The Korbel doctoral program provides an interdisciplinary curriculum to prepare for research and educator training on global interactions. Students explore issues of sustainable development, peace and security, global economic trends, and international human rights, and work toward solutions to some of the world's most pressing questions. While we offer extensive training in conventional fields of politics, economics and society, much of your work in this PhD program is conducted outside of the classroom, with faculty mentorship.
Close mentorship from faculty ensures your time at Korbel is enriching and career-specific, regardless of whether your career development is aimed at teaching at the collegiate level or in research, government or nonprofit organizations. In recent years, our doctoral graduates have gone on to teach and research at leading universities in the U.S. and abroad and pursue non-academic careers at the Ford Foundation, Carter Center, American Red Cross, RAND, and the U.S. government.
Opportunities at Korbel
Research Centers
The Josef Korbel School is home to many research centers that add depth to the school's commitment to integrating teaching, research and practical problem-solving.
Financial Assistance
The Josef Korbel School provides a three-year full tuition waiver and living stipend for most candidates. Doctoral candidates also can take advantage of opportunities to serve as research assistants at the Josef Korbel School.
Featured Faculty
PhD Candidates
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Dogus Aktan focuses on using formal theory to parse out different mechanisms through which mass movements and political violence work, with a goal to develop links between theory and empirics. Put differently, Dogus is interested in how social movements and governments achieve their goals when pursuing contentious action or violence.
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Susan Cossa is a PhD candidate at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Economics and Government at Smith College, Massachusetts. Susan’s research focuses on the implications of Sino-Africa relations for inclusive growth and inequality in Lusophone Africa. She is currently working on two primary research projects. The first is a co-authored project examining grand strategies in Sino-Africa relations and the implications for attainment of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 aspirations. The second paper evaluates the spillover effects of Chinese investments in Angola and Mozambique, with a focus on the effects of technology transfers on poverty reduction. Susan has worked as a teaching assistant for the ‘Contemporary Issues in the Global Economy’ course as well as the ‘Introduction to International Politics’ course. Susan is currently a Teaching Fellow at the Korbel School. In this role, she teaches the ‘Contemporary Issues in the Global Economy’ course. Susan is also a research scholar in the Korbel School’s Institute for Comparative and Regional Studies (ICRS).
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Audrey researches migration and gender politics, with a focus on the immigration detention experiences of LGBT people. She received her Master of Public Administration and Bachelor of Arts in German and International Affairs from the University of Georgia. Elliott is a teaching assistant and research assistant on the Ethics of Engagement project at the Sié Center.
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Paul Kemp's research focuses primarily on Illicit International Political Economy (IIPE) and monetary politics. His dissertation in progress investigates the policy choices of the US Treasury with respect to the regulation of illicit financial flows.
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Louis Pascarella is a PhD candidate and research assistant at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. His research focuses on policing, protest, state repression, and state-society relations. Louis possesses extensive research experience in many diverse areas, with experience in qualitative and quantitative methodologies. -
Sinduja Raja is a Doctoral Candidate in International Studies from India at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. She is also Project Manager of Women’s Rights After War, a project jointly funded by the UKRI’s Global Challenges Research Fund and the National Science Foundation. She was one of ten awardees of the Sie Fellowship and scholarship from the Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy at the Korbel School. Prior to this, she obtained a Master of Arts in Development Studies from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Her dissertation research focuses on the impact of radical and anti-institutional social movements on state-society relations.
PhD Students
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Sevde is a first-year Ph.D. student at Josef Korbel. She obtained her BA and MA degrees in International Relations at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. Her master’s thesis looks at Turkey’s Sovereign Wealth Fund and its implications on state-business relations in Turkey. Sevde works as a Teaching Assistant for various undergraduate classes at Korbel, including the Contemporary Issues in Global Economy course.
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Kelci Burckhardt is a doctoral student in international studies at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Her research focuses on elite theories of democratization and democratic backsliding. Kelci currently teaches courses on political leadership and intelligence and national security policymaking at DU and CSU-Pueblo. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Kelci spent ten years as a foreign policy analyst in the federal government, focused primarily on Sub-Saharan Africa.
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