The International Relations and Comparative Politics Workshops take place on alternate Wednesdays at 12:30 pm. Sessions are held in SOS B40 and streamed on Zoom for remote attendees.
  • Papers are drafts for prospective journal articles in international relations and/or comparative politics.
  • Sessions begin with 15-minute presentations followed by brief comments from a discussant; the floor then opens to questions that engage the presenter in a back and forth; the presenter ends the session with five-minute remarks.
  • The goal of the series is to provide feedback that also gives the author (PhD students, faculty or visiting faculty) an opportunity to make a presentation and engage PhD students and faculty. The workshops also facilitate publishable papers for PhD students and develop critique skills for discussants and attendees.
  • Sessions last 75 minutes.
Both series strive to build community among faculty and graduate students while fostering professional development through mentorship.
Sessions are restricted to USC faculty and graduate students. Undergraduate honors thesis students in international relations and comparative politics are also invited to attend. For inquiries about specific presenters and papers, and to volunteer to be a presenter or discussant, please contact lascis@usc.edu.

Upcoming Spring 2025 Workshops

January 22, 2025

Comparative Politics Workshop
“Embedded Multinationals: When MNCs Choose Voice over Exit”
Presenter: Brian Palmer-Rubin, POIR Faculty
Co-author: Steven Samford, University of Michigan
Discussant: TBD

RSVP Here

January 29, 2025

International Relations Workshop
“Harmonizing Safety: The Politics of Occupational Exposure Limits in the EU”
Presenter: Rebecca Perlman, UC Berkeley
Co-author: Christina Toenshoff
Discussant: TBD

RSVP Here

February 5, 2025

Comparative Politics Workshop
Title TBD
Presenter: Milan Svolik, Yale University
Discussant: TBD

RSVP Here

February 12, 2025

International Relations Workshop
“The Windfalls of Great Power Politics: Strategic Competition and the Agency of Africa’s Small States”
Presenter: Zenobia Chan, Georgetown University
Co-author: Noel Foster; Jackie S.H. Wong
Discussant: TBD

RSVP Here

February 19, 2025

Comparative Politics Workshop
“(Mis)reading the Room: The Case for Ontological Security, NATO and the MLF”
Presenter: Ivana Jordanovska, POIR PhD Candidate
Discussant: TBD

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February 26, 2025

International Relations Workshop
“Developing Recognition: Central American States’ Recognition of Two Chinas Evidence from El Salvador”
Presenter: Jose Urias, POIR PhD Candidate
Discussant: Yangran Gao, POIR PhD Student

RSVP Here

March 12, 2025

Comparative Politics Workshop
“#NotAllMarxists: Transporting Ideology from the Book to the Battlefield”
Presenter: Sherry Zaks, POIR Faculty
Discussant: TBD

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March 26, 2025

International Relations and Comparative Politics Workshop
Roundtable for First-Year Elevator Pitches
Presenters: TBD
Discussants: TBD

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April 2, 2025

International Relations Workshop
“Social Ties and The Political Participation of Firms: Evidence from a Multi-Country Survey”
Presenter: Benjamin Graham, POIR Faculty
Discussant: TBD

RSVP Here

April 9, 2025

Comparative Politics Workshop
Title TBD
Presenter: Yanilda Gonzalez, Harvard University
Discussant: TBD

RSVP Here

April 16, 2025

International Relations Workshop
Title TBD
Presenter: Daphne Yang, POIR PhD Student
Discussant: TBD

RSVP Here

April 23, 2025

Comparative Politics Workshop
“Ethnicity and Attitudes About Climate Change in Africa”
Presenter: Evan Lieberman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Coauthors: Devin Caughey and Preston Johnson

Discussant: Gaea Morales

RSVP Here

  • November 13, 2024
    International Relations Workshop
    “The Revenge of Victor Orban? Central Europe Wobbles on Ukraine”
    Presenters: Rob English, POIR Faculty
    Discussant: Mietek Boduszyński, Pomona College

     

    November 6, 2024
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    “Ideology and Online Self-Censorship: The Analysis of the Turkish Case”
    Presenter: Sinan Kircova, POIR PhD Candidate
    Discussant: Ivana Jordanovska, POIR PhD Candidate

     

    October 30, 2024
    International Relations Workshop
    “Understanding Regime Complexity in Regional Governance”
    Presenter: Yeiyoung Choo, POIR PhD Candidate
    Discussant: Miguel Hijar-Chiapa, POIR PhD student

