PGG Ph.D.: Governance and Globalization Track

PGG-GG track is offered in Blacksburg and Arlington (Washington, D.C. Metro Area).

In Arlington, some of our PGG-GG students attend classes full-time but the majority is made of working professionals who take classes on a part-time basis. Our courses are offered from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m., which works well with their schedules. Each course is offered once a week. Full-time students take between 3 and 4 courses a semester. Part-time students take 1 or 2 courses per semester. We also offer online courses taught by our own full-time faculty.

The total of 90 credits required can be divided into 3 blocks of 30:  

• 30 credits can be transferred in from your Masters degree
• 30 credits are taken at VT (about 10 courses)
• 30 credits are dedicated to research & dissertation (no courses).

We accept applications on a rolling basis and waive the GRE. Admissions are based on:  (i) performance in Master’s program/Academic Transcript, (ii) 3 letters of recommendation, (iii) statement of academic purpose/research interest, (iv) TOEFL scores for non-English natives speakers, and (v) professional background and experience, where applicable. 

Crucial in the evaluation of applications is for the admissions committee to see a clear fit between the research the applicant wishes to develop in the program and the areas of expertise of GIA full-time faculty.

In addition to the required courses. students should take at least 3 of the below core courses.

CORE COURSES: 

Required of Ph.D. students: GIA 6114 Critical Geopolitics

MODES OF INQUIRY/METHODOLOGY COURSES

*Or another committee-approved methods/theory course

ELECTIVES within GIA
[outside-of-GIA electives are also available if in line with the student’s plan of study]

Valeska Rodriguez Alvarado valeska@vt.edu
Not stated
Primary Advisors: Dr. Giselle Datz and Professor Tim Luke

Nada Alwadi nada5@vt.edu
Not stated
Primary Advisor: Dr. Ariel Ahram

Delovan Barwari delovan@vt.edu
Not stated
Primary Advisor: Dr. Ariel Ahram

Carmen Boggs-Parker cabooker@vt.edu
Intercultural Learning in Cross-cultural Contexts
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Matthew Carpenter matthewdc@vt.edu
None stated
Primary Advisor: Dr. Ariel Ahram

Jon Catherwood-Ginn rjginn@vt.edu
Civic Practice, Arts and Community Change, Neoliberalism and New Economies, Decolonization, Cultural Democracy; Arts-Based Practices in Dialogue, Deliberation, and Governance; Performance Studies
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Martin Cho martinhc@vt.edu
Geopolitics and Development of Energy Resources
Primary Advisor: Dr. Ariel Ahram

Lindy Cranwell lindycra@vt.edu
International Education, Higher Education, Faculty Engagement in Comprehensive Internationalization, University Student Global Mobility
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Zuleka Woods rdauda@vt.edu
International Education, Decolonization, Politics of Representation
Primary Advisor: Professor Tim Luke

Rachel Gabriele rachelvg@vt.edu
Building Stories: How Narrative Has Shaped the Physical Redevelopment of Detroit
Primary Advisors: Professor Max Stephenson and Dr. Maggie Cowell

El Sayed Ghannam eghannam@vt.edu
Not stated
Primary Advisor: Professor Joel Peters

Ben Grove ben.grove@vt.edu
Internationalization of Cooperative Extension Systems
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Brian Hobbs briansthobbs@vt.edu
Defense & Aerospace Industry; Northeast Asia; Japan; Korea; China; Taiwan
Primary Advisor: Dr. Ariel Ahram

Craig Johnson cjohn5x@vt.edu
Post-Cold War Nuclear Security Regimes
Primary Advisor: Professor Joel Peters

Walter “Rick” F. Landgraf III wfland3@vt.edu
How NATO Interprets Security Challenges Associated With Its Functional and Territorial Expansion in Eastern Europe and Former-Soviet Republics
Primary Advisor: Professor Gerard Toal

Aislinn McCann aislinnm@vt.edu
Global Internet Governance and Human Rights-based Norms
Primary Advisors: Dr. Eric Jardine and Dr. Yannis Stivachtis

