Burcu Pinar AlakocBurcu Pinar Alakoc is Associate Instructional Professor in the Committee on International Relations. She received her PhD in Political Science from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2014 specializing in International Relations and Comparative Politics. During the 2020-21 Academic Year, she was a Visiting Fellow at the Chicago Project on Security and Threats (CPOST) at the University of Chicago. Prior to joining CIR, Dr. Alakoc was an Associate Professor at Webster University in St. Louis. Her research interests are in the areas of international security, terrorism and migration studies. Her previous work on terrorism examines the relative effectiveness of different types of perpetrators of terrorist attacks, tactical effectiveness of suicide terrorism as a form of political violence, and whether the gender of a suicide bomber makes a difference in terms of lethality. Her research on migration examines how political discourse shapes attitudes toward refugees, and the relationship between threat perceptions and attitudes about refugee integration and citizenship. This work has appeared in Comparative Politics, Terrorism and Political Violence, International Journal of Conflict and Violence, Journal of Political Science Education, and Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. Currently she has several research projects underway. The first of these examines the effectiveness of violent and nonviolent counterterrorism strategies in reducing the threat of terrorism; the second is a comparative study of NGOs that prioritize the role of women and incorporate their efforts in the fight against radicalization and violent extremism; and the third is an experimental study about the effects of different types of perspective taking exercises on attitude formation. In CIR, Dr. Alakoc offers the core seminar on International Security and Order, as well as additional courses such as Political Violence and Terrorism and Politics of the Middle East. Dr. Alakoc holds a BA in International Relations from Bilkent University, an MA in Communication Studies from the University of Kansas, and an MA in Political Science from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her office is located in Pick Hall 115. For more information, please visit her website. |
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Manuel CabalManuel Cabal received a PhD in Political Science from the University of Chicago in 2021 and is currently MA Teaching Fellow in the Social Sciences Division. He specializes in comparative politics with a regional focus on Latin America and a mixed-methods approach. His research interests are in state-building, the political economy of development, and political regimes. His current research asks why dictators provide public services that foster economic development, despite the absence of democratic accountability, and how social policies contribute to power consolidation even when they are unpopular and face social resistance. His work also studies the geography of state capacity and the long-term persistence of policy institutions through the case of Mexico’s post-revolutionary education system. Manuel has experience teaching research methods in the social sciences and introductory courses in political science. In the 2021-2022 academic year, he will offer graduate courses on comparative state-building, Latin American political development, and the politics of authoritarian rule. His office is located in Pick Hall 116. Please visit Dr. Cabal’s website for more information on his research and teaching, and to sign up for office hours.
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Linnea TurcoLinnea Turco is Assistant Instructional Professor in the Committee on International Relations. She received her PhD in Political Science from the Ohio State University in 2021 where she specialized in international relations and political methodology. She holds a BA in International Affairs from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University (2014). Dr. Turco's research is broadly motivated by an interest in international morality and a desire to understand how moral discourse shapes international politics. Her work uses text-as-data methods to investigate states' preferences and moral commitments vis-a-vis issues such as nuclear weapons and climate change. Dr. Turco is the primary instructor of the Global Governance, Rights and Norms core seminar in CIR. She also offers an elective course on international ethics and normative approaches to global politics. In her spare time, she enjoys playing tennis. Dr. Turco's office is located in Pick Hall 117. For more information, please visit her website. |
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