Welcome! I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University where I work with Ian Hurd (chair), Karen Alter, and Elizabeth Shakman Hurd.
My research examines the politics of recognition, identity, and status in international diplomacy, bridging insights from social psychology, economic sociology, and political theory, into international relations. Elements of this research have been published in the European Journal of International Relations. Public commentary stemming from this research has been featured in Al Jazeera English, The National Post, and most recently The Monkey Cage @ The Washington Post.
Recognition campaigns have captured peace-negotiations, they have made reconciliation between adversaries more difficult and conflicts more entrenched, and they have been used to frame, defend, and oppose cooperation between states and international organizations. In my research I explore the agency that so often lurks behind these struggles, motivating the question of why recognition, and its perceived absence, is so often made to matter.
