Office Hours

​During the fall 2026 semester, my walk-in office hours are Mondays 2:00-5:00pm in room #890 in the McCourt School building. Any Georgetown student can drop in during this time block. You do not need to make an appointment.
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I Advise UndergradUate Honors Theses

  • If you are writing an honors thesis in the Department of Government, you can ask me to serve as your advisor. Please email me before the end of September of your senior year. I normally advise no more than 1-2 honors thesis students per academic year, and give preference to those who have taken a class with me. If I can't serve as your advisor, I will help you find another professor who would be a good fit for your project. Also, I am available to serve as the "second reader" for additional theses. The second reader provides some guidance when necessary, attends the defense, and helps determine the final grade. 

I advise PhD Students, but you must be admitted first

  • You do not need to contact me or any Georgetown professor before applying to the Department of Government PhD program. Unlike some academic fields, we do not have an admissions system in which individual advisors choose to accept students who will work with them. We have a single department-wide PhD admissions committee that reads all the applications and makes decisions. Contacting faculty in advance does not affect your admission probability in most political science departments, including Georgetown.
  • I am available to advise PhD students and serve on dissertation committees. I can serve as the primary dissertation advisor (in other words, the dissertation committee chair) for dissertations focusing on some aspect of public opinion, survey research, the mass media or elections. And I can serve as a dissertation committee member for students working in any area of American or comparative politics. Decisions about each student's dissertation committee membership are not made when they start the program. PhD students normally come to an agreement with faculty members to serve on their dissertation committees in their second or third year of the PhD program.
  • The Government Department’s admissions page provides more information on the application process.
  • If you are applying to PhD programs in political science, for general career advice, I recommend "Advice about Graduate School, Finding a Job, Reaching Tenure in Political Science and other Social Sciences, and All of the Steps in Between" by the late Thomas M. Carsey, formerly a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill.

I Do Not Advise MPP Theses

  • The McCourt School has certain professors who advise theses in the Master of Public Policy (MPP) program. If you are writing a thesis, you enroll in the MPP thesis as a class in your second year. That instructor is your thesis advisor. As I do not teach that class, I cannot serve as your MPP thesis advisor. However, if you visit me during my office hours, I am happy to discuss your thesis plans and progress if your thesis topic overlaps with my areas of expertise.

I do not hire High School Students

  • I'm sorry. But as a policy, I do not hire high school students or undergraduates from other universities as research assistants. For a variety of reasons, when I need research assistants, I hire Georgetown students.
  • I also don't meet individually with prospective Georgetown undergraduate applicants unless it is arranged through the Office of Admissions. The volume of requests is sadly too high. If you are an applicant, I wish you the best of luck and encourage you to contact Admissions.