Graduate Students and Alumni

Department of Political Science | People | Graduate Students and Alumni

The following is a list of current Graduate students and recent graduate student alumni from our PhD in Political Science and MA in Political Science Programs. Clicking on the names of those with profile pages will give you further information about them and their experiences at Northeastern University.

PhD Candidates

PhD Students

  • Peter Antonellis
  • Meredith Elliott
  • Benjamin Larsen
  • Ian McManus
  • Elizabeth Moore
  • Joseph Mroszczyk
  • Jaclyn Northrup
  • James Sutherland
  • Dustin Turin

MA Students

  • Anthony Alamia, Comparative Politics
  • Monica Anc, International Relations
  • Catherine Bradley, International Relations
  • Scott Brady, International Relations
  • Selecca Bulgar, International Relations
  • Benjamin Duncan, International Relations
  • James Dunne, American Government and Politics
  • Jolie Frechette, International Relations
  • Rebecca Friedman, Comparative Politics
  • Jing Gao, Public Policy
  • Victoria Gilbert, Comparative Politics
  • Benjamin Hardie, American Government and Politics
  • Daniel Henkoff,  Public Policy
  • Elizabeth Killian, International Relations
  • Erika Koss, Comparative Politics
  • Sidita Kushi, International Relations
  • Alyssa MacDonald, Comparative Politics
  • Kelsey McIntosh, Comparative Politics
  • Elizaveta Panova, Comparative Politics
  • Gordon  Parris, Comparative Politics
  • Megan Piccirillo, American Government and Politics
  • Dawn Qadir, International Relations
  • Juan Restrepo, International Relations
  • Ashley Richard, American Government and Politics
  • Sean Robinson, American Government and Politics
  • Cory Sacks, International Relations
  • Serge Severenchuk, International Relations
  • Sarah Shaw, American Government and Politics
  • Christopher Skutnik, American Government and Politics
  • Patrick  Stanton, Public Policy
  • Christopher Tocco, American Government and Politics
  • Jordan Townsend, American Government and Politics
  • Salvatore Tripoli, Public Policy
  • Chao Wang, American Government and Politics
  • Kathleen Warren, International Relations
  • Michelle Wiggett, International Relations
  • Mellie Zadeh, Public Policy
  • Shaofei Zhao, Comparative Politics
  • Penelope Zogheib, Comparative Politics

PhD Alumni

After completing their degrees, our PhD graduates become scholars in a wide-range of policy-related or academic careers. Please review the listings below for information on recent graduates from our PhD program. For more detailed information on some of our graduates and links on how to participate as a Northeastern University Alum, please visit the Alumni section of our website.

2012

Heather Browne
Dissertation: “Education Reform in Egypt: Sources of Resistance in State and Society”
Dissertation Chair: Professor Denis Sullivan
Current Position: Senior Instructor at Northeastern University

Mary Cardaras
Dissertation: “America’s Missteps: How Fear, Power, and Politics Led the United States Into Iraq”
Dissertation Chair: Professor Robert Gilbert
Current Position: Assistant Professor at California State University, East Bay
Publications: Fear, Power, and Politics: The Recipe for War in Iraq after 9/11, Lexington

David Green
Dissertation: “Local Autonomy in face of Central Domination: an Examination of Japanese Immigration Policy”
Dissertation Chair: Professor Suzanne Ogden
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Political Science at Nagoya University

Sheila Kohanteb
Dissertation: “Decision Making Under Threat: Israeli and Palestinian Public Opinions”
Dissertation Chair: Professor Amilcar Barreto

Marian Simion
Dissertation: “Religion in Political Conflict: A Constructivist Theoretical Model for Public Policy Analysis, Design and Implementation”
Dissertation Chair: Professor W.D. Kay
Current Position: Assistant Director, Boston Theological Institute and Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard University.
Book Publications: Just Peace: Orthodox Perspectives. 2012 Geneva: WCC Publications (co-edited with Semegnish Asfaw and Alexios Chehahdeh).

