Graduate Students

Abigail Hassett, Judicial Politics and Comparative Politics

Abigail Hassett is a Ph.D. Student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina. Her research broadly examines the role of ambition in legal careers, particularly as this complex trait influences an individual's nomination and confirmation to the U.S. federal courts. Her corollary interests also include personality as an influencing factor for judicial decision-making, elite legal networks, and the intersectionality of gender, race, and class in this sphere.

Andrew Kramarchyk, American Politics & Judicial Politics

Andrew Kramarchyk is a Ph.D. student at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. Within the subfield of American Politics, his two principal interests are in racial and ethnic politics, with current research involving racial compassion, and elite political behavior, with current research involving Congressional cleavages. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Siena College in Loudonville, NY.

Anthony Wayne Hobert, Jr., Judicial Politics and Political Theory

Anthony Hobert, Jr. is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. His research interests include judicial politics, indigenous jurisprudence, just war theory, political philosophy, and game theory. He earned a Master's Degree in the Art of Teaching from the University of Southern California in 2012. He spent most of the following decade teaching Introductory American Government courses at the high school and college level.

Carolina Bermejo Goodwin, Comparative Politics & American Politics

Carolina Bermejo Goodwin is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina. She studies varied topics in Comparative Politics and American Politics. Her primary interest lies in developing a Feminist identity and its interaction with other group identities. She obtained a B.A.s in Political Science and Law from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

Chandler Case, American Politics & Public Administration

Chandler Case is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina. She focuses on gender and politics and political psychology, specifically regarding candidacy, elections, and unique intersections of women in office. She received a B.A. in Political Science and History at Winthrop University while on a golf scholarship.

Chris Howell, American and Comparative Politics

Chris Howell studies a Ph.D. candidate focusing on the origin and formation of the Religious Right in the 1970s, focusing primarily on the efforts of Phyllis Schlafly and antifeminist networks in the Equal Rights Amendment battle. He has also co-written research articles about COVID-19, vaccine hesitancy, political science education, and political opinion.

Christopher Eddy, American Politics/ Public Administration and Public Policy

Christopher Eddy is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science and a Bilinski Fellow at the University of South Carolina. He received his B.A. in Political Science and English Literature from Marshall University in 2017. His research incorporates critical insights from the fields of American Politics, Public Policy, and Public Administration. Focusing on representation, environmental policy, and representative bureaucracy, he is primarily interested in 1) how descriptive (passive), substantive (active) , and symbolic representation influence the relationship between citizens and bureaucratic organizations, and 2) how representation is used as a mechanism for enhancing democratic outcomes within the administrative state.

Deki Peldon, Comparative Politics and International Relations

Deki Peldon is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina. She is primarily interested in political transition, democratization, and violence. She holds an M.A. in International and Comparative Politics from the Wright State University, Ohio, USA, and a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from the Asian University for Women, Bangladesh.

Edwina Chih-Yu Chen, Comparative Politics and Political Theory

Edwina Chen is a Ph.D. student in political science at the University of South Carolina. She is interested in authoritarian politics, censorship, LGBTQ+ politics/Queer theory, and East Asian Politics. She received her M.A. in Politics (Political Theory) from the University of Essex(U.K.) and a B.A. in Political Science from National Cheng Kung University(Taiwan).

Gregory Nelson, Comparative Politics and International Relations

Gregory Nelson is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina. His research examines social inclusion and political legitimacy in authoritarian regimes. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Carolina and an M.A. in Political Science from Appalachian State University.

Heather McRorie, American Politics and Public Administration/Public Policy

Heather McRorie is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina. She received her B.A. in Political Science and Religious Studies from Clemson University. Her interests include women and religion in American politics. Her research explores the intersection of religion and voting behavior and why women face a tougher electoral arena among the religiously devout.

Isiaka A. Bakare, Comparative Politics & PPPA

Bakare is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina. He obtained his BSc in Political Science from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. He studies Comparative Politics, Public Policy, Public Administration, and International Relations. He learns varied topics in Comparative Politics, Public Policy & Public Administration, and International Relations. His research focused on Vote Buying and its Challenges to Democracy. He is interested in explaining the Impact of Democracy on State Repression and Human Rights Violations.

Jack DeOliveira, Public Administration & Public Policy; Comparative Politics

Jack DeOliveira is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. His research interests include state & local politics, program implementation, and representative bureaucracy. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from The University of Alabama and an M.A. in Diplomacy from Norwich University.

Jacob Carnevale, Comparative Politics and American Politics

Jacob Carnevale is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina. He primarily studies comparative political economy and political parties. His main topic of interest is the global effect of Chinese foreign direct investment. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Bemidji State University.