     

    October 23, 2024
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    “The Anti-Left Legacy of the Pinochet Dictatorship”
    Presenter: Pablo Argote, POIR Postdoctoral Fellow
    Discussant: Jessica Walker, POIR PhD Candidate

     

    October 16, 2024
    International Relations Workshop
    “Reconceiving the Role of Undergraduate Research Assistants: Intentional Integration of Mentorship, Technical Training, and Professional Pipelines”
    Presenter: Alix Ziff, POIR Postdoctoral Fellow
    Discussant: Megan Becker, POIR Faculty

     

    October 2, 2024
    International Relations Workshop
    “Injustice as Debt: Managing the Growing Costs of Japan-South Korea Reconciliation”
    Presenter: Tom Le, Pomona College
    Discussant: Stephen Schick, POIR PhD Candidate

     

    September 25, 2024
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    “Exporting the Tools of Dictatorship: The Politics of China’s Technology Transfers”
    Presenter: Brett Carter, POIR Faculty
    Co-author: Erin Baggott Carter, POIR Faculty
    Discussant: Pablo Argote, POIR Postdoctoral Fellow

     

    September 18, 2024
    International Relations Workshop
    “Descriptive to Substantive Representation of Ethnic Minorities in the UK Parliament”
    Presenter: Stephanie Zonszein Strauss, UC Berkeley
    Co-authors: Apurav Bhatiya, William Dinneen, Guy Grossman
    Discussant: Ewon Baik, POIR PhD Candidate

     

    September 11, 2024
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    “The Limits of Electoral Gender Quotas”
    Presenter: Varun Karekurve-Ramachandra, POIR Faculty
    Co-author: Gaurav Sood
    Discussant: Erik Hanson, POIR Postdoctoral Fellow

     

  • April 24, 2024
    Comparative Politics & International Relations Workshop
    Year-End Gathering
    A special year-end session of the workshop series, where we will share a special lunch and discuss highlights from the year, feedback, and ideas for next year.

    April 17, 2024
    International Relations Workshop
    Victoria Chonn Ching, POIR Postdoctoral Fellow
    “One Region, Unifying and (De)Unifying Interests: The Many Chinas in Latin America and the Caribbean”
    Discussant: Jose Urias Flores**

    March 27, 2024
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Jillian Schwedler, Professor at Hunter College
    “Urban Planning and Political Protests”
    Discussant: Jane Mary Sakr**

    March 6, 2024
    International Relations Workshop
    Soo Yeon Kim, Associate Professor at National University of Singapore
    “Membership and its Benefits: Vote Shares in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank” (co-authored with Jesslene Lee, University of Toronto)
    Discussant: Pongkwan Sawasdipakdi**

    February 28, 2024
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Jessica Walker

    “Beyond Beliefs: Re-conceptualizing Rebel Group Ideology”
    Discussant: Chloe Bernadaux**

    February 21, 2024
    International Relations Workshop
    Joshua Leung

    “Face Culture and Asian International Relations”
    Discussant: Kayeon Roh**

    February 14, 2024
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Saran Uthayakumar

    “Dreaming in the Diaspora: Situating the Cambodian American Diaspora in Post-Genocide Healing”
    Discussant: Melissa Watanabe**

    January 31, 2024
    International Relations Workshop
    Allison Hartnett

    “After the Commons: Economic Opportunity and Colonial Legacies of Land Privatization”
    Discussant: Pablo Argote***

    January 24, 2024
    International Relations Workshop
    Miguel Hijar Chiapa
    “The Wretched of the Pantheon: Frantz Fanon and the Discipline of International Relations”
    Discussant: Brian Rathbun*

    January 17, 2024
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    José Múzquiz
    La Raza: Race and Legislator’s Responsivity in Mexico”
    Discussant: Gerry Munck*

     

    *POIR faculty

    **POIR PhD student/candidate

    ***POIR Postdoctoral Fellow

  • November 8, 2023
    International Relations Workshop
    Dana El Kurd, Professor at University of Richmond
    “Transnational Activism, Social Media, & Mobilization: The Case of the Pro-Palestine Movement”
    Discussant: Chloe Bernadaux, POIR PhD Student