2011

Alison Dickson
Dissertation: “The First Steps on the Ladder to College Success: Understanding the Secondary School Factors that Determine the College Enrollment and Retention Outcomes of High School Graduates in Massachusetts”
Dissertation Chair: Professor John Portz
Current Position: Research Analyst, Consortium on Financing Higher Education at MIT

Kimberly Jones
Dissertation: “Constructing the Nation in Opposition: Human Rights as Strategic Building Blocks- A Comparative Analysis of Sinn Fein and the IRA, the Egyptian Brotherhood, and Hamas”
Dissertation Chair: Professor Amilcar Barreto
Current Position: Assistant Academic Specialist, Northeastern University

Peter W. Richardson
Dissertation: “Russian Relations with Japan from 2000-2010: Enduring Obstacles, Limited Opportunities”
Dissertation Chair: Professor Emeritus Milton Goldman
Current Position: Adjunct Professor at Northeastern University

2010

Marwa Abdel Samei
Dissertation: “Public Diplomacy in the Age of Regional Media: Winning the War of Hearts and Minds in the Middle East- Al- Jazeera and Al-Hurra”
Dissertation Chair: Professor Amilcar Barreto
Current Position: Assistant professor, faculty of economics and political science; Cairo University, Egypt.

Chow Bing Ngeow
Dissertation: “Democratic Development in China’s Urban Communities”
Dissertation Chair: Professor Suzanne Ogden
Current Position: Senior Lecturer, Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya
Publications: Introduction to Political Science

Martin Comack
Dissertation: “Comrades and Citizens: The Effect of Militant Labor Organizations Upon the Processes of Democratization in Communist Poland and Corporate Mexico”
Dissertation Chair: William Crotty
Current Position: Lecturer, Massachusetts Bay Community College
Book Publications: Wild Socialism: Workers Councils in Revolutionary Berlin, 1918-21 (2012-Universitty Press of America). Comrades and Citizens: Militant Labor Organizations and Democratization in Communist Poland and Corporate Mexico (Forthcoming 2013 – Edwin Mellen Press).

Kristen Hudak
Dissertation: “Political Institutions and Grassroots Development: The Political Economy of Microfinance”
Dissertation Chair: Kirsten Rodine-Hardy
Current Position: Visiting Assistant Professor, Eastern Connecticut State University

Emily Neal
Dissertation: “Playtime Preservation: Public-Private Partnerships in Public Land Management”
Dissertation Chair: Christopher Bosso
Current position: Assistant Professor, St. Louis Community College, Meramec Campus

Liubomir Topaloff
Dissertation: “Cuing Euroscepticism, or What Parties Make of It”
Dissertation Chair: Amilcar Barreto
Current position: Senior Assistant Professor, Meiji University in Japan
Publications: Political Parties and Euroscepticism

2009

Joseph Coelho
Dissertation: “Building Stable and Effective States Through International Governance: The Politics of Technocratic Interventions”
Dissertation Chair: David Schmitt
Current position: Assistant Professor, Seton Hill University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Kevin Donnelly
Dissertation: “The Rhetoric of Reform: Examining the Role of Political Language in Rhode Island’s Health Care Debate”
Dissertation Chair: David Rochefort
Current position: Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Bridgewater State University
Book Publications:  Foreign Remedies: What the Experience of Other Nations Can Tell Us about Next Steps in Reforming Healthcare, Routledge (Coauthor, with David Rochefort).

Kaitlyn Kenney Walsh
Dissertation: “Deadlock: A Political Economy Perspective on the Massachusetts Health Policy Reform Experience”.
Dissertation Chair: David Rochefort
Current Position: Director of Policy and Research, Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority

Robyn Olson
Dissertation: “The Politics of Water Fluoridation from a Problem Definition Perspective”.
Dissertation Chair: Christopher Bosso
Current position: Managing Consultant, Boston Benefit Partners

2008

Riham Bahi
Dissertation: “Networking for Power and Change: Muslim Women Activism and the Transformation of Muslim Public Sphere”
Dissertation Chair: Denis Sullivan

