• PhD, Political Science, University of Notre Dame, 2013
• MA, Political Science, University of Notre Dame, 2008
• MA, Latin American Studies, Tulane University, 2005
• BA, Sewanee: The University of the South, 2003

I teach courses in comparative politics, area studies, and research methods, including:

• Introduction to Comparative Politics
• Social Science Research Methods
• Introduction to Statistics for Social Science 
• Politics of Latin America
• Organized Crime in Latin America
• Politics of the Middle East and North Africa
• Democracy and Democratization
• Comparative Immigration
• Politics of Civil Wars
• Politics and Literature
• Law and Society
• Writing in Political Science

My research covers issues of crime, justice, news media, and public opinion in Latin America and around the world. My most recent publication, in the Latin American Research Review, explores what motivates people to support human rights violations. 

Much of my research rests on a foundation of experience living and conducting field work in Latin America. I’ve conducted in-depth interviews, fielded surveys, and spent long hours in newspaper archives in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Argentina over the last decade. I’ve also worked as the Senior Regional Citizen Security Advisor for SSG Advisors on an assessment project evaluating the Central American Regional Security Initiative, worked as a Project Coordinator for the Varieties of Democracy project, and translated a book, Ignacio Walker’s Democracy: Between Hope and Despair, from Spanish. 

I am currently an assistant professor in the Department of Politics, Law, and International Relations.

In the past, I’ve worked as an instructor at Northern Arizona University in the Department of Politics and International Affairs, and as an adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Indiana, South Bend.