SAIS Summer Programs | Faculty
Leila Austin, Ph.D., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in Global Theory and History and Middle East Studies, currently serves as the director of "Cultural Conversations" of the Foreign Policy Institute at SAIS. Has previously taught at American University - School of International Service, Columbia University–SIPA and Bryn Mawr College. Frequent consultant to Freedom House and Voice of America. Research interests include political economic policy in the Middle East and Latin America, history and politics of Iran, and the role of literature in defining politics. Received her Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.
Peter Bottelier, M.A., Senior adviser on China to the Conference Board and visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; held various World Bank positions, including senior adviser to the vice president for East Asia, chief of the Resident Mission in Beijing, director for Latin America, director for North Africa, division chief for Mexico, resident chief economist in Jakarta and desk economist for African countries; former adviser to the Ministry of Finance of Zambia, and chief economist and marketing director of a state-owned Zambian copper company; served as a consultant to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; was a Harkness Fellow with The Commonwealth Fund and a research associate at the Brookings Institution; research associate and course work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Received his M.A., economics from University of Amsterdam.
Deborah Bleviss, B.S., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in International Policy. Consultant in sustainable energy and transportation solutions. Served as director of the Sustainable Markets for Sustainable Energy Program at the Inter-American Development Bank. Founding member of the International Institute for Energy Conservation. Author of The New Oil Crisis and Fuel Economy Technologies: Preparing the Light Transportation Industry for the 1990s. Received her B.S. in physics from University of California, Los Angeles.
Brita Caminiti-Johanson, M.S., SAIS Coordinator and Lecturer in the Italian Program. Has taught Intermediate and Advanced Intermediate Italian at SAIS since 2001; former lecturer at Tufts University and teaching assistant at Harvard University; awarded Outstanding Teaching Award at Harvard; former instructor at Dante Alighieri Society; primary interests are comparative literature and second language acquisition. Received her M.A. in Italian language from the Johns Hopkins University.
Li-Chuang Chi, M.S., SAIS Coordinator and Professorial Lecturer in the Chinese Program. Taught Mandarin Chinese at all levels in a number of leading American universities, including Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and The Johns Hopkins University. Author of SAIS Advanced Chinese Readers in International Affairs and Chinese Odyssey: Innovative Language Courseware. Received her M.S. in education from The Johns Hopkins University.
Marc Cohen, Ph.D., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in International Development. Senior Researcher on Humanitarian Policy and Climate Change at Oxfam America. Co-editor of and contributor to The Global Food Crisis: Governance Challenges and Opportunities (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2009) and co-author of "Conflict, Food Insecurity and Globalization" in Food, Culture and Society. Received his Ph.D. in political science from University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Kevin Croke, Ph.D., candidate in the International Development program at SAIS. His dissertation, "Child Survival and Health System Strengthening in Tanzania and Uganda, 1996-2009," is based on fieldwork conducted in Tanzania and Uganda in 2009 and 2010. He has been a consultant to PEPFAR, Management Sciences for Health, Results for Development, and most recently for an East African NGO called Twaweza. At Twaweza he worked on developing and implementing household surveys focused on public sector service delivery in Tanzania. In 2008 and 2009 he taught Comparative National Systems for the SAIS summer program. At SAIS Kevin co-teaches Introduction to Development (for non-IDEV Concentrators) with Melissa Thomas. Received his MA from SAIS in 2005.
Catharin Dalpino, M.A., Professorial lecturer, U.S. Army War College; former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State; former Career Officer, Asia Foundation; former Resident Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; former Policy Analyst, World Bank. has taught comparative Asian politics at SAIS, Georgetown University, and George Washington University. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and authored numerous books on U.S. policy in Southeast Asia. M.A, University of California at Berkeley.
John Davies, Ph.D., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in Conflict Management. Senior research associate with the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at University of Maryland. Has mediated between conflicting parties in more than 25 countries and has held research and teaching positions at Harvard University, University of New England and Murdoch University in Australia. Areas of expertise include conflict management, conflict and crisis prevention, and democratization and development. Co-author of Second Track/Citizens' Diplomacy: Concepts and Techniques for Conflict Transformation and Preventive Measures: Building Risk Assessment and Crisis Early Warning Systems. Received his Ph.D. in political psychology from Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa.
Marius Deeb, Ph.D., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in Middle East Studies. Taught at American University of Beirut, Georgetown University and George Washington University. Served as a senior associate member of St. Anthony's College at Oxford University. Frequent broadcast and print media commentator. Author of Syria's Terrorist War on Lebanon and the Peace Process and Militant Islamic Movements in Lebanon: Origins, Social Basis and Ideology. Received his Ph.D. in politics from Oxford University.
Mohamed Derbi, M.A., SAIS Coordinator and Professorial Lecturer in the Arabic Program. Taught at the Foreign Service Institute School of Language Studies and at American University. Served as an analyst and translator for the Department of Public Affairs at the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, research assistant in the economics department at Colorado State University and program administrator for the Center for Arabic Language Abroad. Received his M.A. in economics and econometrics from University of Colorado.
