My fields of study are Comparative Politics, International Relations and Research Methods.

My dissertation lies within the realm of international and comparative political economy of development. The project investigates existing institutional arrangements (center-local relations) and internationalization (local-global relations) to understand marketization and regulatory change across industrial sectors in China. I compare Chinese state control of foreign direct investment, which varies across industries, to the newly industrializing countries of East Asia's relationship with foreign capital during a similar stage of development and the role of the state in eshewing global forces among the early and late developers.

My other research interests include applying IR Theory to assess how interests, ideas and existing political and economics arrangements shape the relationship between major and minor powers to determine a state's relative position in the international system.

When not pursuing academics, I can be found traveling to exotic places around the world, browsing book stores, writing poetry and cooking up gourmet cuisine to satisfy my culinary curiosity.