MAIS Core Faculty Members

Deepa Badrinarayana, L.L.M., S.J.D.
Associate Professor of Law
Professor Badrinarayana’s areas of expertise include environmental law, public health law, international trade, and corporate social responsibility. She has served as a consultant with the United Nations Global Compact and on India-World Bank environmental projects.

Mauricio Benitez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Dr. Benitez specializes in comparative politics, with emphasis on public policy, territorial politics, political parties, and research methods. He has carried out extensive fieldwork in Mexico interviewing key political figures.

Victoria Carty, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology
Dr. Carty focuses on transnational social movements and role of the internet in social mobilization. Her research has explored cross-border union organizing and anti-sweatshop movements in Latin America.

Lynn Horton, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology
Dr. Horton’s research has emphasized social movements, environmentalism, and women’s rights in Central America. She has worked for NGOs in Washington D.C. and Latin America on issues of human rights and sustainable development.

Nubar Hovsepian, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Political Science
Dr. Hovsepian’s research has explored Middle East politics, globalization, and democratization. His extensive professional experience includes journalism and service with the United Nations Conference on the Question of Palestine

Angeliki Kanavou, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Dr. Kanavou’s areas of interest include peace and conflict, negotiations, security studies, and international relations theory. She has recently conducted fieldwork in Cambodia exploring the legacies of genocide.

Laura R. Loustau, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Spanish
Dr. Loustau’s expertise includes Latin American literatures written in the United States as well as U.S. Latino/a literatures. Her research explores notions of border, de(re)territorialization, nomadism, and transculturation.

Crystal Murphy, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Dr. Murphy's research focuses on conflict and post-conflict development, political economy and sustainability topics, and promotes qualitative methods for policy oriented scholarship. She has recently worked in the Sudan exploring micro-credit programs in post-war societies.

Raymond Sfeir Ph.D.
Professor of Economics and Management Science
Dr. Sfeir’s areas of expertise include microeconomics, applied econometrics, statistics, and forecasting. His research explores operations research, capital asset pricing, and manufacturing sector performance.

Pilar Valenzuela, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Spanish
Dr. Valenzuela’s research focuses on Latin America, indigenous languages, and intercultural bilingual education. With funding from the National Science Foundation, she has documented endangered indigenous languages in the Amazon.

Donald Will, Ph.D.
Professor of Political Science
Dr. Will’s research emphasis includes peace and conflict, comparative politics, and southern Africa. He has worked as a non-governmental observer at the United Nations and conducted courses and fieldwork in South Africa.

Tekle Woldemikael Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Dr. Woldemikael’s areas of expertise include immigrants and refugees, racial identity, ethnicity and nationalism, language and public policy. His recent research has focused on the formation of Eritrean nationalist movements and religion.