Below is an alphabetical list of Ph.D. students and recent graduates currently on the job market. Please feel free to contact them, their advisors, or the Director of Graduate Studies, Jonathan Renshon, for additional information.
Allyson Berri
Ph.D. Candidate: Political Theory
Email: aberri@wisc.edu | CV
Research Interests
Feminist Political Theory, Marital Property Law, Early Modern Political Theory, Critical Race Theory
Dissertation Title
“Uncovering the History of Coverture: Rewriting White Women’s Agency Through Property Law”
References
Michelle Schwarze, Daniel Kapust, Keisha Lindsay, Lisa Washington
Natalie Jones-Kerwin
Ph.D. Candidate: American Politics
Email: nljones3@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
Indigenous Politics, Political Behavior, Race and Ethnic Politics, American Politics, Comparative Politics, Democratic Theory, Research Ethics, Indigenous Data Sovereignty, Critical Indigenous Thought, Native American History, Federal Indian Law
Dissertation Title
“Citizens of Two Sovereigns: Native American Identity and Political Behavior”
References
Yena Kim
Ph.D. Candidate: International Relations | Comparative Politics
Email: yena.kim@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
Domestic politics of foreign policy, Leaders in international relations, International cooperation and conflict, Populism.
Dissertation Title
“Populist Leaders in Power and International Cooperation”
References
Oliver Lang
Ph.D. Candidate: Comparative Politics
Email: omlang@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
Media, Political Communication, Survey Experiments, Text-as-data, Prejudice Reduction, Censorship and Propaganda
Dissertation Title
“Propaganda and the logic of competition in autocratic media markets”
References
Jérémie Langlois
Ph.D. Candidate: Comparative Politics
Email: jalanglois@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
Contentious Politics, Revolutions, Regimes and Institutions, Local Governance and Administration; Social Policy and Distribution; Political Geography; Event Data; MENA
Dissertation Title
“Governing on a Volcano: Social Distribution, Parochial Protest, and Opposition Fragmentation during Regime Crises”
References
Steven Brooke, Marwa Shalaby, Erica Simmons, Aili Mari Tripp
Junda Li
Ph.D. Candidate: International Relations | Comparative Politics
Email: jli2458@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
Great Power Politics, Economic Statecraft, Sanction, Industrial Policy, Technology and Energy Politics
Dissertation Title
“Great Power Competition and Economic Statecraft: Economic Coercion vs. Industrial Policy”
References
Jon Pevehouse, Mark Copelovitch, Rikhil Bhavnani, Reed Zhenhuan Lei
Marika Olijar
Ph.D. Candidate: Comparative Politics
Email: olijar@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
Religion and Politics, Authoritarian Politics, Religious Institutions, State and Society, Identity, Mixed Methods, Text Analysis
Dissertation Title
“From Co-optation to Traditionalist Campaigns: Authoritarian Responses to Non-state Religious Actors”
References
Yehzee Ryoo
Ph.D. Candidate: International Relations | Political Methodology
Email: yehzee.ryoo@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
International Security, Public Opinion & Foreign Policy, Political Psychology, Conflict & Cooperation, Human Rights, Political Methodology, Survey Experiments, Network Analysis, Causal Inference
Dissertation Title
“A Matter of Intent: The Moral Politics of Foreign Civilian Deaths and Public Support for War”
References
Recent Graduates on the Job Market
Priyadarshi Amar
Ph.D. jointly in Political Science and Agricultural & Applied Economics (May 2025)
Email: priyadarshi.amar@gmail.com | Website | CV
Research Interests
Political Representation, Political Economy of Development, Local Governments, Electoral Quotas, Election Rules, Misinformation, Politics of South Asia
Dissertation Title
“Essays on Political Candidacy and Representation in India’s Village Governments”
References
Rikhil Bhavnani (co-chair), Laura Schechter (co-chair), Yoshiko Herrera, Simon Chauchard, Reed Lei, and Priya Mukherjee
Saloni Bhogale
Ph.D. in Political Science (August 2026)
Comparative Politics | Political Methodology
Email: bhogale@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
Political economy of development, Access to Justice, Legal Institutions, Causal Inference, South Asia
Dissertation Title
“Essays on Judicial and Legislative Institutions”
References
Rikhil Bhavnani, Sameer Deshpande, Yoshiko Herrera, Adeline Lo
Marko Kljajic
Ph.D. in Political Science (August 2025)
Comparative Politics
Email: kljajic@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
Political Violence, Reconciliation, Collective Victimhood, Collective Acknowledgment, Transitional Justice, Experiments
