This past January, Evan Perkoski (and several co-authors) published “The Militant Group Alliances and Rivalries data set,” which is now available at the National Security Policy Center website. It provides data on all known cooperative and conflictual relationships between armed groups globally from 1950 to 2016.

Talbot Andrews’ article titled, “Who Do You Trust? Institutions that Constrain Leaders Help People Prevent Disaster” was accepted at The Journal of Politics.

Thomas Hayes and Jeremy Pressman – joined by Harvard Professor Erica Chenoweth (PI) and four other co-authors – were awarded a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation on “The Origins and Effects of the Antiracism Uprisings of 2020.”  Dr. Pressman was also part of a three-person team that drafted an expert report for the plaintiffs in Dream Defenders v. Desantis, a case challenging a 2021 Florida law titled “The Combating Public Disorder Act.” 

On Page 13 of the 2020-21 UConn Research Annual Report, Shareen Hertel was recognized for spearheading the Engineering for Human Rights Initiative, which draws social scientists into collaborative teaching and research with engineers.

David Richards authored a piece, “School infrastructure is a children’s human rights issue — it’s time the US acknowledges that” in The Hill, an independent political news website.

Elva Orozco Mendoza presented research from her book-length study tentatively titled The Maternal Contract: A Decolonial Approach to Community Justice in the Americas, at a Brown University workshop in early February.

Robert Lupton co-authored an article titled “Carriers of the Creed: Examining Democrats’ Commitment to Egalitarianism as Principle and Policy” with William Myers and Judd Thornton. The article, which has been accepted for publication at Political Behavior, investigates the role of egalitarianism in the Democratic Party coalition.

Oksan Bayulgen was elected to a three-year term in the recently completed Senate Faculty At-Large election. She was also featured on NBC Connecticut News for a story titled, “What Can be Done to lower gas prices?” on Nov 10th, and then again for a story titled “Biden will tap into strategic petroleum reserve” on Nov 23rd. Finally, Dr. Bayulgen received a General Education Course Enhancement Grant from the Provost’s office.

Kim Bergendahl (along with Lauren Baskin ‘24 (CLAS)) was awarded a 2022 SHARE Grant for their project titled, “The Road to Nowhere? Assessing Governmental Regulations on Coal-Tar-Based Pavement Products.” They plan to present their research at the upcoming meeting of the New England Political Science Association in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. 

Matthew Singer (along with Madeline Doyle ‘24 (CLAS)) was also awarded a SHARE Grant for their project titled “Presidential Approval in a Pandemic – Evidence From U.S. States.”

Zehra Arat and Ph.D. student Dabney Waring recently published an article titled “Rethinking Work, the Right to Work, and Automation” in the Journal of Human Rights.  Dr. Arat also published an opinion piece, “The Resistance Completed the First Year: Boğaziçi University, the Government, and Academic Freedom,” in T24/K24 on January 3, 2022. Dr. Arat was also featured in early January on Boğaziçi University TV, as a panelist commenting on the resistance to the government appointments at Boğaziçi University, her alma mater.

In December, Dr. Arat served on a panel discussion titled “Academic Freedom under Authoritarian Constraints in Turkey,” which was held at the annual meeting of the Middle Eastern Studies Association.

Meina Cai, along with three co-authors, recently published a book, Toward a Political Economy of the Commons: Simple Rules for Sustainability with Edward Elgar Press’ New Thinking in Political Economy series. Additionally, Dr. Cai gave an on-line talk titled “The Art of Negotiations: Legal Discrimination, Contention Pyramid, and Land Rights Development in China” which was sponsored by the UConn Humanities Institute in January.

Evelyn Simien has been selected to serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Politics. She also had her article “The 2018 Congressional Midterms, Symbolic Empowerment, and Ayanna Pressley’s Mobilizing Effect: A Case Study for Future Analysis of Historic Firsts” accepted for publication by the Journal of Women, Politics, and Policy.

Evelyn Simien’s edited book, Historic Firsts in U.S. Elections, will be released from Routledge press this coming April. Dr. Simien also agreed to serve as a reviewer on the social sciences panel for the Ford Foundation’s Fellowship Program.

David Yalof was quoted in a Bloomberg Law piece titled, “Biden Far From First to Consider Identity in Supreme Court Pick” on February 2, 2022.  Additionally, he was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article titled, “Biden’s Focus on Black Women for Supreme Court Echoes Bipartisan Precedents.”