction to American Politics, International Relations, Introduction to Women's Studies, Women and Politics, International Human Rights, Criminal Justice Policy and Legislative Advocacy, and Political and Legal Processes.
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Michael Ragaa Fahmi

Instructor - Adj, A&S SPIA Adjuncts

CLIFTCT

562-217-3924

Headshot of Marlaina Ann Leppert-Wahl

Marlaina Ann Leppert-Wahl

Assoc Professor - Adj, A&S SPIA Adjuncts

5119A CLIFTCT

513-500-0456

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Robert B Nestheide

Associate Professor - Adjunct Ann, CC HIST/PS/PHIL

CC Snyder Addition

513-732-5200

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Bruce I Petrie

Adjunct Assistant Professor, A&S SPIA Adjuncts

Crosley Tower

513-556-3300

Headshot of Manisha Sinha

Manisha Sinha

Adjunct Assistant Professor, A&S SPIA Adjuncts

5113A CLIFTCT

513-556-3320

Manisha Sinha, Ph.D. teaches courses on international relations and international political economy. She earned her degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where her research explored the relevance of the most-favored-nation and non-discrimination rules of the World Trade Organization and their central position in the contemporary multilateral trading system. Her research focuses on issues related to international trade, globalization and global governance. She is also interested in the politics and economics of inter-state relations and the role of international organizations in shaping such relations. 
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Kristina M. Teater

Ph.D. Candidate, A&S SPIA Adjuncts

Crosley Tower

513-556-3300


Kristina’s research concentration is in comparative politics and international relations with a focus on the intersection of religion and politics.  Her dissertation, In Search of Rights: The Use of Transnational Advocacy Networks in Response to Restrictions on Religion is a comparative analysis of Christian minorities in India and Malaysia and their use of transnational advocacy networks in response to state-imposed limits on religious practice. Her research is generously supported by a dissertation fellowship from the Taft Research Center. Kristina’s broad research interests include identity politics, international law, social movements, and human rights.​
 
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Susan Marie Weaver

Instructor - Adj, A&S SPIA Adjuncts

Crosley Tower

513-556-3300

Headshot of David Michael Zimov

David Michael Zimov

Assoc Professor - Adj, A&S SPIA Adjuncts

5119 CLIFTCT

703-786-1122

David M. Zimov, Ph.D. 

David served the people of the United States as a career Senior Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State from 1997-2019, and he now provides advice and training to governments, companies, and individuals around the world.  He is also an Adjunct Professor of international relations at the University of Cincinnati.  

David served as U.S. Consul General in Mexico, on the staff of the National Security Council under President George W. Bush/and Intelligence Officer in the White House Situation Room, as Counselor for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Coordinator for Counterterrorism for Africa, deputy Political Counselor in Bogota Colombia, Director of Policy Planning for the Western Hemisphere, Political Military Affairs Officer in Panama, and Consular Officer in Colombia.   He is the reicpient of numeous Superior Honor and other awards from the U.S. and other governments.   

David also worked in international business for a leading security corporation, and has been a visiting professor and lecturer at numerous universities, military acadamies, and war colleges.   He holds a Bachelor's Degree in finance from the University of Cincinnati, a Master's Degree from the University of Alabama, and  Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science of the University of London.  He speaks Spanish and Italian.

Affiliate Faculty

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Ashley M Currier

Professor, Department Head of , A&S Women's Studies

3428E French Hall

513-556-1774

Ashley Currier is a sociologist who studies lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizing in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, and South Africa. 

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Charles R Doarn

Professor, Environmental and Public Health Sciences; Director of Telemedicine; Director, Space Research Institute for Discovery and Exploration, Office of Research

Charles Doarn serves as the director of UC’s Space Research Institute for Discovery and Exploration in the Office of Research. In addition, he is a Research Professor in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences (DEPHS). He has also served as the Division Director of Public Health Sciences and the MPH Program Director in the Division of Public Health, DEPHS University of Cincinnati (UC), College of Medicine. He also has academic appointments as a full professor in Political Science at UC, Aerospace Medicine at Wright State University, and Emergency Medicine at George Washington University. He currently provides subject matter expertise in aerospace medicine to NASA’s Chief Health and Medical Officer and serves as the co-chair of Federal Telehealth Working Group for the U.S. Government. Doarn has worked closely the NATO, the Department of Defense, and the Department of State as a Fulbright Specialist.
 
He received his undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences (Microbiology) from The Ohio State University in 1980 and an MBA from the University of Dayton in 1988. Additional training includes the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Aircraft Mishap Investigation Course, Ashburn, VA; and Advanced Program Management at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA.
 
As the Editor-in-Chief of the Telemedicine and e-Health Journal (since 2005), Doarn is a recognized leader in telemedicine and telehealth as a scholar and teacher, having published 7 books, over 450 manuscripts, editorials, federal reports and 46 book chapters. Doarn is an editor of the 4th edition of Space Physiology and Medicine: Evidence to Practice (ISBN 978-1-4939-6650-9); an editor of A Multinational Telemedicine System for Disaster Response: Opportunities and Challenges. NATO Publication (ISBN 978-1-61499-727-6); an editor of Engineering, Life Sciences, and Health/Medicine Synergy in Aerospace Human Systems Integration. The Rosetta Stone Project. NASA SP-2017-633. (ISBN 978-1-62683-044-8); and Telemedicine, Telehealth, and Telepresence: Principles, Strategies, Applications and New Directions. Editors. R Latifi, CR Doarn, RC Merrell. Springer, New York. ISBN 978-3-030-56916-7. 2021.
 