Dissertation Title
“The Victimhood Dilemma and the Promise of Mutual Acknowledgement”
References
Nadav Shelef, Jonathan Renshon, Yoshiko Herrera, Erica Simmons, Scott Straus
Jessie Munson
Ph.D. in Political Science (August 2026)
American Politics
Email: jemunson@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
American politics, Congress, political institutions, representation, political communication, comparative legislatures, British politics, elections
Dissertation Title
“Talking About Blocking: How Senators Discuss Filibustering”
References
Allison Myren
Ph.D. in Political Science (August 2026)
International Relations
Email: amyren@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
International political economy, politics of finance and financial stability, global financial governance
Dissertation Title
“Managing Financial Crises: The Political Economy of Demand for Global Financial Insurance”
References
Mingcong Pan
Ph.D. jointly in Political Science and Agricultural & Applied Economics (August 2026)
Comparative Politics | Political Methodology
Email: mingcong.pan@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
Political Economy, Authoritarian Politics, Elite Politics, Public Opinion, Identity, China
Dissertation Title
“The Elite and Mass Politics of Personalization”
References
Yoshiko Herrera, Nadav Shelef, Paul Castañeda Dower, Yiqing Xu
Hyemin “Hamni” Park
Ph.D. in Political Science (August 2026)
Political Theory
Email: hpark362@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
Comparative political theory; modern Japanese, Chinese, and Korean political thought; language and translation.
Dissertation Title
“Three Trajectories of Liberty in Modern Japan, China, and Korea”
References
Khasan Redjaboev
Ph.D. in Political Science (December 2025)
Comparative Politics | International Relations
Email: redjaboev@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
Comparative politics, comparative and historical political economy of development, public administration and governance in authoritarian states, social policy and redistribution, with an empirical focus on post-communist Eurasia and Central Asia
Dissertation Title
State Patriarchy: How Communist Colonialism Shaped Authoritarian Eurasia
References
Rikhil Bhavnani, Yoshiko Herrera, Paul Castañeda Dower, Steven Brooke, Aili Mari Tripp
Timothy Tennyson
Ph.D. in Political Science (May 2025)
Political Theory | American Politics
Email: ttennyson@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
History of Political Thought, Civic Education and Citizenship, Modern and Contemporary Liberalism, Moral and Political Psychology
Dissertation Title
“Fostering Freedom: Judgment in Early-Modern Liberal Educational and Political Thought”
References
Richard Avramenko, Dan Kapust, Michelle Schwarze, Adam Nelson
Thomas Worth
Ph.D. in Political Science (August 2024)
International Relations | American Politics
Email: worth3@stolaf.edu | CV | Website | Google Scholar
Research Interests
Gender and US politics; US foreign policy; feminist security studies; International Relations theory; masculinity and International Relations; the measurement of gender identity
Dissertation Title
“A War of Their Own: Masculinity, Femininity, and the Gender Gap in Support for War”
References
Awards
2023-2024 UW–Madison College of Letters and Sciences Capstone Teaching Award
Hohyun Yoon
Ph.D. in Political Science (August 2024)
International Relations
Email: hhyoon@sas.upenn.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
International conflict, political psychology, emotions, text data, experimental methods
Dissertation Title
“Emotion and Coercive Credibility in International Crises”
References
Andrew Kydd, Jon Pevehouse, Jessica Weeks, Jonathan Renshon, Adeline Lo
X (Xunchao) Zhang
Ph.D. in Political Science (August 2025)
International Relations
Email: x.zhang@wisc.edu | Website | CV
Research Interests
International Security, Public Opinion, Revenge and Revanchism, Leaders, Intergroup Conflict, US foreign policy, Experimental Method
Dissertation Title
“Cycle Of Suffering, Spiral of Revenge: When Revenge Provokes―and When It Deters”
References
Xinzhi Zhao
Ph.D. in Political Science (August 2024)
Political Theory | Comparative Politics
Email: zhaoxz@umd.edu | CV | Website
Research Interests
Modern Western political, social, and economic thought; Enlightenment political thought; political and social epistemology; knowledge and democracy; political realism; comparative political thought
Dissertation Title
“The Enlightenment of Interests: David Hume and Adam Smith on Philosophers, the Public, and the Pursuit of Interests”
References
Daniel Kapust, Michelle Schwarze, Howard Schweber, James Messina