Nathaniel Birkhead has been promoted to associate professor with tenure. Nathaniel joined the department in 2012. He has established himself as an excellent teacher and highly productive scholar. Nathaniel’s research focuses primarily on representation, legislative elections, and legislative behavior, with an emphasis on state legislatures. His work has appeared in Political Research Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and State and Local Government Review, among other outlets. His strength as a teacher is evidenced by the multiple teaching awards that he’s received for his undergraduate teaching, including the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching and the Commerce Bank and W.T. Kemper Foundation Undergraduate Outstanding Teaching Award.
Michael Flynn has also been promoted to associate professor with tenure. Michael joined the department in 2014 and has also a significant mark in his field of study. Michael’s research focuses on economic sources of state behavior in the areas of conflict, international security and repression. His work has been published in a wide range of outlets including, International Studies Quarterly, British Journal of Political Science, and Journal of Peace Research, among other outlets. Michael is also an active blogger, doing the important work of translating academic research to a popular audience. He cohosts a blog, Quantitative Peace, that focuses on topics from American politics to international relations. His writing was also featured on the Monkey Cage Blog, which is hosted by the Washington Post.