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I'm professor of comparative politics at Siena College, co-chair the Fair Trade and Social Justice Program, and serve as the Associate Dean in the School of Liberal Arts. My research interests focus on Kurdish political organizations in the European Diaspora and on revolutionary movements in Latin America. I hold a B.A. in International Studies and Spanish from Macalester College, St. Paul, MN and a MALD (Master of Law and Diplomacy) from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Boston, MA. I earned my Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts in 2002. 

Degree Program University
Ph.D. International Studies Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
M.A. International Relations (MALD: Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy) Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
B.A. International Studies and Spanish Macalester College

My Siena Experience

My Favorite Courses to Teach

My favorite classes are Middle East and Latin American politics. I'm driven to explore the causes of socio-economic, ethnic, and cultural conflicts by way of comparing demands expressed by movement actors and opposing stakeholders. I love the ability to pursue abstract questioning in societies that undergo social change.

My Professional Experience

Articles & Book Reviews

  • Surreptitious Lifelines: A Structural Analysis of the FARC and the PKK
    Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 24
    2012
  • Nationalism, Ethnic Rap, and the Kurdish Diaspora
    Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, vol. 22
    2010
  • Interpreting the PKK's Signals in Europe
    Perspectives on Terrorism, vol. 2
    2008
  • Party Preferences and Political Participation: The Emergence of the Turkish-Origin German Voter
    Migration Letters, vol. 5
    2008
  • Unresolved Questions and another Crossroads in Turkey
    Perspectives on Terrorism, vol. 2
    2008
  • Deep and Ragged Scars
    Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, vol. 19
    2007
  • Guatemalan Women's Cooperatives and State Neglect
    Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, vol. 18
    2006
  • Political Movements and Leverage Points: Kurdish Activism in the European Diaspora
    Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, vol. 22
    2002
  • Radical Consequences of Benign Neglect: The Rise of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) in Germany
    Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, vol. 24
    2000

Books & Book Chapters

  • Modern Genocide: Understanding Causes and Consequences
    ABC-CLIO
    2013
  • The Kurdish Spring: Geopolitical Changes and the Kurds
    Mazda Publishers
    2013
  • The Militant Kurds:A Dual Strategy for Freedom
    Praeger Security International
    2011
  • Symbiotic Antagonisms: Competing Nationalisms in Turkey
    University of Utah Press
    2010
  • Migration and Activism in Europe since 1945
    Palgrave Macmillan
    2008
  • Countering Terrorism in the 21st Century
    Praeger Security International
    2007