# The Harvard Academy ![The front of 1727 Cambridge Street signage and a solar flare](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_21_9__1920x825/public/academy/files/academy-mainimage2023-photo-2000x350.jpg?itok=CDYbistw) ## 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 arrow\_circle\_right ](/programs/academy_scholar) [ APPLY ONLINE arrow\_circle\_right ](https://academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/16475) ![The front entrance to Widener Library at Harvard University. A brick building with large columns and starecase.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-03/Widener-HPACStock-forweb-Stephanie%20Mitchell%3AHarvard%20University.jpg?h=894de7ed&itok=EX8pLyBI) ## Meet our Academy Scholars [### Lydia Assouad ](/people/lydia-assouad-0)Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies (spring 2026). Assistant Professor, Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science. **Research interests:** Political economy of development; social cohesion; inequality; culture and institutions; and the Middle East. **Pronouns:** she/her/hers ![Headshot of Lydia Assouad.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/assouad_lydia.jpg?itok=vFOG1UsT) [### Luis Bosshart ](/people/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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/bosshart-luis.jpeg?h=7bb4e9ef&itok=XMzMOyJE) [### Zahra Hayat ](/people/zahra-hayat-0)Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia. **Research interests:** Intellectual property; medical anthropology; law; pharmaceutical political economies; and South Asia. **Pronouns:** she/her ![Headshot of Zahra Hayat.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/hayat_zahra.jpg?itok=OvtPhMon) [### Jamie Hintson ](/people/jamie-hintson)Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. PhD, Department of Political Science, Stanford University. **Research interests:** Governance; corruption; political economy of development; public goods provision; sub-Saharan Africa; and state building. **Pronouns:** he/him/his ![Headshot of Jamie Hintson.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/hintson-jamie.jpg?h=780faf96&itok=xG_mUmvN) [### Varun K ](/people/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 India. ![Headshot of Varun K.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/kapoor-varun.jpg?h=4b2ca30e&itok=Kx-HDG83) [### Ellen Nye ](/people/ellen-nye)Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. Assistant Professor, Department of History, Purdue University. **Research interests:** Global economic history; early modern Eurasia; transimperial history of debt, money, and capitalism; cross-cultural trade; comparative political economy; and empire formation. ![Headshot of Ellen M. Nye.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/nye_ellen.jpg?h=784ade5f&itok=1Jr7ujVB) [### Zora Piskačová ](/people/zora-piskacova)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](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/piskacova-zora.jpeg?h=2846d95c&itok=b5uL8rNg) [### Bardia Rahmani ](/people/bardia-rahmani)Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. PhD, Department of Political Science, Columbia University. **Research interests:** Comparative politics; authoritarianism; media; political communication; propaganda; censorship; persuasion; regime support; public opinion; international development; social and behavior change; field experiments; meta-analysis; sub... ![Headshot of Bardia Rahmani.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/rahmani-bardia.jpg?h=928a591e&itok=ECuJT6BV) [### Fernanda Rojas-Ampuero ](/people/fernanda-rojas-ampuero)Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies (fall 2025). Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison. **Research interests:** Labor and public economics; development economics; economic history; urban economics; and Latin America. **Pronouns:** she/her/hers ![Headshot of Fernanda Rojas-Ampuero](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/rojas-ampuero-fernanda.jpg?h=842c868b&itok=bNvBeChL) [### Livio Silva-Muller ](/people/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 redistribution in global and comparative perspectives, with an emphasis on Latin America. ![Headshot of Livio Silva-Muller](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/silva-muller-livio.jpg?h=bfdadf76&itok=iHPFL8Au) [### Fumiya Uchikoshi ](/people/fumiya-uchikoshi-0)Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. PhD, Department of Sociology, Princeton University. **Research interests:** Social stratification; family demography; gender; higher education; and contemporary Japan and East Asia. **Pronouns:** he/him/his ![Headshot of Fumiya Uchikoshi.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/uchikoshi_fumiya_2_0_0_0_0_0_0.jpg?itok=a7MI7GC8) [### Katie Ulrich ](/people/katie-ulrich-0)Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. PhD, Department of Anthropology, Rice University. **Research interests:** Energy transition; green capitalism; waste to energy; sugarcane; plantations; Brazil; feminist science and technology studies (STS); energy humanities; and environmental anthropology. ![Headshot of Katie Ulrich.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/ulrich_kathleen_2_0.jpg?itok=ZDKX7Tv3) [### Edward Wiles ](/people/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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/wiles-edward.jpeg?h=6e4421c6&itok=ZfVGaN-l) arrow\_back arrow\_forward [ View All People arrow\_circle\_right ](/people) ## Meet our Senior Scholars [### David R. Armitage ](/people/david-r-armitage-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/armitage_david_1_0_0.jpg?itok=6XK7lfQI) [### Emily Breza ](/people/emily-breza-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/breza_emily.jpg?itok=gyrGnIW8) [### Melani Cammett ](/people/melani-cammett-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/cammett_melani_1.jpg?itok=ytoMseQj) [### Timothy J. Colton ](/people/timothy-j-colton-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/colton_tim.jpg?itok=x6qgUObU) [### Melissa Dell ](/people/melissa-dell-0)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](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/dell_melissa_250.jpg?itok=7Iy_6ee6) [### Sarah Dryden-Peterson ](/people/sarah-dryden-peterson-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/dryden_peterson_sarah.jpeg?itok=uP4fEyB0) [### Grzegorz Ekiert ](/people/grzegorz-ekiert-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/ekiert_grzegorz_5_0.jpg?itok=ay0-cHNj) [### Rema Hanna ](/people/rema-hanna-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/hanna_rema.jpg?h=5caece3d&itok=mfwhD0BG) [### Nicholas Harkness ](/people/nicholas-harkness-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/harkness_nicholas_1_0.jpg?itok=gbHcX5ks) [### Eliana