Bio & C.V.

I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science & International Affairs at the George Washington University.

I received my Ph.D. in Politics (with a specialization in political theory) from Princeton University in 2018. My primary research interests include contemporary political theory, global justice, theories of human rights, and the ethics of resistance. I also have philosophical interests in collective agency and ethics and artificial intelligence. I am a former affiliate of the Princeton Dialogues on AI and Ethics program and a current affiliate of the Institute for International Economic Policy and the Humanitarian Action Initiative at GW.

My first book, Promoting Justice Across Borders: The Ethics of Reform Intervention (Oxford University Press, 2021), develops ethical standards for what I call “reform intervention”—an expansive category encompassing any deliberate attempt to promote justice in another society. In an increasingly interconnected world, myriad political actors—including individuals, NGOs, activist networks, corporations, and states—have the opportunity to exert influence in societies beyond their own. They can do so using a variety of different means—ranging from persuasion and advocacy, to boycotts and divestment campaigns, to coercive sanctions and military force.  Moreover, such attempts are often publicly justified in the name of justice promotion. This raises the question: when, if ever, are attempts to promote justice in other societies justified? This may be an old question, but my book gives it a new valence by recognizing the full range of ways in which different kinds of political actors can influence foreign societies, expanding beyond the existing literature’s typical focus on states employing coercive force (e.g., in “humanitarian intervention”).

My current book project examines the ethics of resistance, with a focus on transnational resistance movements. It explores questions surrounding the proper role of resistance in democratic politics, the potential for democratic politics to transcend the nation-state, the (in)capacity of statist institutions to achieve justice for stateless, undocumented, and Indigenous people, and the (il)legitimacy of the state system. My other work has been published in venues such as Constellations (2023), Big Data & Society (2022), Political Studies (2021) and The Journal of Political Philosophy (2017).

I’ve also enjoyed actively seeking opportunities for professional service. At Princeton, I co-organized the annual Graduate Conference in Political Theory two years in a row and co-founded and co-organized the Social Criticism & Political Thought speaker series. I now serve as the political theory field chair in GW’s Political Science department. I also co-organize the GW Political Science Department Political Theory Workshop and co-chair WPSA’s Political Theory Virtual Community. In Spring 2023, I organized a speaker series on “The Ethics of Resistance in Global Context” hosted by GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

In 2022, my book, Promoting Justice Across Borders, received an Honorable Mention in the ISA International Ethics Section Book Award contest. In 2016, I received the Princeton University Center for Human Values Graduate Prize Fellowship, providing a full year of support for dissertation writing. Before arriving at Princeton, I graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, with distinction in all subjects, from the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University, where I earned a B.A. in Government and Philosophy.

You can view my full C.V. here.