ag6087a@american.edu

I am a PhD Candidate in International Relations (Concentration in Development) at the School of International Service at American University. My research focuses on the politics of education, foreign aid, mass mobilization, and Sub-Saharan Africa. I recently returned from my Fulbright Fellowship in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. My research agenda focuses on the politics of secondary education policy in autocracies in Sub-Saharan Africa. I combine mixed methods, namely statistical analysis of cross-national panel data, historical archives, and elite interviews. My work provides new insights into the causal effects of autocratic decision-making on education and public policy more broadly. At American University, I am affiliated with the Accountability Research Center at the School of International Service, as well as the Research on International Policy Implementation Lab (RIPIL). As part of my work at the Accountability Research Center, I serve as the co-Principal Investigator of the Accountability for Education project. I have secured funding for my research from the Global Partnership for Education, Oxfam, and the U.S. State Department’s Fulbright Program, and the Housel-Stowell Fellowship, in addition to internal grants from American University. Prior to beginning my PhD, I spent many years in the international development field, specifically in monitoring and evaluation (M&E). I hold an MA and BA in International Development from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.

South Africa, Democracy, Education, Human Rights