Previous Semesters

Fall 2025

August 29, 2025, 3:00 PM
Laura López-Perez, PhD Student in Political Science.
“Mobilizing Uncertainty: Why Victims’ Relatives Mobilize in High-Risk Settings”
Discussion: Natán Skigin

September 5, 2025, 3:00 PM
Gessica de Freitas, PhD Student in Political Science, and Sergio Huertas, PhD in Political Science PUCCh
“Holding the Line: Legislative Oversight and Democratic Resilience in Latin America”
Discussion: Michael Coppedge

September 19, 2025, 3:00 PM
Victoria Hui, Associate Professor in Political Science
““Blood and Treasure”: How Plural and Pluralist “China” Was Unified by Conquest, Extraction and Assimilation ”
Discussion: Liang Cai

September 26, 2025, 3:00 PM
Rasheed Ibrahim, PhD Student in Political Science
“The Chief’s Resource Curse: Land Quality and Corruption among Traditional Leaders”
Discussion: Madai Urteaga

October 3, 2025, 3:00 PM
Peitong Jing, PhD Student in Political Science
“Participatory Propaganda with Mobile Political Apps: Lessons from India and China”

October 10, 2025, 3:00 PM
Isabel Güiza-Gómez, PhD Student in Political Science, and Madai Urteaga, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Kellogg Institute
“Judging Property: Judicial Independence, Elite Influence, and Public Land Allocation in Colombia”
Discussion: Anibal Pérez-Lińán

November 7, 2025, 3:00 PM
Hannah E. Bagdanov, PhD Student in Political Science
“Social Network Ties and Claim-Making: Evidence from East Jerusalem”
Discussion: Apurva Bamezai

November 14, 2025, 3:00 PM
Laura López-Pérez, PhD Student in Political Science, and Jorge Ruiz Reyes, Research Associate at the Kellogg Institute
“Illicit Economies and Violence Against Civilians in Criminal Wars: The Case of Illegal Fuel Tapping in Mexico”
Discussion: Joel Herrera

November 21, 2025, 3:00 PM
Ziyi Wu, PhD Student in Political Science
“A Double-Edge Sword: Reconsidering Education and Political Knowledge in Authoritarian Context”
Discussion: Marc Jacob

December 5, 2025, 3:00 PM
Gessica de Freitas, PhD Student in Political Science, and Abby Córdova, Associate Professor of Global Affairs
“Deeming the Undemocratic Democratic: How Support for “Illiberal Majoritarianism’ Shapes Understandings of Democracy in Latin America”
Discussion: Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez

December 12, 2025, 3:00 PM
Patrick McQuestion, PhD Student in Political Science
“Neo-extractivism and polycentricity: the impact of labor formalization on political inclusion”
Discussion: Ben Francis

Spring 2026

February 6, 2026, 3:00 PM
Catalina Vega Mendez, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Kellogg Institute, Abby Córdova, Associate Professor of Global Affairs, and Diana Orces, Adjunct Professor at American University
“What Kind of Hardship Matters? Countering Anti-Immigrant Sentiment Across Migration Motives”
Discussion: Laura López-Pérez

February 13, 2026, 3:00 PM
Mayra Ortiz Ocaña, PhD Student in Political Science
“Gatekeeping Justice: Criminal Epistemologies in Prosecuting Organized Crime Violence”
Discussion: Veronica Michel

February 27, 2026, 3:00 PM
Juan Carlos Gazmurri, JSD Student in Law
“Social Media and Party Organizations in the Face of Democratic Backsliding”
Discussion: Adriana Pilar Ferreira Albanus

March 20, 2026, 3:00 PM
León Heitler, PhD Student in Political Science
“Politicians on the Target: how political assassinations drive incumbency advantage”
Discussion: Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez

March 27, 2026, 3:00 PM
Gessica de Freitas, PhD Student in Political Science, and Marianne Kneuer, Full Professor of Comparative Politics TU Dresden
“Backsliding Halted, Democracy Recovered? The Case of Post-Erosion Brazil”
Discussion: Javier Pérez Sandoval

April 10, 2026, 3:00 PM
Lightning Round
León Heitler – “Crime vs. Democracy”
Anran Zhang – “Outsourcing History: The Production of China’s Local Gazetteers”

April 17, 2026, 3:00 PM
Catalina Vega Mendez, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Kellogg Institute, and Mollie J. Cohen, Associate Professor in Political Science at Purdue University
“How Transparency Efforts Shape Citizen Confidence in Elections?”
Discussion: Tomás Gianibelli