We have several highly qualified graduate students who are seeking academic appointments. If any of these individuals might be appropriate for your needs, please contact our Placement Director, Professor Richard Waterman (859-257-1118; rwate2@uky.edu). He will be happy to respond to any inquiries about our graduate students.
American Politics
Austin Trantham
Austin is currently serving as a Visiting Instructor in the Department of History and Political Science at Illinois College. He previously taught as a Visiting Lecturer at Murray State University. Austin has taught a variety of introductory and advanced courses in American Politics, Comparative Politics, Political Theory, and Research Methodology. In 2013, he earned a Graduate Certificate in College Teaching and Learning from the University of Kentucky Graduate School. Austin's research interests focus on the study of political executives from a comparative perspective. His dissertation examined recent presidential and gubernatorial rhetoric to understand how state executives consider and respond to presidential policy priorities. Current projects include a co-authored paper investigating the conditions that lead U.S. presidents to engage in foreign policy activity. His work has appeared in Social Science Quarterly and Party Politics. Prior to beginning doctoral studies, Austin earned an M.A. from the School of Public Affairs at American University and a B.A. with Honors in Political Science from Austin College.
Comparative Politics
Anup Phayal
Anup Phayal received his PhD in 2016 and currently, he is a post-doctoral fellow at the Baker Center for Public Policy, University of Tennessee. His research examines the micro-level dynamics of civil wars and post-conflict peace building. His dissertation investigates various aspects of post-conflict peace, focusing primarily on citizens' political and voting behavior in post-conflict elections and its effect on sustainability of peace. Anup's research works cover countries of South Asia and North Africa. He was recipient of the outstanding teaching award in 2016 and his recent research on disarmament of ex-combatants in Sudan was published in a peer reviewed journal.
Gabriela Rangel
Gabby is a Ph.D. Candidate majoring in Comparative Politics with a strong focus on Latin America. Her research focuses primarily on political institutions and patterns of political participation. Her disertation investigates the effects of compulsory voting laws on political participation and the mechanisms through which voting systems impact citizens' voting behavior and campaigning strategies. Her research has been published or is forthcoming at peer-reviewed journals, including Comparative Political Studies and the Election Law Journal. She has contributed fieldwork in Argentina and Peru, and has taught multiple undergraduate courses, including Introduction to Comparative Politics, International Relations, Politicial Analysis, and Introduction to Latin America. Gabby was a recipient of the College of Arts & Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award in 2015, and is currently serving as the Head Teaching Assistant for the Political Science Department.
International Relations
Charles Dainoff
Charles is currently writing his dissertation on the relationship between states with strict banking secrecy laws and transnational violent non-state actors such as organized crime syndicates and terrorists who use banks in these states to evade the law enforcement agencies hunting them, as well as the impact these actors have had on state stability since the end of the Cold War. Charles has 11 years teaching experience at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Kentucky. He has taught courses in the politics of terrorism, American politics, political theory, national security policy, conflict management, international relations, politics and film, and introduction to international conflict. Charles has also taught introduction to composition and introduction to research methods. His major area of study is International Relations and his minor is Comparative Politics. Charles co-authored an article with Stacy Closson (Central Asian Survey, 2015) on the use of banking intermediary companies in Russian and Central Asian oil and gas transactions, and is currently writing a review article (co-authored with Mark Peffley) on the relationship between terrorism and political tolerance forthcoming. Charles has a Master’s in Public Policy from Duke University and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Public Policy and International Relations from The University of Chicago.
Fields: International Relations, Comparative Politics Personal Website Email: Charles.dainoff@uky.edu
Anup Phayal
Anup received his PhD in 2016 and currently, he is a post-doctoral fellow at the Baker Center for Public Policy, University of Tennessee. His research examines the micro-level dynamics of civil wars and post-conflict peace building. His dissertation investigates various aspects of post-conflict peace, focusing primarily on citizens' political and voting behavior in post-conflict elections and its effect on sustainability of peace. Anup's research works cover countries of South Asia and North Africa. He was recipient of the outstanding teaching award in 2016 and his recent research on disarmament of ex-combatants in Sudan was published in a peer reviewed journal.
Jungmoo Woo
Jungmoo received his Ph.D. from UK in 2015. Jungmoo is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Vanderbilt University and is currently a lecturer at University of California - Merced. His research focuses on civil wars, international conflict, and democratization and research methods including: network analysis, formal theory, and baysian statistics.
Fields: International Relations, Comparative Politics Personal Webpage Email: jwo229@uky.edu
