Non-Resident Fellows
Christopher Weaver, Ph.D.
Christopher Weaver is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. His research and teaching focus on American political behavior, identity politics, and political inequality. He is particularly interested in how identity and belief affect political behavior and public opinion, especially among religious groups and marginalized groups. His work has been published in Political Research Quarterly, American Politics Research, Politics, Groups, and Identities, Law & Society Review, Politics and Religion, and the London School of Economics’ USAPP American politics and policy blog. He also serves on the editorial board for the journal Political Behavior. Christopher was born and raised in Arkansas, where he received a B.A. in politics from Hendrix College. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Notre Dame in 2016 with concentrations in American politics and constitutional studies.
Jessica Pishko, J.D.
Jessica Pishko is an independent journalist and lawyer who has been writing about the criminal legal system for a decade with a focus on the political power of law enforcement officials. Since 2018, she has been focused on American sheriffs and their role—past and present—in perpetuating mass incarceration and white supremacy as well as how sheriffs present a growing threat to democracy in the United States.
Previously, Pishko was a fellow at the Rule of Law Collaborative at the University of South Carolina, researching sheriff accountability. She has received grants from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting and Type Investigations. Her work has appeared in the New York Times op-ed section, Politico, Slate, the Atlantic, and the Appeal. She is writing a book for Dutton on the history and growing political power of sheriffs entitled "The Highest Law in the Land," and is a 2023 New America Fellow.
Sylvia Maier, Ph.D.
Sylvia is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Center for Global Affairs at New York University where she directs the MSGA Concentration in Global Gender Studies, the annual Global Field Intensive to the United Arab Emirates. Her principal fields of interest and expertise are women’s rights in the Middle East, South Central Asia, and the Gulf States, with a particular focus on the United Arab Emirates, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Afghanistan, where she has taught and conducted extensive field research. Sylvia is especially interested in women’s culturally-situated modes of resistance to patriarchy in deeply traditional societies, the “globalization-empowerment nexus” in the Gulf States, feminist urbanism, gender and migration, and the politics of integration and multiculturalism in Western Europe, chiefly the legal responses to cultural diversity and honor-based violence against women. She has spoken extensively and published on these and related subjects. Her co-edited book, titled EU Development Policies: Between Norms and Geopolitics was published by Palgrave Macmillan in February 2019. She is currently working on a comparative research study of feminist urbanism in global cities (Vienna, Berlin, Abu Dhabi, Delhi, and New York), on a field research project on biotrade, food security and women’s empowerment in Perú with her CGA colleague Jens Rudbeck, and, with another CGA colleague, Christopher Ankersen, on a book manuscript on the role of Monarchies in Global Affairs.
Sylvia’s teaching interests bridge the fields of gender studies and international politics and include Gender and International Affairs: Sex, Power and Politics, Gender and Migration, Women’s Rights in the Middle East and South Asia, International Relations Theory, The Geopolitics of Afghanistan, Ethics in International Affairs, and Analytic Skills.
Complementing her academic work, Sylvia currently serves as VP and Director of Education Programs as well as on the board of The Peace Project, Inc. Prior to joining the CGA, Sylvia Maier was on the faculty of the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies at NYU and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, where she worked on Islam-state relations and the politics of integration and multiculturalism in Western Europe. Sylvia received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Southern California in 2001.
Dominik Stecuła, Ph.D.
Dominik Stecuła is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Colorado State University. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow at Simon Fraser University. He received his PhD in political science at the University of British Columbia. Stecula’s research focuses on the news media environment and its effects on society, as well as how forces like populism, anti-intellectualism, as well as political identities shape how people process information. He has published over twenty peer-reviewed journal articles on these topics, including in the American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Journal of Communication, Political Communication, American Journal of Public Health, among other venues. He has also co-authored a book on political polarization in the United States. His research has been featured in the New York Times, New Yorker, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, NBC News, and other outlets in the United States, Canada, and abroad. He has also published over 35 public facing articles and commentaries, including in the Washington Post, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as prominent outlets in his native Poland.Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Bailey Fairbanks, Ph.D.
Bailey R. Fairbanks is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science in 2021 from Georgia State University with concentrations in Public Law and American Politics. Her research and teaching focus on constitutional law, civil liberties, American institutional behavior, and judicial behavior. She is particularly interested in how diversity and identity, broadly defined, affect judicial decision-making and opinion writing in state appellate courts and state courts of last resort. Some of her other work looks at the impact of art on attitudes towards the criminal justice system as well as pedagogical development in higher education post-COVID-19. She is also a devoted teacher and currently serves as the Pre-Law advisor for UCA. Her work has been published in Social Sciences Quarterly, PS: Political Science & Politics, and New Political Science. She also serves on the editorial board for the Mid-South Political Science Review. In her spare time, Bailey is an avid reader, baker, and cook. She can often be found listening to Broadway show tunes at an unnecessarily loud volume. She is thrilled to be working with the Pulaski Institution as a non-resident fellow and looks forward to the opportunities to improve civic engagement and knowledge in the broader community.