Mohamad Esmaili, M.A., SAIS Coordinator and Professorial Lecturer in the Persian Program. Taught Persian and Spanish since 1998 at Georgetown University, Middlebury College, Catholic University, University of California's Multilingual Solutions, the Middle East Institute, Diplomatic Language Services and most recently at the University of Maryland's Roshan Center for Persian Studies; worked as a Persian linguistics informant at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Received the Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching at Catholic University in 2005; his M.S. in Spanish linguistics from Georgetown University, and M.A. in Spanish literature from Middlebury College.
Scott Featherston, M.Eng.Sc., M.I.S., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in International Economics. Investment officer with the International Finance Corporation he previously served as a consultant at the World Bank and FINCA International and as director of global corporate finance at Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen. Research interests include economic development, international history, and U.S. and Australian politics. Author of "Foreign Exchange Rate Risk in Microfinance: What Is It and How Can It Be Managed?" in Consultative Group to Assist the Poor's Focus Notes. Received his M.Eng.Sc. from University of Melbourne and his M.I.S. in international studies from University of Sydney.
David Fowkes, M.A., SAIS Instructor in International Development. Pursuing a Ph.D. in African Studies at SAIS. Previously worked in the Economic Policy division of the South African National Treasury. Served as an intern for USAID Southern Africa Global Competitiveness Hub in Botswana. Received his M.A. in international relations from SAIS.
John Karaagac, Ph.D., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in American Foreign Policy. Teaches international relations at Indiana University. Research interests include American foreign policy and politics in relation to the more traditional wing of international relations theory. Author of four books addressing the intersection of American politics, the presidency and foreign policy, including The Bush Paradox: A Study in Contemporary Politics. Received his Ph.D. in international relations from SAIS.
Alexandra Khlebnikova, M.A., SAIS Coordinator and Professorial Lecturer in the Russian Program. Taught at the University of Maryland, The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Received her M.A. in teaching French and English Languages from Azerbaijan Institute of Foreign Languages.
Bo Kong, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor of the Energy, Resources, and Environment (ERE) program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and he directs the ERE's research on East Asia. Until recently, he was director of the Schools' Global Energy and Environment Initiative (GEEI). Prior to GEEI, he served a number of positions in the analytical community, including Energy and Mining Associate at Ayrlie Partners, Chief Energy Economist for ChinaStakes.com, Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD) in South Africa, Research Fellow at the Center for Global Security of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Research Associate at the Shanghai WTO Affairs Consultation Center. Received his Ph.D. in China studies and international energy policy from SAIS.
Jaime Marquez, Ph.D., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in International Economics. Senior economist in the International Financial Transactions Section of the Federal Reserve's Division of International Finance. Managing editor of the Springer Series on Advanced Studies in Theoretical and Applied Econometrics. Served as a professorial lecturer at Georgetown University and University of Maryland. Received his Ph.D. in economics from University of Pennsylvania.
Matthias Matthijs, Ph.D., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in International Economics. Assistant Professor in International Politics and International Economic Relations at American University's School of International Service in Washington, DC. Served as a consultant to the Foreign Investment Advisory Service of the World Bank, focusing on private sector development, industry value chain analysis, and investment climate issues. Also served as a lecturer in economics at the University of Maryland at Baltimore County. Author of Ideas and Economic Crises in Britain from Attlee to Blair (1945-2005). Received his Ph.D. in international relations from SAIS.
Mihriye Mete, Ph.D., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in International Economics. Is currently a Consultant at The World Bank as well as working as a Senior Statistician at Medstar Research Institute. She has also served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Georgetown University, and as a Assistant Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University, The University of Georgia, and at State University of New York, Stony Brook. Received both her M.S. and Ph.D. from State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Karim Mezran, Ph.D., SAIS Professorial Lecturer. Assistant professor of political science, John Cabot University, Rome; visiting professor, Libera Università per gli Studi Sociali (LUISS) Rome (2002); Ph.D. in international relations, SAIS; J.D. in comparative law University of Rome "La Sapienza" (Italy); L.L.M. in Comparative Law from George Washington University (U.S.); M.A. in Arab Studies from Georgetown University (U.S.); B.A. in management, Hiram College (U.S.)
Marvin Ott, Ph.D., SAIS Adjunct Professor and Visiting Research Scholar. Until recently Marvin C. Ott was Professor of National Security Policy, National War College and Faculty Fellow at the Institute for National and Strategic Studies, National Defense University. Dr. Ott held a number of professional positions before coming to the National War College. He was associate professor at Mount Holyoke College, senior manager at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and American University, senior East Asia analyst at the CIA, consultant on Japan to the National Academy of Sciences, chairperson for Southeast Asia at the Foreign Service Institute (State Department), senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and most recently as Deputy Staff Director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He has lived and traveled widely in Asia and served as a civilian in Vietnam (Deputy Province Representative in Darlac Province) during the war. He is the author of more than one hundred chapters, articles, monographs and op eds on international affairs, primarily covering East Asian, intelligence, and technology assessment related topics. Received his Ph.D. from SAIS.
