Max Stephenson

Max Stephenson Jr. serves as Professor of Public and International Affairs and Director of the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance (VTIPG). He has led the Institute since its creation on July 1, 2006, and it now operates in Blacksburg, Richmond and Fairfax, Virginia with a research faculty, research fellows, staff and graduate student complement of approximately 40 individuals at any one time.  While the remit of VTIPG is far-ranging, its faculty have sought foremost to provide research, capacity building and technical assistance that will support vulnerable populations both in the United States and in other nations. Stephenson’s research and teaching interests are also broad, but irrespective of their specific focus, he is ever interested in exploring questions related to human rights and individual and collective democratic agency and efficacy. Accordingly, he is a student of the dynamics of democratic social change and community development.

He is the author or editor of 15 books and nearly 100 academic articles and book chapters and, among other projects, is presently editing a volume with Bradley Stephens and Amin Farzneh entitled Imagination: Perspectives for Social Changefor Virginia Tech University Press.

He teaches courses addressing NGOs and International Development, the Arts and Social Change (with Robert Leonard of Theatre Arts), the Philosophy of Social Science and Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organization Leadership and Governance.

Areas of Expertise:

• Community Social Change and Development
• Civil Society Organizations
• Democratic Theory
• Governance