    November 1, 2023
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Brian Palmer-Rubin* (coauthor with Candelaria Garay and Mathias Poertner)
    “Mass Politics 2.0: Organizations and Political Identity in Neoliberal Latin America”
    Discussant: Sinan Kircova**

    October 25, 2023
    International Relations Workshop
    Alison Dundes Renteln* & Cher Weixia Chen (George Mason University)
    Special Session – Book Discussion: “International Human Rights: A Survey” (Cambridge University Press, 2023)

    October 18, 2023
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Pablo Francisco Argote Tironi (USC Postdoctoral Fellow) (coauthor with Giancarlo Visconti)
    “Ideological vs. Issue Voting:  Evidence from Chile”
    Discussant: Ewon Baik**

    October 4, 2023
    Special Session: CIS Open House for PhD Students
    We will discuss upcoming programming and funding opportunities and invite questions.

    September 27, 2023
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Thomas Pepinsky (Cornell)
    “A Political Economy of Social Categories”
    Discussant: Stephen Schick**

    September 20, 2023
    International Relations Workshop
    Julia Morse (UCSB) (Co-author with Tyler Pratt, University of North Carolina)
    “Fighting Facts or Fighting Norms: Norm Transgressions, Reputation Management, and International Organizations”
    Discussant: Yeiyoung Choo**

    September 13, 2023
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Alden Young (UCLA)
    “Across the Red Sea: Diaspora, Revolution and Anti-Imperialism”
    Discussant: Saranyan Uthayakumar**

    September 6, 2023
    International Relations Workshop
    Brian Rathbun*
    “The Other Cheek: Costly Signaling, Moral Psychology, and the Effect of Nonviolence”
    Discussant: Laura Breen**

     

    *POIR faculty
    **POIR PhD student/candidate

  • April 5, 2023
    International Relations Workshop
    Amanda Kennard, Stanford University
    Discussant: Donald Grasse, CIS postdoctoral fellow
    Title: “Climate Change and Political (In)Stability”

    March 29, 2023
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Jefferey Sellers, POIR professor; Chloe Bernadaux, PhD student; and Ada Li Sarain,
    POIR PhD alumna
    Discussant: Sinan Kircova**
    Title: “Territorial Attachment, Globalization, and the City”

    March 22, 2023
    International Relations Workshop
    Pongkwan Sawasdipakdi, PhD candidate
    Discussant: Ewon Baik**
    Title: “How Dare You Betray Me: Betrayal, Emotion, and Outrage in International Relations”

    March 15, 2023
    IR/CP workshop A [NO SESSION – SPRING BREAK; ISA CONFERENCE]

    March 8, 2023
    International Relations Workshop
    Tyler Jost, Brown University
    Discussant: Don Grasse, CIS postdoctoral fellow
    Title: “The Roots of China’s Contemporary Arming Behavior”

    March 1, 2023
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Chloe Bernadaux and Stephen Schick, PhD students
    Discussant: Yeiyoung Choo**
    Title: Economic Conditions and the Shaping of Subnational Propaganda under Autocracy

    February 22, 2023
    International Relations Workshop
    Gaea Morales, PhD candidate
    Discussant: Therese Franklin**
    Title: “From Gatekeepers to Keys: The United Nations System and Local Authority Legitimacy”.

    February 15, 2023
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Agustina Paglayan, University of California, San Diego
    Discussant: Tine Paulsen*
    Title: “Countering Disobedience: The Rise and Spread of Mass Education”

     

    *POIR faculty

    **POIR PhD student/candidate

  • November 16, 2022
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Courtenay Conrad (University of California, Merced), “Judicial Decisions, Police Officer Uncertainty, and the Escalation of Force
    (co-authored with Sophia Hatz and Kristine Eck)
    Discussant: Tolu Babalola**

    November 9, 2022
    International Relations Workshop
    Donald Grasse (CIS postdoctoral fellow), “The Logic and Impacts of Rebel Public Services Provision: Evidence from Taliban Courts in Afghanistan”
    (co-authored with Renard Sexton and Austin Wright)
    Discussant: Chloe Bernadaux**

    November 2, 2022
    No session: Week of the conference of Peace Science

    October 26, 2022
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Tolu Babalola**, “In the Eye of the Beholder: The Relativity of Democracy and Redistributive Politics”
    (co-authored with Allison Hartnett*)
    Discussant: Alya Khemakhem**

