Placement History

The Politics Department has a strong record of placing its Ph.D. students in jobs. UCSC Politics Ph.D.'s have taken positions in political science and other disciplines. They work in major research-focused institutions and in teaching-focused liberal arts colleges alike. Please note that the following list is not comprehensive.

Natali Levin Schwartz
Ph.D. 2023
Director of Impact and Policy Research, Alliance for Middle East Peace-ALLMEP

Ingy Higazy
Ph.D. 2023
Freelance, Writer/Editor

Sarah Cheikhali
Ph.D. 2023
Political Science Lecturer/Researcher

Trina Barton
Ph.D. 2022
Staff, Santa Cruz County 3rd District Supervisor-Justin Cummings

David Amaral
Ph.D. 2022
Program Analyst, All Home

Paige Lancourt
Ph.D. 2022
Visitng Assistant Professor, University of Puget Sound in Tacoma

Jeff Sherman
Ph.D. 2022
Adjunct Professor, IONA University & Farmingdale State College

Randy Villegas
Ph.D. 2022
Associate Professor, College of the Sequoias

Dominique De Wit
Ph.D. 2020
Director of Business Development, GridX

Scott Newsome
Ph.D. 2020
Lecturer, UCSC / Santa Cruz City Council, District 4

Martín Ordoñez
Ph.D. 2019
Assistant Professor/Universidad de Santiago de Chile

Juan Diego Prieto
Ph.D. 2019
Assistant Professor, SUNY Cortland

Jess Whatcott
Ph.D. 2019
Assistant Professor, San Diego State University

Alena Wolflink
Ph.D. 2019
Assistant Professor, University of Denver

Andrew Wood
Ph.D. 2018
Faculty Instructor, De Anza College

Michael Wilson
Ph.D. 2018
Visiting Professor, Swarthmore College

Aaron Augsburger
Ph.D. 2018
Assistant Professor, University of South Florida

Steven Araujo
Ph.D. 2017
President, Alberto's Churros

James Beneda
Ph.D. 2017
Defense Personnel and Security Research Center

Katherine Blakeley
Ph.D. 2017
Director, Strategy and Analysis at Boeing

Sam Cook
Ph.D. 2017
Editor, Cambridge Proofreading

Abdullah Wais Hassan
Ph.D. 2017
Assistant Professor, Pierce College

Sandra Harvey
Ph.D. 2017
Assistant Professor, UC Irvine

Gabriel Filartiga
Ph.D. 2017
Funding Manager, Brazilian Development Bank

Logan Puck
Ph.D. 2017
Visiting Assistant Professor, Gerorge Washington University

Maxim Tabachnik
Ph.D. 2017
Citizenship Expert, European Union

Eric Crosbie
Ph.D. 2016
Associate Professor, University of Nevada, Reno

Omid Mohamadi
Ph.D. 2016
Educator, California Nurses Association

Eric Snickars
Ph.D. 2015
Lecturer, UC Santa Cruz

Anaïs Miodek Bowring
Ph.D. 2015
Research Director, State Matters

Jasmine Syedullah
Ph.D. 2014
Assistant Professor, Vassar College

Charles Olney
Ph.D. 2014
Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley

Sarah Mak
Ph.D. 2013
Admissions and Access Specialist, London School of Economics and Political Science

Shawn Nichols
Ph.D. 2013
Lecturer, UC Santa Cruz

Sarah Romano
Ph.D. 2012
Associate Professor, Lesley University

Lavar Pope
Ph.D. 2012
Clinical Associate Professor, Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago

Theresa Enright
Ph.D. 2012
Associate Professor, University of Toronto

Alexander Keller Hirsch
Ph.D. 2012
Associate Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Sandra Alvarez
Ph.D. 2012
Assistant Professor, Chapman University

Corina McKendry
Ph.D. 2011
Associate Professor, Colorado College

Sara Benson
Ph.D. 2011
Assistant Professor, San Jose State University 

Rebecca Hester
Ph.D. 2009
Associate Professor, Virginia Tech

James Rowe
Ph.D. 2009
Associate Professor, University of Victoria, British Columbia

Paul Viotti
Ph.D. 2008
Associate Professor, California State University, Chico

Heather Turcotte
Ph.D. 2008
Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Kea Gorden
Ph.D. 2008
Senior Associate Director, University of Chicago

Pascha Bueno Hansen
Ph.D. 2008
Associate Professor, University of Delaware

Irma Sandoval
Ph.D. 2006
National Autonomous University of Mexico