The Harvard Academy

The front of 1727 Cambridge Street signage and a solar flare

Our Mission

Dedicated to promoting innovative social science hand-in-hand with deepening our shared knowledge of the experiences and practices of the world’s regions and countries.

Become an Academy Scholar

Learn about the application process to join the Academy Scholars Program. The application deadline for the 2027-2028 postdoctoral fellowship is September 18, 2026 at 11:59 PM EDT.

Application Requirements APPLY ONLINE
The front entrance to Widener Library at Harvard University. A brick building with large columns and starecase.

Meet our Academy Scholars

Luis Bosshart
Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.
PhD, Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Research interests: Political economy; development; institutional change; and Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Germany.

Headshot of Luis Bosshart.

Varun K
Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.
PhD, Department of Economics, University of Chicago.

Research interests: Labor markets; environment; economic history; inequality; and medieval and modern South Asia.

Headshot o Varun K.

Zora Piskačová
Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.
PhD, Department of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Research interests: Modern central Europe; political, economic, and transnational history; postimperial transitions; local governance; and postconflict resolution.

Headshot of Zora Piskačová.

Bardia Rahmani
Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.
PhD, Department of Political Science, Columbia University.

Research interests: Comparative politics; political behavior; authoritarianism; political communication; media; propaganda; censorship; public opinion; experiments; meta-analysis; and sub-Saharan Africa.

Headshot of Bardia Rahmani.

Livio Silva-Muller
Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies; Affiliate, Weatherhead Research Cluster on Comparative Inequality and Inclusion.
PhD in Sociology, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, The Geneva Graduate Institute.

Research interests: Decarbonization and development in global and comparative perspectives, with an emphasis on Latin America; and qualitative and computational methods.

Headshot of Livio Silva-Muller.

Edward Wiles
Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.
PhD, Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Research interests: Development economics; international trade; firms and organizations; West Africa; and India.

Headshot of Edward Wiles.
View All People

Meet our Senior Scholars

David R. Armitage
Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History, Department of History; Chair, Committee on Degrees in Social Studies, Harvard University.

Research interests: History of international law and international relations theory; colonialism and political theory; oceanic history; civil war; and treaties.

Headshot of David R. Armitage.

Emily Breza
Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Frederic E. Abbe Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Harvard University.

Research interests: Development economics, with a focus on financial markets, labor markets, and social networks.

Headshot of Emily Breza.

Melani Cammett
Center Director; Chair, Weatherhead Research Cluster on Identity Politics; Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar (on leave 2025–2026).
Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs, Department of Government, Harvard University.

Research Interests: Conflict; religion and ethnicity; development; and Middle East politics.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Headshot of Melani Cammett.

Timothy J. Colton
Chair, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies; Faculty Associate.
Morris and Anna Feldberg Professor of Government and Russian Studies, Department of Government, Harvard University.

Research interests: Political change in Russia and Eurasia; conflict and security dilemmas in the region; and comparative regionalism, with special emphasis on the subjective component.

Headshot of Timothy J. Colton.

Melissa Dell
Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Andrew E. Furer Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Harvard University.

Research interests: Development economics; and political economy.

Headshot of Melissa Dell

Sarah Dryden-Peterson
Executive Committee; Steering Committee; Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Director, REACH; Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Research interests: Comparative education; community development; education in armed conflict, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa; migration; and transnationalism.

Pronouns: she/her

Headshot of Sarah Dryden-Peterson.

Grzegorz Ekiert
Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Department of Government; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University.

Research interests: Civil society development in new democracies in Central Europe and East Asia; and patterns of transformations in the post-Communist world.

Headshot of Grzegorz Ekiert.

Rema Hanna
Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Jeffrey Cheah Professor of South-East Asia Studies, Harvard Kennedy School.

Research interests: Development and environmental economics; and discrimination influences in public-service provisions and education.

Headshot of Rema Hanna.

Nicholas Harkness
Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Modern Korean Economy and Society Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology; Director, Korea Institute, Harvard University.

Research interests: Language, music, and semiotics; urban anthropology; anthropology of religion; and South Korea.

Headshot of Nicholas Harkness.

Eliana La Ferrara
Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School.

Research interests: Development economics and political economics, particularly on the role of social factors in economic development.

Headshot of Eliana La Ferrara.

Ya-Wen Lei
Executive Committee; Steering Committee; Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Harvard University.

Research interests: Political sociology; law and society; economic sociology; sociology of media and information technologies; sociology of work, labor, and labor movements; science and technology studies; development; and China studies.

Headshot of Ya-Wen Lei.

Steven Levitsky
Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies, Department of Government; Director, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University.

Research interests: Latin American politics; parties and party systems; and democracy and democratization.

Headshot of Steven Levitsky.

Mary D. Lewis
Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Robert Walton Goelet Professor of French History, Department of History, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Harvard Law School.

Research interests: European overseas empires and their aftermaths, eighteenth century to present; modern France; French Empire in the Caribbean, South America, and North Africa; decolonization; sovereignty and legal pluralism; and international migration...

Headshot of Mary D. Lewis.

Elizabeth J. Perry
Faculty Associate (on leave 2025–2026); Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government, Department of Government, Harvard University.

Research interests: Contentious politics; the history of the Chinese revolution and its contemporary legacy; and the politics of higher education and cultural governance in China.

Headshot of Elizabeth J. Perry.

Jocelyn Viterna
Faculty Associate (on leave 2025–2026); Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology; Chair, Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University.

Research interests: Gender; reproduction; states; violence; politics; mobilization; theory; development; and Latin America.

Headshot of Jocelyn Viterna.

Yuhua Wang
Faculty Associate (on leave 2025–2026); Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Ford Foundation Professor of Modern China Studies and Harvard College Professor, Department of Government, Harvard University.

Research interests: Corruption and the rule of law; authoritarian politics; state building and state capacity; and Chinese politics.

Headshot of Yuhua Wang

Malika Zeghal
Faculty Associate (on leave 2025–2026); Harvard Academy Senior Scholar.
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor in Contemporary Islamic Thought and Life, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University.

Research interests: Islam and politics in the modern Middle East; Islamist movements and the institutionalization of Islam in the Muslim world; and Muslim diasporas in North America and western Europe.

Headshot of Malika Zeghal.
View All People

Recent Publications

Forthcoming

Goyal, Tanushree. n.d. Representation from Below: The Grassroots Origins of Women’s Political Power in India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goyal, Tanushree. n.d. Representation from Below: The Grassroots Origins of Women’s Political Power in India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2026

Shutzer, Matthew. 2026. Until the Last Ton: Fossil Fuels in India from Empire to the Climate Crisis. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Shutzer, Matthew. 2026. Until the Last Ton: Fossil Fuels in India from Empire to the Climate Crisis. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

2025

Balakian, Sophia. 2025. Unsettled Families: Refugees, Humanitarianism, and the Politics of Kinship. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Balakian, Sophia. 2025. Unsettled Families: Refugees, Humanitarianism, and the Politics of Kinship. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
All Publications by Our Academy Scholars

Latest News

Get the Latest News