Jiyoon Kang, Public Administration & Public Policy and Comparative Politics

Jiyoon Kang is a Ph.D. student of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. Her research explores civic engagement and the role of the third sector(NGO, NPO, etc.) in policy implementation. The main issue she is interested in is the impacts of the third sector on environmental and healthcare policies. She holds M.A. in Political Science from Yonsei University (Seoul, ROK) and B.A. in International Relations from Yonsei University (Wonju, ROK).

Kelsey Martin-Morales, Comparative Politics and International Relations

Kelsey M. Martin-Morales is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. Her research interests include the intersection of democratic backsliding and foreign policy. In addition to her dissertation project, she has worked on research that explores autocratic policy preferences, development aid, and international organizations. Kelsey received a Master of Public Administration from Kennesaw State University in 2016 and a Bachelor of Science in History, Technology, and Society from the Georgia Institution of Technology in 2012. In 2022, she received the Russel J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Dissertation Fellowship.

Kenneth Aba, International Relations and Comparative Politics

Kenneth Aba is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina. He is primarily interested in Non-state actors in conflict, such as the relationship between Diaspora groups and foreign policy, as well as the activities of terror organizations. He holds an M.A. in International Relations and Law from Central China University (Wuhan), China, and a B.Sc in Political Science from the Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria.

Kuan-Wu Chen, Comparative Politics & Political Theory

Kuan-Wu Chen is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. His research interest includes comparative authoritarianism, comparative political theory, and comparative public policy. His dissertation focuses on the impact of penal populism on democratic institutions.

Matthew Fryman, American Politics & Public Administration/Policy

Matthew Fryman (Matt) is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina (USC). He studies political-military relations and civil-military relations. His main topic of interest is the relationship between political polarization and military accessions. Before coming to USC, he spent 30 years in the U.S. Army, retiring in 2020 as a Colonel. He holds a B.S. in Education from The Citadel, a M.S. in International Relations, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

Morgan A. Lowder, Public Administration & Public Policy

Morgan Lowder is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. His research focus is U.S. social welfare policy, emphasizing the social consequences of conditioning welfare benefits on labor market participation. His dissertation is centered on how work-conditioned welfare policy, or workfare, funnels submerged benefits to employers at the expense of actual public assistance recipients. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Carolina and a MPA from American University.

Rahul Hemrajani, Judicial Politics & Research Methods

Rahul Hemrajani is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. His research centers around studying comparative judicial behavior, including how country-level factors condition decision-making by judges in a court. For his dissertation, he develops and applies a cross-national time-series measure of the judicial legitimacy of court systems in over 150 countries. His published and ongoing work also focuses on judging in the Supreme Court of India, protest policing, and heuristic biases in judicial decision-making.

Ryan Dennehy, American Politics & Public Policy

Ryan Dennehy is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina. He studies varied topics in American Politics and Public Administration/Public Policy. His primary interests lie in developing U.S. welfare policy and political motivations behind state-driven poverty alleviation measures. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and History from Lebanon Valley College.

Sanghoon Park, Comparative Politics and International Relations

Sanghoon Park is a Ph.D. student of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. His research interests include the strategic interactions between autocratic leaders and institutions, such as regime change and resource (re)distribution through social policies. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, ROK.

Spencer Baily, International Relations and Comparative Politics

As a Ph.D. in Political Science, Spencer studies International Relations with a specific interest in digital surveillance and intelligence gathering. He uses observational data and econometrics to consider the processes by which states collect information and how the quality of data effects policy decisions. Before coming to the University of South Carolina, he received his B.A. from the University of Michigan and his M.A. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Stephen J. Mitchell, Political Theory & Judicial Politics

Stephen J. Mitchell is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of South Carolina. His work can broadly be construed as international political theory, specifically considering the moral value of self-determination, theories of legitimate statehood, and means of political representation specific to nationalist movements. He obtained First Class degrees at the University of Kent (B.A. in Politics) and the University of St Andrews (MLitt International Political Theory).

Sun Gue (Susan) Yang, Public Administration & Public Policy and Comparative Politics

Susan Yang is a Ph.D. student of Political Science at the University of South Carolina, majoring in public administration and public policy. Her research addresses social equity within the public administration and management sector, specifically through representative bureaucracy, government performance evaluation using citizen satisfaction, and policy outcomes. Susan also finds passion for children and their well-being, especially how child-related policies enhance their living conditions. She holds her B.A. in Social Welfare with a minor in Psychology at Sungshin Women's University and B.A. in International Studies at Korea University, both in Seoul, South Korea. Outside of academia, Susan enjoys playing golf and tennis with her fiance and hiking with their dog, Lucky.

Department of Political Science