Rachel Ellett
Dissertation: “Emerging Judicial Power in Transitional Democracies: Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda”
Dissertation Chair: Michael Tolley
Current position: Assistant Professor of Political Science, Belloit College, WI

Eugenia Hristova
Dissertation: “New Regime, Old Myths: Construction of Gender Identity and Women’s Political Participation in Egypt.”
Dissertation Chair: Eileen McDonough

2007

Milica Golubovic
Dissertation: “Assisting Democratization: Impact of International Organizations on Rule of Law Reform in Serbia.”
Dissertation Chair: William Crotty

Petra Polaskova
Dissertation: “Institution-Building and Stability in Post-Conflict Societies.”
Dissertation Chair: William Crotty
Current position: Assistant Professor of Political Science, Seton Hill University

Itir Toksoz
Dissertation: “Security Dilemmas and Threat Perceptions: Turkey at the Crossroads.”
Dissertation Chair: Amilcar Barreto
Current position: Assistant Professor of International Relations, Vice Dean, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences Erasmus Departmental Coordinator Dogus University, Istanbul- Turkey

2006

Philip D’Agati
Dissertation: “Nationalism on the World Stage: Cultural Performances at the Modern Olympic Games”
Dissertation Chair: Amilcar Barreto
Current position: Lecturer, Merrimack College, North Andover, MA and Northeastern University, Boston, MA

Michelle Lee
Dissertation:”The Rhetoric of Nationalism in Public Policy: Immigration and Indigenous Land Rights Policies in Australia”
Dissertation Chair: Amilcar Barreto
Publications: A Fair Go: Race Politics and Public Discourse in Australia, VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller e.K., 2007
Current position: Political Affairs Officer with the U.S. Embassy, Berlin, Germany

2005

Leanne Doherty
Dissertation: “Level Playing Field for All?: Female Political Leadership and Athletics”.
Dissertation Chair: Christopher Bosso
Current position: Associate Dean, Undergraduate Curriculum and Programs; Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Simmons College, Boston MA
Book Publications: Level Playing Field for All? Female Political Leadership and Athletics. Lexington Books-Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. August 2011.

Marie Ganim
Current position: Deputy Chief of Staff and Policy Director, Rhode Island State Senate; Clinical Assistant Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice at Brown University

Natalja Zabeida
Dissertation: “Making Space for Rape: Identity, Nationalism and Gender in the Disintegration of the former Yugoslavia”
Dissertation Chair: Amilcar Barreto

2004

Paul Beran
Dissertation: “Civil Society and Transitions to Participatory Governance: Palestinian NGOs Stuck Between Regime Control and Pragmatism”
Dissertation Chair: Denis Sullivan
Current position: Outreach Director, Harvard University’s Center for Middle East Studies. Cambridge, Mass.

Shadrack Nasong’o
Dissertation: “Contending Political Paradigms in Africa: Democratization vs. Authoritarianism in Kenya and Zambia”
Dissertation Chair: William Crotty
Current position: Assistant Professor, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN.

Cynthia Newton
Dissertation: “Obesity as an Emerging Policy Domain, and Strategies to Combat Youth Obesity in Massachusetts”
Dissertation Chair: David Rochefort
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Norwich University, Northfield, VT.

2003

Abdullah Al-Faqih
Dissertation: “The Struggle for Liberalization and Democratization in Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen.”
Dissertation Chair: Denis Sullivan
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Political Science, Sana’a University, Yemen.

Nasser A. Qaedi
Dissertation: “The Security Motivated Cooperative Relationship and Development of the Gulf Cooperation Council”
Dissertation Chair: Denis Sullivan
Current Position: National Bank, Bahrain.

2002

Rosalie B. Arcala
Dissertation: “Democratization and the Philippine Military: A Comparison of the Approaches used by the Aquino and Ramos Administrations in Re-Imposing Civilian Supremacy.”
Dissertation Chair: William Crotty
Current Position: Associate Professor of Political Science, Division of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines, Visayas