MELISSA SAMARIN
PHD, POLITICAL SCIENCE

WELCOME

I am a political scientist with ​training in comparative politics and international relations, quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and have experience in academia, research, and research management. I am currently a lecturer in International Relations at Whittier College and a Researcher at the World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). My work broadly focuses on statebuilding and governance, democratization and autocratization, and international development. 

 

My research interests include contemporary Russian politics and international affairs, as well as processes of regime development and governance more broadly. I have extensive fieldwork experience across Russia and have previously lived in both Moscow and St. Petersburg. 

 

I recieved my PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. I hold an MSc from the University of Oxford's Russian and East European Studies programme and a BA from Whittier College. 

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