La Ferrara ](/people/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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/la_ferrara_eliana_1_0_0_0_0_0_0.jpg?itok=Q7r-TpRl) [### Ya-Wen Lei ](/people/ya-wen-lei-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/lei_ya-wen.jpg?h=07bf8145&itok=wULMe_NA) [### Steven Levitsky ](/people/steven-levitsky-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/levitsky_steven.jpg?itok=Qr5oUoeB) [### Mary D. Lewis ](/people/mary-d-lewis-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/lewis_mary.jpg?itok=RWAFt1Pk) [### Elizabeth J. Perry ](/people/elizabeth-j-perry-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/perry_elizabeth.jpg?itok=kmj-h0kh) [### Jocelyn Viterna ](/people/jocelyn-viterna-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/viterna_jocelyn.jpg?itok=DVMYPI9u) [### Yuhua Wang ](/people/yuhua-wang-0)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](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/wang_yuhua.jpg?h=748eeeaa&itok=nTLaSVUY) [### Malika Zeghal ](/people/malika-zeghal-0)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.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/academy/files/zeghal_malika_2.jpg?itok=4ZPKflVq) arrow\_back arrow\_forward [ View All People arrow\_circle\_right ](/people) ## Recent Publications Download 3 citations download- [BibTeX](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=3&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=bibtex) - [EndNote X3 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=3&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=endnote8) - [EndNote 7 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=3&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=endnote7) - [Endnote tagged](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=3&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=tagged) - [Marc](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=3&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=marc) - [PubMedId](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=3&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=pubmed_id) - [RIS](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=3&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=ris) ### Forthcoming Shutzer, Matthew. n.d. *[Until the Last Ton: Fossil Fuels in India from Empire to the Climate Crisis](/publication/until-last-ton-fossil-fuels-india-empire-climate-crisis)*. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Shutzer, Matthew. n.d. *[Until the Last Ton: Fossil Fuels in India from Empire to the Climate Crisis](/publication/until-last-ton-fossil-fuels-india-empire-climate-crisis)*. Princeton: Princeton University Press. - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691265919/until-the-last-ton) India is today one of the world’s largest producers and consumers of fossil fuels, driving new investments in the global fossil economy and achieving record-breaking levels of coal extraction at home. As the planet burns from the climate crisis, this... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691265919/until-the-last-ton) Goyal, Tanushree. n.d. *[Representation from Below: The Grassroots Origins of Women’s Political Power in India](/publication/representation-below-grassroots-origins-womens-political-power-india)*. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Goyal, Tanushree. n.d. *[Representation from Below: The Grassroots Origins of Women’s Political Power in India](/publication/representation-below-grassroots-origins-womens-political-power-india)*. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/representation-from-below/3209C7776927716FB9B2385EC9B85A9B) After decades on the sidelines, women are now central to India's political and development agenda. *Representation from Below* traces this transformation away from the halls of power toward women's inclusion in local politics and their reordering of party... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/representation-from-below/3209C7776927716FB9B2385EC9B85A9B) ### 2025 Balakian, Sophia. 2025. *[Unsettled Families: Refugees, Humanitarianism, and the Politics of Kinship](/publications/unsettled-families-refugees-humanitarianism-and-politics-kinship)*. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Balakian, Sophia. 2025. *[Unsettled Families: Refugees, Humanitarianism, and the Politics of Kinship](/publications/unsettled-families-refugees-humanitarianism-and-politics-kinship)*. Stanford: Stanford University Press. - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=37070) **How the family unit exists simultaneously as a focus of humanitarian compassion and of securitized suspicion.** Against the backdrop of the global refugee crisis, *Unsettled Families* investigates the parameters that Global North governments and... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=37070) [ All Publications by Our Academy Scholars arrow\_circle\_right ](/publications) ## Latest News [### Academy Scholars Program: Applications for the 2026-2027 postdoctoral fellowship closed on September 19, 2025. ](/news/2025/09/academy-scholars-program-applications-2026-2027-postdoctoral-fellowship-closed) September 20, 2025 Thank you for your interest in the Academy Scholars Program. Applications for the 2026-2027 postdoctoral fellowship closed on September 19, 2025. ![Front of 1727 Cambridge Street office building with a ray of sunlight coming through the trees.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/1727Building-forweb.jpeg?h=78f74ac4&itok=N2LpQ5i0) [### The 2026-2027 Academy Scholars Program postdoctoral fellowship application season has opened! The deadline is September 19, 2025. ](/news/2025/08/2026-2027-academy-scholars-program-postdoctoral-fellowship-application-season-has) August 12, 2025 The 2026-2027 Academy Scholars Program postdoctoral fellowship application season has opened! The deadline is September 19, 2025. Read our application requirements and frequently asked questions (FAQs) for full details. ![Front of 1727 Cambridge Street office building with a ray of sunlight coming through the trees.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/1727Building-forweb.jpeg?h=78f74ac4&itok=N2LpQ5i0) [### Academy Scholars Program: Applications for the 2025 postdoctoral fellowship closed on September 20, 2024. ](/news/academy-scholars-program-applications-2025-postdoctoral-fellowship-closed-september-20) September 21, 2024 Thank you for your interest in the Academy Scholars Program. Applications for the 2025 postdoctoral fellowship closed on September 20, 2024. ![Front of 1727 Cambridge Street office building with a ray of sunlight coming through the trees.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8336/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/1727Building-forweb.jpeg?h=78f74ac4&itok=N2LpQ5i0) [ Get the Latest News arrow\_circle\_right ](/news)