In This Story
Schar School faculty members in the news:
Goldstone’s Career Achievement Award
Professor of Public Policy Jack A. Goldstone has been awarded the Distinguished Career in Political Sociology Award from the Political Sociology section of the American Sociological Association (ASA). The ASA, founded in 1905, is the national professional membership association for sociologists and others working to advance and promote sociology as a science and a profession.
Goldstone, who holds the Virginia E. and John T. Hazel, Jr. chair at the Schar School, will receive his award in early August in Los Angeles during the ASA’s 117th annual meeting.
Burt’s New Leadership Post
Associate Professor of Political Science Jo-Marie Burt has been elected to serve as president of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). LASA is the world's largest professional association for individuals and institutions engaged in the study of Latin America, with more than 13,000 members from more than 75 different countries.
Burt will first serve as vice president until May 2023 before assuming leadership as president. She will also be a member of the LASA executive council during her three-year term as president.
Burt, who has been a member of LASA since graduate school, has served in various offices in the organization’s leadership hierarchy, including co-chair of the 2020 LASA Congress, co-chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Human Rights, and was twice elected co-chair of the Peru section of LASA.
LASA's mission is to foster intellectual discussion, research, and teaching on Latin America, the Caribbean, and its people throughout the Americas, promote the interests of its diverse membership, and encourage civic engagement through network building and public debate.
Burt has been an expert witness in several cases of human rights violations before the National Criminal Court of Peru, before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and in immigration courts in the United States involving both asylum cases and cases of suspected war criminals who face extradition or deportation proceedings from the United States. In 2011, the government of Peru recognized her with the Award in Merit, in the Grade of Grand Official, for Distinguished Service in Defense of Democracy, Rule of Law, and Human Rights.
Since 2012 she has been a Senior Fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a research and advocacy organization advancing human rights in the Americas. She was a researcher for the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission and has been an expert witness in several cases of human rights violations before the National Criminal Court of Peru, before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and in immigration courts in the United States involving both asylum cases and cases of suspected war criminals who face extradition or deportation proceedings from the United States. In 2011, the government of Peru recognized her with the Distinguished Service Award in Defense of Democracy, Rule of Law, and Human Rights.
Mandaville’s Book Honored
A book edited by Professor of Government and Politics Peter Mandaville has been selected for inclusion in Oxford University Press’s Islamic Studies collection. The book, Wahhabism and the World: Understanding Saudi Arabia's Global Influence on Islam, contains analysis by leading Islamic and religious studies scholars and is one of the first comprehensive studies on how Saudi Arabia's funding affects religion around the world.
Oxford University Press will feature the book, and four others included in the campaign, in special promotions throughout the summer, with the intention of expanding the works’ reach, engagement, and awareness in the global religion community.
Earle and Shpak’s Chapter Honored
An article detailing how oligarchs use politics and economics to defend property from seizures written by Professor John S. Earle, PhD alumna Solomiya Shpak, et al., has been named “Best article in the field of Ukrainian history, politics, language, literature, and culture published in 2020-2021” by the American Association for Ukrainian Studies.
The paper is here. The article, The Oligarch Vanishes: Defensive Ownership, Property Rights, and Political Connections, will be published by the Quarterly Journal of Political Science. The other co-authors are Scott Gehlbach (University of Chicago) and Anton Shirikov (University of Wisconsin, Madison).
Two years after graduating from the Schar School, Shpak was teaching at the Kyiv School of Economics when Russia invaded Ukraine; she and her family crossed several European countries to return to America where she is now a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Micro-Economic Policy Research at the Schar School.