    October 19, 2022
    International Relations Workshop
    Mariya Grinberg (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), “The Future of Economic Warfare (is Bleak)”
    Discussant: Yeiyoung Choo**

    October 12, 2022
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Brett Carter*, “The Kremlin and K Street: Vote-Buying in the U.S. Congress”
    (co-authored with Erin Baggott Carter* and Eva Isakovic, formerly an undergrad in POIR and now a Fulbright Scholar in Bosnia)
    Discussant: Stephen Schick**

    October 5, 2022
    International Relations Workshop
    Graeme Blair (University of California, Los Angeles), “Evidence-Based Decision-Making on Research Ethics in the Social Sciences”
    Co-authored with Rebecca Wolfe (University of Chicago), Rebecca Littman (University of Chicago), and Sarah Ryan (University of California Berkeley)
    Discussant: Donald Grasse, CIS postdoctoral fellow

    September 28, 2022
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Melissa Rogers (Claremont Graduate University), “Vote Your Region or Your Income? Decomposing Variance in Redistributive Voting”
    Discussant: Gaea Morales**

    September 14, 2022
    No session: Week of the conference of the American Political Science Association

    September 7, 2022
    International Relations Workshop
    Jacques C. Hymans*, “Anti-War or Anti-Nuclear? The Gender Gap in Testimonials by Survivors of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki”
    (co-authored with Tomoko Matsumoto, Tokyo University of Science)
    Discussant: Brian Rathbun*

    August 31, 2022
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Tine Paulsen*, “Mass Party Advantage under Party-Centered Local Governance”
    Discussant: Allison Hartnett*

     

    *POIR faculty

    **POIR PhD student/candidate

  • April 13, 2022
    International Relations Workshop
    Victoria Chonn Ching (USC postdcoc), “How Host Country Actors Can Shape BRI Projects: States, Elites, and Bureaucracies”
    (co-authored with Alvin Camba, Korbel School)
    Discussant: TBD

    April 6, 2022
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Presenter and Discussant TBD

    March 23, 2022
    International Relations Workshop
    Eric Min (UCLA), “I Meant What I Said: The Sequencing of Diplomatic Signals”
    (co-authored with Azusa Katagiri, Osaka University)
    Discussant: Jackie S. H. Wong**

    March 9, 2022
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Miguel Pereira*, “What Drives Politicians to Act on Climate? A Cross-National Field Experiment”
    (Co-authored with Nathalie Giger, University of Geneva; Maria Domiguez Perez, University of Southern California; Kaya Axelsson, University of Oxford)
    Discussant: Bijean Ghafouri

    March 2, 2022
    International Relations Workshop
    SPECIAL TIME: 12–1:30 pm
    Delgerjargal Uvsh (CIS postdoc), “Revenue Shocks and Policy Changes: When Do Resource-Rich Governments Invest in Economic Freedom?”
    Discussant: Victoria Chonn Ching (USC postdoctoral fellow)

    February 23, 2022
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Brian Knafou**, “Religious Messaging in Authoritarian Regimes: Analyzing the publications of the Egyptian Dar al-Ifta”
    Discussant: Alya Khemakhem**

    February 16, 2022
    International Relations Workshop
    Kyle Rapp**, “On What Grounds? Legal References and Effective Argumentation at the ICC”
    Discussant: Stefanie Neumeier**

    February 9, 2022
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Erin Baggott Carter* and Victor Shih (UCSD), “Terrifyingly Normal: How Bureaucratic Incentives Shape Repression in China”
    (co-authored with Jonghyuk Lee)
    Discussant: Stephen Schick**

    February 2, 2022
    Professional Development Session
    “Attending Conferences 101: Participating, Presenting, and Discussing,” moderated by Saori N. Katada, with panelists Sherry Zaks* and Taylor Dalton.**

    January 26, 2022
    Comparative Politics Workshop
    Yuen Yuen Ang (Michigan), “How Beijing Commands: An Automated Text Analysis of Central Directives, 1978–2017”
    (co-authored with Simeng Zeng, PhD Student, University of Minnesota)
    Discussant: Erin Baggott Carter*

    January 19, 2022
    International Relations Workshop
    Audrye Wong*,“Divide to Conquer: How Authoritarian Regimes Use Wedge Narratives to Marginalize Diaspora Communities”(Co-authored with Patrick Chester of NYU)
    Discussant: Laura Breen**

     

    *POIR faculty
    **POIR PhD student/candidate