Julian R. Meade julian67@vt.edu
U.S. Geopolitical Considerations of the Arctic
Primary Advisor:  Professor Joel Peters

Gabriel Mitchell gabim14@vt.edu
Regionalism, majority-minority politics, and the formation of state foreign policy. His dissertation explores the relationship between energy policy and foreign policy in Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean
Primary Advisor: Professor Joel Peters

Eric Reading ereading@vt.edu
Political Transitions, International Development, Middle East
Primary Advisor: Professor Joel Peters

Jeanette Ruiz ruizjr@vt.edu
Understanding How Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Impact and Empower Informal Networks as these Networks Develop Tools for Re-shaping Economies, Polities, and International Relations
Primary Advisor: Dr. Giselle Datz

Jasper Schneider jaspers@vt.edu
Primary Advisor: Professor Gerard Toal

Nareg Seferian seferian@vt.edu
Public Memory, National Identity, and the Narratives of States
Primary Advisor: Professor Gerard Toal

Elmamoun Sulfab esulfab@vt.edu
Cyber Conflict, National Security, Gulf States
Primary Advisor: Dr. Ariel Ahram

Raymond Thomas rct1590@vt.edu
Not stated
Primary Advisors: Dr. Paul Avey and Dr. Ioannis Stivachtis

Donald Tighe donaldvt@vt.edu
Identity and Foreign Policy, Northern Ireland
Primary Advisor: Professor Joel Peters

Lacy Watson elw3@vt.edu
Not stated
Primary Advisor: Professor Joyce Rothschild

Maurice Binioube Aleyao aleyb06@vt.edu
An Investigation of NGO-Government Partnerships for Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS and Malaria in the Maritime Region of Togo
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Wafa Al-Daily waldaily@vt.edu
An Exploration of State and Non-State Actor Engagement in Informal Settlement Governance in the Mahwa Aser Neighborhood and Sana'a City, Yemen
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Putu Desy Apriliani putuda8@vt.edu
It Takes a Village to Do Microfinance Right: Effects of Microfinance on Gender Relations in Bali
Primary Advisor: Professor Joyce Rothschild

Don Back dback@vt.edu
Neoliberalism, Academic Capitalism and Higher Education in Developing Countries
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Emily Barry-Murphy emilybar@vt.edu
Democratizing the Refugee Regime Complex
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Beth Beck bethbeck@vt.edu
“The Spark that Ignites the Creative Idea: An Examination of the Group Practice of LAUNCH”
Primary Advisor: Professor Joyce Rothschild

David Belt beltdavid@gmail.com
Framing Islam as a Threat: A Political Strategy of Key U.S. Conservatives, 2001-2012
Primary Advisor: Professor Gerard Toal

Ashleigh Breske aslilly@vt.edu
Governance of Repatriation, Cultural Property in Politically Unstable Regions
Primary Advisor: Professor Tim Luke

Carl Ciovacco carl7@vt.edu
International Relations and Global Security
Primary Advisor: Professor Joel Peters

Arnold C. Dupuy acdupuy@vt.edu
Patterns of Regionalism and Security: Energy as a Transformational Influence in the Black Sea Area.
Primary Advisor: Professor Joel Peters

Heba F. El-Shazli heba@vt.edu
Political Role of Labor Movements in the MENA Region Contributing to the Arab Spring
Primary Advisor: Professor Joel Peters

Anna Erwin erwinae@vt.edu
Food Systems, Participatory Democracy, Social Justice
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Sonya Finley sonyalf@vt.edu
U.S. Foreign Policy, Public Diplomacy/Psychological Warfare, Defense Strategy
Primary Advisor: Professor Gerard Toal

Stefanie Georgakis Abbott stefieg@vt.edu
Critical International Relations Theory, European Union Politics, Border Studies, Immigration
Primary Advisors: Professor Tim Luke and Dr. Ioannis Stivachtis

Eric Hodges ebhodges@usf.edu
Democratic Theory, Civic Engagement, Military Veterans, Moral Philosophy, and Cosmopolitanism
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Marc Jasper marcwj62@vt.edu
Prison Release as Conflict Management
Primary Advisor: Professor Joel Peters