Professor Doarn is a fellow of the ATA and the Aerospace Medical Association, a member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), an Honorary NASA Flight Surgeon, and recipient of the Astronaut’s award, the Silver Snoopy for his work in Telemedicine for NASA worldwide. In May 2016, Professor Doarn was recognized by the ATA with the 2016 Individual Leadership Award for his efforts national and international in telemedicine. He and his co-authors were recognized with the IAA’s 2018 Luigi Napolitano Book Award in the Life Sciences.
 
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Kimberly Downing

Administrative Official III, Acad Aff Institute for Policy Research

260D USQUARE

513-556-5082

Kimberly Downing, Ph.D. is Co-Director of the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati and Affiliated Research Associate Professor, Department of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati.  Research expertise in public opinion research/survey research, social/behavioral research methods and public policy process and research. Her research specialty is in the area of understanding public opinion about public policy issues.  Most recently her research has focused on public opinion about organ donation and state policy changes affecting organ donation.  Downing received her doctorate in Political Science from Rutgers University.
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Amy C Lind

Taft Research Center Director & Faculty Chair / Mary Ellen Heintz Professor, A&S Women's Studies

1100 EDWARDS 1 Edwards Center

513-556-0675

Amy Lind is Mary Ellen Heintz Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She is currently serving as UC's Taft Research Center Director & Faculty Chair. Prior to this, she served as Head of the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from August 2015 through December 2018 and as Graduate Director for four previous years. In 2017-2018, she also served as Provost Fellow, in which capacity she oversaw assessment and reaccreditation in the College of Arts & Sciences. She holds faculty affiliations in Sociology, Romance & Arabic Languages & Literatures, the Latin American, Latinx and Caribbean Studies Program, and the School of Planning/DAAP.

Dr. Lind's areas of scholarship and teaching include urban studies, global political economy, development and postcolonial studies, Global South/transnational social movements, feminist and queer theory, and studies of neoliberal governance. A qualitative researcher with great interest in people's stories of survival and resistance, she has lived, worked and conducted research in Latin America for over four years, including in Euador, Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela. She is the author of Gendered Paradoxes: Women’s Movements, State Restructuring, and Global Development in Ecuador (Penn State University Press, 2005), and editor of four volumes, including Development, Sexual Rights and Global Governance (Routledge, 2010) and Feminist (Im)mobilities in Fortress(ing) North America: Rights, Citizenships and Identities in Transnational Perspective (Ashgate Publishing, 2013, co-edited with Anne Sisson Runyan, Patricia McDermott and Marianne Marchand). Her new book, Constituting the Left Turn: Resignifying Nation, Economy and Family in Postneoliberal Ecuador (with Christine Keating), addresses the cultural, economic, and affective politics of Ecuador's postneoliberal Citizen Revolution. She has held distinguished visiting professor positions in Ecuador, Bolivia and Switzerland and has delivered over fifty invited lectures at institutions around the world.

See her UC Taft Research Center Foreign Correspondent interview here
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Eric Rademacher

Administrative Official III, Acad Aff Institute for Policy Research

260E USQUARE

513-556-3304

Emeriti Faculty

Headshot of Barbara A Bardes

Barbara A Bardes

School of Public and International Affairs

513-556-6458

Barbara Bardes specializes in American government, politics, and public policy analysis. She received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Cincinnati. While teaching at Loyola University of Chicago, Professor Bardes was a founding member of the committee responsible for developing an academic program in women's studies. With Professor Suzanne Gossett, she developed a team-taught interdisciplinary course examining American women's struggles for political power as debated in nineteenth-century literature; their collaboration resulted in the book, Declarations of Independence: Women and Political Power in Nineteenth Century American Fiction (1990). She is active in numerous professional associations, including the Women's Caucus for Political Science. While serving as Dean of Raymond Walters College, Professor Bardes continues to engage in research and publication in political science. Areas of current research specialization include public opinion, attitudes toward foreign policy issues, and women in American politics. A new edition of her co-authored text American Government and Politics Today was published in 1997.
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Stephen E Bennett

Emeritus Faculty, School of Public and International Affairs

Headshot of Han-Kyo Kim

Han-Kyo Kim

Emeritus Faculty, School of Public and International Affairs

Headshot of James A. Stever

James A. Stever

Professor, School of Public and International Affairs

Professor James A. Stever is widely published in professional journals. He is currently developing intergovernmental management models to combat terrorism. Stever is a member of two editorial boards: International Journal of Public Administration, and International Journal of Organizational Theory and Behavior. In addition to journal articles, he has published four books. These books are: Diversity and Order in State and Local Politics (University of South Carolina Press, 1980); Administering the New Federalism (Westview, 1986); The End of Public Administration, (Transnational Publishers, 1988); The Path to Organizational Skepticism, (Chatelaine Press, 2000). He was awarded the Laverne Burchfield Award for the Best Book Review in Public Administration Review in 1995 and 2002.
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Howard B Tolley

Professor Emeritus of Political Science Adjunct Professor of Law, School of Public and International Affairs

American Arbitration Association, Labor Arbitrator
Ohio State Employment Relations Board (SERB), Roster of Neutrals, Fact Finder, Conciliator
Headshot of Alfred J Tuchfarber

Alfred J Tuchfarber

Professor, School of Public and International Affairs

Headshot of R. Eric Weise

R. Eric Weise

Emeritus Faculty, School of Public and International Affairs

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Joel D Wolfe

Professor, School of Public and International Affairs