I am an Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the University of British Columbia. Before joining UBC, I was a Justitia Amplificata Postdoctoral Fellow at Goethe Universität Frankfurt and Freie Universität Berlin (2017-2018) and an Assistant Professor of Political Theory and Gender at the University of Amsterdam (Tenured in December 2020).

Democratic Theory and Practice: democratic innovations; role of facilitation and games in deliberation; systemic approaches to deliberation and democracy

Structural and Historical Injustice: the ongoing practices of dispossession, oppression, exploitation, and erasure in nominally democratic countries

Gender, Race, and Disability: the effects of positional inequality on democratic practices including deliberation, representation, and social movements.

Methodology: data-sensitive political theory focused on harnessing quantitative research data as well as experiments to develop more empirically grounded democratic theories; critical political theory; realist political theory

For all publications, see my Google Scholar page.

Working Papers:

“An Experimental Approach to Deliberative Democracy and Inequality”. With Richard Foster. In Press. Book Chapter

“Deliberative Campaigns”. Revise and Resubmit. Journal Article

“On the Use of Coded Language in Democratic Politics”. With Erik Severson. Under Review. Journal Article

“When Facilitation is not Enough: The Role of Games in Deliberation”. Under Review. Journal Article

I am eager to supervise students interested in critical and realist approaches to democratic theory, especially power inequalities stemming from historical injustices, absence of children in democratic imaginaries, ongoing marginalizations based on gender, race, and ability, and settler colonialism.

Note to prospective students: I receive a great number of emails from prospective students and only respond to those who are interested in pursuing research in one of my areas of expertise.

Current graduate students:

Addye Susnick (PhD, 2019-) Trans Joy and Community Care

Keanna Brown (MA, 2024-)

Saskia Tholen (MA, 2024-)

Past graduate students: 

Teaching 2025/2026:

POLI345: Feminist Theories

POLI341: Rethinking Political Concepts: Democracy, Justice, Speech, and Citizenship

POLI448D/547B: Democratic Theory*

* Undergraduates interested in the class must contact me beforehand with a sample of writing and their transcript.