Staff of the Chicago Center on Democracy

Susan Stokes

Faculty Chair

Dr. Susan Stokes is the Faculty Chair of the Chicago Center on Democracy, where she guides the strategy and direction of the center. She is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science.

Learn more about Susan

Kevin Kromash

Senior Research Associate

Kevin is the Senior Research Associate at the Chicago Center on Democracy, where he directs all aspects of the center’s operations, including strategy, research, fundraising, and communications.

Learn more about Kevin

Andres Uribe

Research Project Lead

Andres Uribe is a PhD student in Political Science. His research broadly focuses on democracy and governance in contexts of violent political contestation. In particular, his dissertation project examines the ways in which armed nonstate actors seek to influence electoral and legislative outcomes. Other projects examine rebel group-political party transitions and the rhetorical strategies of anti-democratic politicians. At the Chicago Center on Democracy, he co-leads our research on the rhetorical strategies of populist politicians.

Ipek Cinar

Research Project Lead and Program Assistant

Ipek is a PhD student in Comparative Politics at the University of Chicago. At the Chicago Center on Democracy, where she co-leads our research on the rhetorical strategies of populist politicians. She also supports events and other activities. Her research interests include democratic backsliding, comparative democratization, and political economy of regime transitions. She also studies quantitative methods and their computational applications to comparative politics.

Alina Kim

Research Assistant

Alina is a second year at the University of Chicago studying political science and history, with a specialization in Western violence and social theory. She is a Research Assistant at the Chicago Center on Democracy, where she supports projects on national referendums and voting trends. Outside of academics, she enjoys editing for The Chicago Maroon Arts Section, coordinating events with the Institute of Politics and its Jukebox Ballot project, and training as an apprentice projectionist at Doc Films.

Aliza Oppenheim

Research Assistant

Aliza is a third year undergraduate at the University of Chicago studying Political Science and Law, Letters, and Society. She is a Research Assistant at the Chicago Center for Democracy, where she is helping study voter behavior in national referendums. On campus, she is involved with UChicago Hillel, the Institute of Politics, and University Theater.

Arunima Bhattacharjee

Research Assistant

Arunima is an M.A. student at the Committee on International Relations. She is an international student from Bangladesh and she completed her B.S. in Journalism from the University of Oregon. At the University of Chicago, she is studying the suppression of freedom of the press in the Middle East.

Isabelle Russo

Research Assistant

Isabelle is a Research Assistant at the Chicago Center on Democracy, collecting data on the effect of authoritarian rhetoric on democratic discourse. She is a first-year at the University of Chicago and is interested in studying Political Science. Outside the classroom, Isabelle is heavily involved with the Institute of Politics and UChiVotes.

Julia Du

Research Assistant

Julia is a Research Assistant at the Chicago Center on Democracy, supporting data gathering and analysis on the rhetoric of populist and establishment politicians. A second-year undergraduate student at the University of Chicago, Julia’s major interests include economics, sociology, and history.

Julia Jassey

Research Assistant

Julia Jassey is a first year at the University of Chicago with a focus on the humanities and social science. Her academic passions are largely based upon the intersection between writing, international politics, and psychology. Julia is a Research Assistant for the Chicago Center on Democracy, where her she is working on a project to collect data about the political rhetoric employed by prominent politicians.

Justin Saint-Loubert-Bié

Program Assistant

Justin is a second year at the University of Chicago studying Political Science and Environmental Studies. He is particularly interested in the intersection between the modern crisis of democracy and climate change. Beyond his academic interests, Justin is the music director for UChicago’s Make a Joyful Noise a cappella group, and enjoys photography and playing piano.

Miles Ogihara

Research Assistant

Miles is a second year at the University of Chicago studying Political Science. He is a Research Assistant at the Chicago Center on Democracy, where he supports collecting data on the rhetorical strategies of populist leaders. On campus, Miles is also involved with the Chicago Project on Security Threats as a research assistant and enjoys watching sports in his free time.

Neil Suri

Research Assistant

Neil is a fourth year at the University of Chicago studying Public Policy and Philosophy. He is a Research Assistant at the Chicago Center for Democracy, where he supports projects related to state-level and national referendums. His other academic interests include theories of international relations and technology policy.

Sanittawan Nikki Tan

Program Assistant

Nikki is a Program Assistant at the Chicago Center on Democracy, where she supports events, research, and other activities. She is an M.A. student in the computational social science program at the University of Chicago, where she studies computational methods and their applications to political science research.

Oonagh Stevans

Research Assistant

Oonagh is a second-year at the University of Chicago majoring in Political Science and History, with a planned concentration in imperialism and post-colonialism. Outside of her coursework, she is heavily involved with the Society for International Relations and EUChicago.

Theo Lesser

Research Assistant

Theo is a first-year at the University of Chicago studying Public Policy and Environmental Science. Academically, his interests center on environmental policy and the health of democracies. At the Chicago Center on Democracy, he works as a research assistant where he collects data surrounding the effect of political organizing on referendums across the globe.