ABD PhD Candidate

I am a PhD candidate at Northern Arizona University, currently on the job market and eager to join the academic community as a faculty member. My journey into political science began with a fascination for understanding how power really works not just in textbooks, but in the messy, complex realities of the world we live in, and realized research is the best way to better understand and explore this complexity.

My research is fundamentally concerned with how political institutions shape power, political behavior, and rights over time. I study regime dynamics as evolving systems whose structures, rules, and historical legacies influence state behavior and societal outcomes. I explore how institutions (formal and informal) constrain or enable political behavior, and how their historical trajectories continue to affect governance and accountability today.

Methodologically, I am committed to letting research questions drive methodological choices rather than the other way around. Sometimes that means diving deep into statistical analysis; other times it means conducting careful qualitative work or combining multiple approaches. That is why I equipped myself with both quantitative methods for social science and qualitative methods.

Beyond the university, I have been involved in data collection and human rights advocacy work. I founded IPEK Research Center, a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on gathering socio-political survey data from regions where information is typically restricted or difficult to access, particularly in the Middle East. Through IPEK, we are working to fill the gap for attitude survey-based data transparency and make evidence-based research possible in contexts where it has traditionally been challenging.

My human rights work has also taken me to the United Nations, where I have participated in forums addressing minority rights, business and human rights in general. These experiences have shaped my understanding of how academic research can and should inform real-world policy discussions.

In the classroom, I am energized by the opportunity to help students develop their own analytical skills and critical thinking abilities. I think that political science education and learning are spaces where students should be encouraged to develop their own voices as thinkers. I have found that some of my most rewarding moments as an educator come when students make connections I had not anticipated or challenge assumptions I had taken for granted.

When I am not immersed in research or teaching, I am probably thinking about how to make academic work more accessible and relevant to broader audiences. I am also working on perfecting my mother's recipe for the Azerbaijani rice (a project that requires as much precision and patience as any statistical model, though the results are considerably more delicious).

Get in touch

If you are interested in my work, collaborations, or simply wish to exchange ideas on political science and research, feel free to reach me at sm3853@nau.edu. I welcome conversations with scholars, practitioners, and anyone curious about the questions I explore.

Research Interests

• Comparative Politics
• International Relations
• Political Behavior
• Political Institutions and Regime Dynamics
• Human Rights
• Political Economy
• Global Governance
• Authoritarian Resilience

Teaching Interests

• International Relations/Comparative Politics
• Political Economy
• Institutions and state policy
• Methods and Research Design
• Human Rights

Regional Expertise

• Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Caucasus