Undergraduate Program

CONCENTRATION ADVISERS IN GOVERNMENT

2011-2012

ADAMS: Michael Nitsch is an eighth-year Ph.D. student in the Government Department. His dissertation uses the history of political thought to explore the role for considerations of character in electing political officials.  Michael is originally from just outside New York City, and he attended Harvard College, where he was a Government concentrator and a photographer for the Crimson. He'd love to talk with you about the department, and if he's not around CGIS, you have a good chance of finding him in Adams House, where he serves as a resident tutor.

Office Hours in Adams House:  Thursdays 11:30am-1:30pm, Adams Dining Hall

CABOT: Brandon Van Dyck is a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Government Department. His dissertation examines the roots of party success and failure in late twentieth-century Latin America. Prior to the Ph.D., he worked in moral and political philosophy as an undergraduate and M.Phil. student. He currently serves as resident tutor in Cabot House.

Office Hours in Cabot House:  By appointment only

CURRIER: Shelby Grossman is a third year graduate student in the Department of Government and an associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.  Her research interests include the political economy of West Africa, focusing on foreign trading networks in Nigeria.  Prior to graduate school, Shelby worked with human rights organizations in Liberia and Nigeria, and a foundation in New York. Shelby enjoys tennis, running, and West African hip hop.

Office Hours in Currier House: Tuesdays 4:45-6:45pm, Currier Dining Hall

DUNSTER: Molly Roberts is a third-year PhD student in the Government Department.  She grew up in Washington State and went to undergrad at Stanford where she studied International Relations and Economics.  Before starting the Government doctoral program here at Harvard, she spent an extra year at Stanford getting a masters in Statistics.  During her time at Stanford, she learned to speak Mandarin and taught and lived in China and Vietnam.  Her general interests in Government are political methodology, Chinese politics, and international political economy.  She currently is a resident tutor at Dunster House.

Office Hours in Dunster House:  Mondays, 7:30-9:30pm, Dunster Dining Hall

ELIOT: Michael Hankinson is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Joint Program in Government and Social Policy between GSAS and the Kennedy School. His primary research interests include the nexus of public policy and spatial segregation. A graduate of the University of Virginia, Michael has written extensively on housing and land-use policy, specifically eminent domain, exclusionary zoning, mortgage insurance discrimination, and subprime lending. Currently, he is working on explaining and modeling patterns of gentrification within Boston, Massachusetts. Away from the books, Michael enjoys rowing, cooking, CrossFit, and mastering Scriabin etudes.

Office Hours in Eliot House:

KIRKLAND: Brett Carter is a fifth year graduate student in the Department of Government and an associate at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science and Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. His primary research interests concern the application of formal and quantitative methods to autocratic politics, political violence, and economic growth. Prior to graduate school, Brett was a Fulbright scholar in Senegal, taught at the University of Malawi, worked for a humanitarian NGO in northern Ethiopia, and consulted for USAID in Washington, Mali, and Congo (Kinshasa). When not in Cambridge or various African countries, Brett can usually be found hiking. Note: Brett will be on leave for AY 2011-12; interim advising for Kirkland Government Concentrators will be through the Government Undergraduate Program Office.

LEVERETT: Oliver Bevan is a fifth-year Ph.D Candidate in the Department of Government. Having completed an undergraduate degree in the UK in philosophy and politics, his substantive research interests focus on state-building in post-crisis periods, with a comparative focus on post-Imperial and post-Soviet Russia. He is a Graduate Student Associate of the Davis Center and has a strange fascination with hyphens. He is especially interested in factors influencing decision-making in times of extreme uncertainty and improving the tools for making causal inferences in comparative politics. In his spare time, he plays rugby and soccer (badly), the guitar (worse), and speaks Russian. He lives in the penthouse suite in Leverett.

Office Hours in Leverett House: Tuesdays 5-7pm, Leverett Dining Hall, and by appointment.

LOWELL: Jonathan Bruno is a JD/PhD student in the Government Department, currently completing his 2L year at the law school. His research concerns the ethics of blame and reconciliation in public life, and he maintains broad interests in political theory and the history of political thought. At Lowell House, Jonathan is a second-year resident tutor and the Government Concentration Adviser. He looks forward to meeting you at his office hours or around the House this year!

Office Hours in Lowell House Dining Hall: 

• Wednesday, April 4, 8-10pm
• Tuesday, April 10, 8-10pm
• Wednesday, April 18, 8-10pm
• Wednesday, April 25, 8-10pm
• Wednesday, May 2, 8-10pm
• Wednesday, May 9, 8-10pm

MATHER: Graham Clure is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department and a resident tutor at Mather.  He studies the history of political thought, particularly eighteenth-century French, British, and Swiss political economy. 

Office Hours in Mather House:

PFORZHEIMER: Gabriel Katsh is a fourth-year graduate student in the Government Department and a resident tutor in Government and fellowships at Pforzheimer House. His primary research interests are in political theory, American politics, and law. He is a 2004 graduate of the Social Studies program at Harvard College and has worked on several political campaigns and for the federal government. Please stop by Gabe's office hours in the Pfoho House Office!

Office Hours in Pforzheimer House: Tuesdays, 2-4pm, Pforzheimer House Office

QUINCY: Bradley Hinshelwood is a third-year JD/PhD student in the Department and Harvard Law School.  He grew up in Shawsville, Virginia, and graduated from Harvard College in 2009, where he worked on The Crimson and taught civics to middle schoolers.  Brad studies the history of political philosophy, especially early-modern English thought.  He also serves as a resident tutor in Quincy House.

Office Hours in Quincy House:  Wednesdays, 1-3pm, Office #7 (in the hall between the building manager and the JCR)

WINTHROP: Raul Campillo is a first-year law student at Harvard Law School.  He grew up in San Diego, California, and graduated from Harvard College in 2009, concentrating in Government and writing a thesis on political advertising.  Since 2009, Raul has served as a Teach For America corps member in the Las Vegas Valley.  He currently serves as Resident Tutor in Winthrop House.

Office Hours in Winthrop House: Mondays 3-5pm, Winthrop Dining Hall.