Adna Karamehic akara@vt.edu
Reconceptions of Home and Identity within the Post-War Bosnian Diaspora in the United States
Primary Advisor: Professor Gerard Toal

Jared “Jake” Keyel jaredk1@vt.edu
Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, Critical Theory
Primary Advisors: Professor Max Stephenson

Kristin Kirk kckirk@vt.edu
Dissertation:  Assessing Nonprofit Websites: Developing an Evaluation Model
Primary Advisor:  Professor Max Stephenson

Mahin Khan mahin@vt.edu
Organizational Democracy and Women’s Empowerment: An Examination of Four Advocacy Organizations in Bangladesh
Primary Advisor: Professor Joyce Rothschild

Sabithulla Khan khanpgg@vt.edu
Philanthropy, Civil Society, Muslim Societies in the U.S and Middle East, Inter-faith Work and Civic Engagement
Primary Advisor: Professor Joyce Rothschild

Gregory Kruczek kruczek1@vt.edu
Lebanon/Syria; Lebanese Civil War; Nationalism studies, Modern Levantine History
Primary Advisors: Dr. Ariel Ahram and Professor Joel Peters

Sarah Lyon-Hill sarahlh@vt.edu
Community Cultural Development, Critical Social Theory, New Institutionalism
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Adis Maksic adismax@vt.edu
Mobilizing for Ethnic Violence? Ethno-national Political Parties and the Dynamics of Ethno-politicization
Primary Advisor: Professor Gerard Toal

Sulayman Njie sauln@vt.edu
Dissertation:  Where Market Meets Community: An Economic and Gender Study of Microfinance in The Gambia
Primary Advisor: Professor Joyce Rothschild

Emily Howard Ray Emily.Ray@sonoma.edu
Environmental political theory and environmental politics, with particular interest in land-use conflicts, social movements, and feminist theory
Primary Advisory: Professor Tim Luke

William Bryan Riddle briddle@lmi.org
The Essence of Desperation:  Accounting for Counterinsurgency Doctrines as Solutions to Warfighting Failures in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan
Primary Advisor: Professor Gerard Toal

Hamza Safouane hsafouan@vt.edu
Migration and Migratory Journey Narratives, Apparatus of Capture of Mobility in the EU and Tactics of Escape
Primary Advisor: Professor Tim Luke

Nicole Sanderlin npsander@vt.edu
Internationalization of Higher Education, Faculty Engagement, and Strategic Planning
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson

Adriana Seagle aseagle@vt.edu
The English School, Sub-global Regional Int’l Societies, Intelligence Practices w/in Military Alliances, European Security and Foreign Policies
Primary Advisor: Dr. Ioannis Stivachtis

Sezaneh Seymour
What Factors are Associated with Multilateral Environmental Agreement Noncompliance, and Can Agreement Provisions Be Designed to Mitigate Them?
Primary Advisor: Dr. Joel Peters

Dallas Shaw dallas69@vt.edu
Harsh and Philanthropic War: US Third-Party Counterinsurgency Interventions
Primary Advisor: Dr. Ariel Ahram

Michelline Stokes MStokes@wichita.gov
Deindustrialization and Household Survival Strategies, Globalization, and Women and Work
Primary Advisors: Drs. Giselle Datz and Dale Wimberley

Sarah Surak smsurak@salisbury.edu
Dissertation: Bringing in the Garbage: Opening a critical space for vehicle disposal practices
Primary Advisor: Professor Tim Luke

Courtney Thomas courts.thomas@gmail.com
Political Economy, Food Politics, and Mass Political Violence
Primary Advisor: Professor Edward Weisband

Mark Thorum thorun1@cs.com
Dissertation: Essays in International Financial Governance
Primary Advisor: Professors Tim Luke and Charles Taylor

Bart Yavorosky bartyav@vt.edu
Interest Group Politics, Administrative Rulemaking, Public Policy, Nonprofit Leadership, Volunteer Management, and Fundraising
Primary Advisor: Professor Max Stephenson