Hanah Stiverson, Ph.D.
Hanah Stiverson is an Extremism Researcher at Human Rights First where she provides expertise on misogyny and militarization within the U.S. antidemocratic far-right. She completed her PhD in American Culture at the University of Michigan with a focus on far-right extremism in the United States. Her research and past teaching are concerned with the rising fascist movement and how it has integrated into mainstream spaces through digital recruitment, branding, and social networking. She has worked with a variety of organizations focused on inequity as a fellow and mentor, including the Institute for Research on Male Supremacism (IRMS). She has likewise acted as a senior member of the Digital Inequalities Lab at the University of Michigan where she coordinated a co-authored publication on the COVID crises. Her co-authored book, titled "Racist Zoombombing," details the racist hate speech and online harassment faced by users of the platform Zoom during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Justin Ellis, Ph.D.
Dr Justin Ellis is a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Newcastle School of Law and Justice and the editor-in-chief of Current Issues in Criminal Justice, the journal of the Institute of Criminology at the Sydney Law School. Justin’s research examines the relationship between digital media technologies, institutional trust and politically vulnerable populations such as LGBTQ+. Justin’s research into queer geography in regional areas such as the Hunter Valley in New South Wales speaks to some of the issues defining and affecting identity negotiation in regional and rural areas across western liberal democracies. His scholarship is regularly published in high-ranking internationally peer- reviewed journals.
Justin’s 2021 monograph Policing Legitimacy: Social Media, Scandal and Sexual Citizenship critically analyses the relationship between LGBTQ+ identity- based rights claims, police accountability, and the regulation of digital platforms. Justin’s forthcoming monograph Representation Resistance and the Digiqueer: Fighting for Recognition in Technocratic Times (Bristol 2023) draws on debate over gender, procreation, religion, nationalism and tech-regulation to explain the resurgence of representational harms against LGBTQ+ identity – harms that denigrate, misrepresent, misrecognize, erase, omit, or covertly surveil minority communities. This resurgence is despite decriminalization of same-sex conduct in a growing number of jurisdictions, the expansion of legitimate categories of vulnerability enshrined in anti-discrimination law, and progress made on marriage equality.
Matt McManus, Ph.D.
Matt McManus is a Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Michigan and the author of The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism (Palgrave) and The Political Right and Equality (Routledge) amongst other books.
William Haden Chomphosy, Ph.D.
William Haden Chomphosy is an assistant professor of Economics and Business at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. His research focuses on environmental economic issues in the state of Arkansas, including ecosystem service valuation and renewable energy policies. Working with the Pulaski Institution provides exciting opportunities to support economic development and environmental research.
John Morris, Ph.D.
Dr John Morris is an Assistant Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Nottingham in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He is a political economist with research and teaching interests in central banking, international finance and the governance of financial stability and climate change. John holds a PhD in Economic Geography from the Department of Geography at Durham University for a study of the ongoing development of central bank thinking and research on the governance of financial risk, stability and crisis. He previously completed an MSc in Public Policy from University College London and a BA in Philosophy from King’s College London.
Recently, John’s research has focused on the expansion of the scope of what is considered to be a "financial stability threat". As such, he is currently devoting his research energies to the international political economy of tail risk, climate finance and the governance of climate change by the financial regulatory community as a financial stability risk and concern. He is currently working on a book (under contract) on the political economy of tail risk. This book will offer an empirically informed theoretical intervention into recent developments in financial regulation and risk management towards the calculation and anticipation of “tail risks” in ways that better prepare financial institutions for low probability-high impact events.
John is the author Securing Finance, Mobilizing Risk: Money Cultures at the Bank of England (RIPE Series in Global Political Economy) and has been interviewed by BBC World Service and Bloomberg on the Bank of England’s approach to transparency and public engagement.
Edward Goldberg
Edward Goldberg is a leading expert in the area of where global politics and economics intercept. He teaches International Political Economy at the New York University Center for Global Affairs where he is an Adjunct Assistant Professor. He is also a Scholarly Practitioner at the Zicklin Graduate School of Business of Baruch College of the City University of New York where he teaches courses on globalization. He is the author of "Why Globalization Works For America: How Nationalist Trade Policies Destroy Countries.” and "The Joint Ventured Nation: Why America Needs A New Foreign Policy”. He is a much-quoted essayist and public speaker on the subjects of Globalization, European-American relations, U.S.-Russian and China relations. He has commented on these issues on PBS, NPR, CBS, Bloomberg, The New York Times, The Hill, and the Huffington Post.
Shaun Casey, Th.D.
Shaun Casey is the T.J. Dermot Dunphy Senior Fellow of Religion, Violence, and Peacebuilding at Harvard Divinity School. He was previously a Senior Fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and a professor of the practice of Religion and World Affairs in Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service. He served as director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs from 2017 to 2021. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Luce Project on Religion and Its Publics at the University of Virginia. He previously was U.S. special representative for religion and global affairs and director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs. He was Professor of Christian Ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., and held positions at the Center for American Progress, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is the author of The Making of a Catholic President: Kennedy vs. Nixon 1960 (2009) and is currently writing Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom: The Future of Religion in American Diplomacy. Casey holds a B.A. from Abilene Christian University, MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, and M.Div. and Th.D. in religion and society from Harvard Divinity School. In 2015 he received the Peter J. Gomes Memorial Award from Harvard Divinity School for outstanding contributions to society.
