People

James E. Alt

Faculty Associate (emeritus). Frank G. Thomson Professor of Government, Emeritus, Department of Government, Harvard University.

Research interests: Comparative political economy; and interaction of voters, political parties, institutions, financial markets, and fiscal policies in industrial democracies.

Personal website

1737 Cambridge Street
Room K307
Cambridge, MA 02138

james_alt@harvard.edu

p: (617) 495-2184

Pol Antràs

Executive Committee; Faculty Associate. Robert G. Ory Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Harvard University.

Research interests: Contractual frictions in international trade; global value chains, the international organization of production; and the interplay between trade, inequality, and costly redistribution.

Personal website

Littauer 207
Cambridge, MA 02138
f: (617) 495-8570

pantras@fas.harvard.edu

p: (617) 495-1236

David R. Armitage

Executive Committee; Steering Committee; Faculty Associate. Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History, Department of History, Harvard University.

Research interests: History of international law and international relations theory; colonialism and political theory; oceanic history; civil war; and treaties.

Personal Website

Robinson Hall 215
Cambridge, MA 02138

armitage@fas.harvard.edu

p: (617) 495-8076

Ali Asani

Chair, Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs. Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, Harvard University.

Research interests: South Asian and African languages and literatures; Islam and contemporary Muslim societies; religion, literature, and the arts in Muslim cultures; Muslim voices in contemporary world literatures; Islamic mysticism (Sufism); and Ismaili history and thought.

Marino Auffant

Graduate Student Associate; Weatherhead Center Dissertation Fellow. PhD Candidate, Department of History, Harvard University.

Research interests: International history; 1970s energy crisis; oil and commodities; Middle East; Latin America; history of capitalism; and Global Cold War.

Personal website

1737 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

mauffant@g.harvard.edu

Elena Ayala-Hurtado

Graduate Student Affiliate; Graduate Research Fellow, Weatherhead Research Cluster on Comparative Inequality and Inclusion. PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology, Harvard University.

Research interests: Employment precarity; tertiary education; young adulthood; imagined futures; narratives; cultural sociology; modern Spain; and comparative research.

1737 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

eayalahurtado@g.harvard.edu

Keita Azuma

Associate, Program on U.S.-Japan Relations. Cabinet Official, Cabinet Secretariat, Japan.

Research interests: Crisis management; global governance; national security; gray-zone conflicts; and decision making.

61 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Sai Balakrishnan

Faculty Associate. Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Research interests: Institutions for managing rapid urbanization; comparative land-use planning and property rights; and social justice and the city.

Personal website

48 Quincy Street
Gund Hall
Cambridge, MA 02138

sbalakrishnan@gsd.harvard.edu

p: (617) 496-4687

Pablo Balan

Graduate Student Associate. PhD Candidate, Department of Government, Harvard University.

Research interests: Political economy of development; state capacity; social norms; kinship systems; Africa; and Latin America.

Personal website

1737 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

pbalan@g.harvard.edu

Sarah Banse

Events Manager.

1737 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

sarahbanse@wcfia.harvard.edu

p: (617) 495-9006

Jessica Barnard

Administrator, Weatherhead Research Cluster on Global Transformations (WIGH) and Weatherhead Research Cluster on Challenges to Democracy.

1727 Cambridge Street
Room E211
Cambridge, MA 02138

jbarnard@wcfia.harvard.edu

p: (617) 495-8923

Robert J. Barro

Faculty Associate. Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Harvard University.

Research interests: The interplay between religion and political economy; and the impact of rare disasters on asset markets and macroeconomic activity.

Personal website

Littauer 218
Cambridge, MA 02138

rbarro@harvard.edu

p: (617) 495-3203

Clara Bates

Undergraduate Associate; Simmons Family Research Fellow. Committee on Degrees in Social Studies, Harvard College.

Research interests: Soviet history; race and ethnicity; modern Russia; historical memory; Black internationalism; and history of socialist thought.

clarabates@college.harvard.edu

Robert H. Bates

Faculty Associate (emeritus). Eaton Research Professor of the Science of Government, Emeritus, Department of Government; Professor of African and African American Studies, Emeritus, Department of African and African American Studies, Harvard University.

Research interests: Political economy of development, particularly in Africa; and violence and state failure.

Personal website

1737 Cambridge Street,
Cambridge, MA 02138
f: (617) 495-8292

robert.bates.harvard.edu@gmail.com

p: (617) 496-0919