Eliza Patterson, J.D., SAIS Adjunct Professor has worked on international economic law and policy for over twenty years. After graduation from school she entered private practice where she represented foreign corporations seeking to trade with and invest in the United States. She entered government service to work for the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agriculture Service, representing the Department in the inter-agency trade policy formation process and helping to negotiate agreements with the EU and Japan. She worked at the International Trade Commission as the special assistant to the Chairman and the Deputy Director of the Office of International Liaison. She has also been a resident scholar at the WTO in Geneva, the Washington Representative for international trade policy for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and an adjunct professor at several universities and law schools. Received her J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Camille Pecastaing, Ph.D., SAIS Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies. Works on the cognitive and emotive foundations of xenophobic political cultures and ethnoreligious violence, using the Muslim world and its European and Asian peripheries as a case study. Areas of expertise include historical sociology, evolutionary social psychology and political economy. Author of "Immigration, Civic Culture & Liberal Order" in The American Interest. Received his Ph.D. in international relations from SAIS.
Raul Roman, Ph.D., SAIS Adjunct Professor of International Development. Raul is the co-founder of UBELONG, an innovative social venture that makes international volunteer service accessible to people of all backgrounds. Through his work at UBELONG, Raul helps empower hundreds of people to get involved in international development work in a broad range of practice areas across the developing world. For almost 15 years, Raul served as a research and strategy consultant to major corporations, governments, top international organizations, grassroots nonprofits and universities on projects in more than 20 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America, mostly focusing on agriculture and rural development, governance and telecommunications. He is a specialist in research methods and evaluation approaches in developing country contexts. Received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Communication and International Development from Cornell University.
Neil K. Shenai, SAIS Professorial Lecturer in the International Economics Program. Neil served as a fixed income trader for Citigroup Global Markets and worked in the energy investment banking practice of Morgan Stanley. His work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Huffington Post, and The Foreign Policy Digest. Neil has served as a guest on BBC World Service Radio and BBC TV discussing issues in the global economy. He is currently working on his doctoral dissertation on the political economy of financial crises.
Wendy Takacs, Ph.D., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in International Economics. Professor of economics at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Served as co-director of the joint U.N. Development Programme-World Bank Trade Expansion Program and worked on international economic issues at the Federal Reserve and the IMF. Former president of the International Trade and Finance Association. Areas of expertise include the world trading system, analysis of non-tariff trade barriers and trade policy reform in developing and transitional economies. Received her Ph.D. in economics from The Johns Hopkins University.
Peter Veit, M.S., SAIS Professorial Lecturer in International Development. Senior Fellow and Regional Director for Africa in the Institutions and Governance Program at World Resources Institute. Taught at University of California, Santa Cruz and Davis campuses. Served as a Fulbright Scholar in Sierra Leone. Areas of expertise include poverty reduction, environmental justice and democratic governance. Author of "Protected Areas and Property Rights: Democratizing Eminent Domain in East Africa" and "On Whose Behalf? Legislative Representation and the Environment in Africa" published by WRI; "Legal Distortions: Government Policy and the Distribution of Environmental Benefits" in South African Journal of International Affairs; and editor of Africa's Valuable Assets: A Reader in Natural Resource Management. Received his M.S. in ecology from University of California, Santa Cruz.
Ruth Wedgwood, J.D., U.S. member of the U.N. Human Rights Committee; member of the U.S. Department of State's Advisory Committee on International Law, the Defense Policy Board and the CIA Historical Review Panel; U.S. public delegate to Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Wehrkunde Munich Security Conference; founding member of Davos World Economic Forum Council on International Law; independent expert for International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; director of studies at the Hague Academy for International Law in the Netherlands, former professor at Yale Law School, visiting professor at University of Paris I (Sorbonne), Berlin Prize Fellow of the American Academy and Charles H. Stockton Professor at the U.S. Naval War College; former member of the Hart-Rudman Commission on National Security in the 21st Century, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and chief of staff to the head of the criminal division in the U.S. Department of Justice, chairing the attorney general's working group on informant and undercover investigative guidelines; served as federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York; vice president of American Society of International Law, vice president of the American branch of the International Law Association and on the board of editors for American Journal of International Law, World Policy Journal, American Interest and PRISM; vice chairman of Freedom House; served as law clerk to Judge Henry Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Justice Harry Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court and as executive editor of the Yale Law Journal; commentator for BBC, NPR and PBS. Received her J.D. from Yale University.
William Wise, M.A., SAIS Professorial Lecturer and Associate Director of the Southeast Asia Studies Program. Served as deputy national security adviser to Vice President Al Gore. Former chief of policy at the U.S. Pacific Command and deputy director for policy planning of the East Asia and Pacific Region in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Held positions in the U.S. intelligence community and in the U.S. Air Force. Areas of expertise include terrorism, security and Southeast Asia. Author of Indonesia's War on Terror and "Reforming the Intelligence Community" in Divided Diplomacy and the Next Administration: Conservative and Liberal Alternatives. Received his M.A. in American studies from University of Hawaii.
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