Education

  • Ph.D. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • B.A. Bates College

Areas of Expertise

  • European Politics
  • International Relations

Background

I teach courses in international relations and comparative politics with a particular focus on European politics. Prior to coming to Davidson, I was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Broadly speaking, my research and teaching interests lie in the fields of public opinion, political behavior, European integration, international organizations and post-communist politics. My research examines the causes and consequences of political trust and satisfaction with democracy in Europe.

More recently I have become fascinated by the psychology of conspiracy theories and have studied the effect of conspiratorial thinking on political tolerance. Another strand of my ongoing research focuses on immigration in Europe. I am co-author of Measuring International Authority: A Postfunctionalist Theory of Governance, a book on international organizations published by Oxford University Press. My other work has been published in Comparative Political StudiesComparative Politics, European Union PoliticsJournal of European Public PolicyForeign Affairs and Journal of Democracy.

I enjoy woodworking, gardening, and riding motorcycles. I also love playing racquetball, squash, and soccer.

Teaching

  • West European Politics
  • International Relations
  • Politics of Russia and Eastern Europe
  • Methods and Statistics
  • Psychology of Political Leadership
  • Nationalism
  • European Integration
  • International Organization