Mohsin Hussain, Ph.D.
Mohsin Hussain is a Lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of Essex. His research and teaching focus on armed conflict, sanctions, terrorism, and quantitative political science. He received his Ph.D. in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick in 2022. Mohsin is currently collaborating with Professor Vincenzo Bove at the University of Warwick on a project that explores the effect of domestic conflict on migrants’ well-being in their host societies. He is also investigating the circumstances that motivate war-crime victims to demand apologies from national and international actors.
Kisha Hardwick, Ph.D.
Kisha Hardwick is Assistant Professor in the Department of Government, Public Service, and International Studies at the University of Central Arkansas. She primarily conducts research on the behavior of state and local bureaucrats within various institutional arrangements. She received her PhD in Public Administration and Public Policy from Auburn University.
Graduate and Early Career Contributors
Autumn Alston
Born and raised in Charlotte, NC., Autumn attended the University of Connecticut for her undergraduate degree, where she majored in political science with a minor in human rights. She continued her studies at Northeastern University, receiving a Master of Science in Global Studies with a concentration in diplomacy. Her final work in school focused on a lengthy proposal to help solve the Rohingya refugee crisis. She has worked as a freelance writer for two years focusing on political subjects and social and cultural critiques. She has also worked on many political campaigns, from Hillary Clinton to Jon Ossoff, and countless others. The past few years, she has had positions at non-profits in her home state of North Carolina.
Rose Macaulay
Originally from the Scottish Borders, Rose Macaulay attended the University of St Andrews and studied International Relations with a focus on human rights, migration, and security. After her degree she worked as a Fundraising and Communications Assistant at the International Lawyers Project, helping to organise pro bono projects on economic corruption, environmental law, and media freedom. She completed an MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies at the University of Oxford specialising in domestic UK resettlement politics in 2022. An aspiring lawyer, she won the David Karmel scholarship from Gray's Inn to complete her law conversion. Rose currently studies law part-time and works for immigration law Turpin Miller firm on deportation and detention matters.
Emily Bradley
Emily Bradley holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Tennessee and is currently a JD candidate at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's William H. Bowen School of Law. She attended undergrad at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
Bradon Rothschild
J. Bradon Rothschild is a researcher with public policy and political science expertise. His policy research focuses on the intersection of urban planning, policy evaluation, and governance. He brings a multidisciplinary approach to understanding how policies shape and are shaped by social, economic, and political forces. With a strong foundation in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, Bradon's work integrates various analytical techniques to explore complex policy issues.
Bradon holds a Master of Arts in Community Planning from the University of Washington, Tacoma, where he developed his expertise in qualitative research, urban policy analysis, and community development. This degree provided him with a deep understanding of equity-focused planning, stakeholder engagement, and the impact of urban development on social dynamics. Complementing this background, he earned a Master of Public Policy from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, where he honed his skills in quantitative analysis, economic modeling, and rigorous policy evaluation methods. These combined academic experiences allow Bradon to approach policy research holistically, balancing qualitative insights and quantitative rigor.
Currently pursuing a Doctorate in Public Administration and Policy at Portland State University, Bradon's research is expanding into the comparative analysis of democratic systems and governance structures. His work aims to understand how different political institutions and electoral frameworks influence policy outcomes, governance quality, and the dynamics of political leadership and rhetoric. His research seeks to uncover the factors contributing to effective, sustainable, and adequatly representative policy-making within diverse democratic contexts.
With experience across public, academic, and non-profit sectors, Bradon applies his interdisciplinary background in political science, community planning, and public administration and policy to develop comprehensive insights into policy development and governance. His work contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms driving policy success and the structural dynamics that shape democratic institutions.
Marlee Bird
Originally from Lawrence, KS, Marlee attended Hendrix College in Conway, AR where she majored in English Literature and minored in Political Science. During her time at Hendrix, she worked on the Veterans History Project in Senator John Boozman’s office, interned with the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty, and was an editorial intern at PBS FRONTLINE. After college, she worked for the Elizabeth Warren Presidential Campaign in New Hampshire, Iowa, and Arkansas. She worked for the Kansas Democratic Party in the Fall of 2020. Currently, Marlee is pursuing a Master’s of Public Administration at American University in Washington, DC.
Sonny Stenson
Sonny Stenson is an undergraduate student at Trinity College Dublin, where he studies Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Sociology, with the intent to dual-major in Political Science and Economics. Originally from Austin, Texas, he is an active committee member of the Trinity College Historical Society, where he continues a love of speech and debate he fostered in high school, and with a keen interest in political economy and international relations he is a member of the College Society for International Affairs and the Irish chapter of Amnesty International.