Jason Kirk
Professor of Political Science and Public Policy
Department: Political Science and Public Policy
Email: jkirk2@elon.edu
Phone number: (336) 278-6633
Professional Expertise
Brief Biography
I joined the Elon faculty in 2008. My Ph.D. (2005) is in political science from the University of Pennsylvania, and I previously taught at The Virginia Military Institute (2006-08). I teach course in comparative politics, international relations, world politics and film, our department's senior seminar in political science, and the first-year seminar The Global Experience for the Elon College Fellows cohort.
I was born in Chapel Hill, grew up in Charlotte, and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. (1997) in international studies and journalism & mass communication. I developed an interest in India as an undergraduate, originally intending to pursue photojournalism, and spent a semester in Bangalore in 1996. It was an extraordinary time to experience this dynamic city, still early in its emergence as a center of India's IT revolution.
The surprise nuclear tests by India and Pakistan in May 1998 (and a token of advice from a favorite journalist, Steve Coll) sealed my intent to pursue advanced study of contemporary India and South Asia. As a child of the late Cold War, I continue to have an interest in nuclear proliferation and deterrence, but my main scholarly interests are in the politics of India. My dissertation at Penn, on the evolution of World Bank assistance to India, laid the foundation for my book India and the World Bank: The Politics of Aid and Influence (Anthem Press, 2011, 2010).
I became interested in Indian American political participation, initially through an article I wrote about political organization within the community to advocate for civilian nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and India, and this interest led eventually to my book Rising Star: The Meaning of Nikki Haley, Trump's Unlikely Ambassador (University of Arkansas Press, 2021).
Most recently, I coauthored a teaching text with Vikash Yadav (Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY), The Politics of India Under Modi: An Introduction to India's Democracy, Economy, and Foreign Policy (Lever Press, 2023).
I live in Chapel Hill with my wife Deepa, a clinical endocrinologist at UNC, and our children Arun (b. 2002) and Uma (b. 2006). I am an avid reader, runner, and Tar Heel basketball watcher. I enjoy rock and Americana music, and I'm always open to suggestions for good songs with political themes -- or even better, great songs that transcend politics -- to play before class begins.
News & Notes
Education
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1999-2005
Ph.D., political science with major fields in comparative politics and international relations
Dissertation: “The World Bank and the Federal Politics of Economic Reform in India:
Structural Adjustment Lending Goes Sub-national”
Committee: Thomas Callaghy (Chair), Francine Frankel, and Rudra Sil.
Advanced Hindi Language Program, American Institute of Indian Studies, Udaipur, Rajasthan, Summer 2001
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1993-97
BA with Distinction in Journalism and Mass Communication (photojournalism concentration), second major in International Studies. India Study Abroad Program, Bangalore University, Fall 1996
Employment History
Assistant Professor, Political Science and International Studies, Virginia Military Institute, 2006-08
Lecturer, International Relations Program, University of Pennsylvania, 2005-06
Research Specialist, Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI), University of Pennsylvania, 2004-05
Teach for America, Washington, D.C., 1997-99
Courses Taught
• Comparative Politics
• The Global Experience (First-Year Seminar)
• India & South Asia: Democracy, Development, Diplomacy & Conflict in Historical Perspective (standard and "embedded travel" versions, the latter visiting Delhi, Amritsar and Gurgaon, India)
• International Organizations
• International Relations
• International Security
• Senior Seminar in Political Science: International Relations
Leadership Positions
Social & Behavioral Sciences Representative, Academic Council (2017-20)
Social & Behavioral Sciences Representative, University Curriculum Committee (2016-19)
Social Sciences Branch Director, Elon College Fellows Program (2012-16)
Vice President, Eta Chapter, Phi Beta Kappa (2018-19)
Current Projects
Book project: Rising Star: The Meaning of Nikki Haley, Trump's Unlikely Ambassador (under contract with The University of Arkansas Press)
Publications
Monograph
India and the World Bank: The Politics of Aid and Influence. London, New York and Delhi: Anthem Press, 2011, 2010.
Peer-Reviewed Articles, Chapters in Edited Volumes, and Reviews
"State Homophobia? India's Shifting UN Positions on LGBTQ Issues," with Vikash Yadav, Globalizations, Vol. 15, No. 5 (2018): 670-684.
"What Makes a Successful Indian American Political Candidate?" with Jason Husser, South Asian Diaspora, Vol. 9, No. 2 (2017): 207-223.
"Keeping an Eye on South Asian Skies: America’s Pivotal Deterrence in Nuclearized India-Pakistan Crises," with Moeed Yusuf. Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 37, No. 2 (August 2016).
“From Swagger to Self-Advocacy: India’s Postgraduate ‘Transition’ in the World Bank,” with Vikash Yadav. India Review vol. 14, no. 4 (October-December 2015).
“India,” in Neil DeVotta, ed., An Introduction to South Asian Politics (New York: Routledge, 2015).
“India and the International Financial Institutions,” in David M. Malone, C. Raja Mohan, and Srinath Raghavan, eds., Oxford Handbook on Indian Foreign Policy (Oxford, New York, and New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2015).
“‘What Would Gandhi Do?’: Nikki Haley and South Carolina in American Politics, Black, White, and Brown,” in David Redlawsk, ed., The American Governor: Power, Constraint, and Leadership in the States (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).
“Student Perceptions of a Role-Playing Simulation in an Undergraduate International Relations Course,” with Sean Giovanello and Mileah Kromer. Journal of Political Science Education vol. 9, no. 2 (April 2013): 197-208.
“Roundtable: Review of Sumit Ganguly and Rahul Mukherji, India Since 1980,” with C. Raja Mohan, Teresita C. Schaffer, Harsh V. Pant, and Aseema Sinha, in Asia Policy vol. 14 (July 2012).
“India’s Season of Discontent: U.S.-India Relations through the Prism of Obama’s ‘Af-Pak’ Policy, Year One,” Asian Affairs: An American Review, Vol. 37, No. 3 (September 2010): 147-66.
“India’s Economy,” John Adams and Jason A. Kirk, in Neil DeVotta, ed., Understanding Contemporary India, 2nd edition (Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner Publishers, 2010).
“The Evolution of India’s Nuclear Policies,” in Sumit Ganguly, ed., Indian Foreign Policy: Retrospect and Prospect (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2010).
“Indian-Americans and the U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement: Consolidation of an Ethnic Lobby?” Foreign Policy Analysis, Vol. 4, Issue 3 (July 2008), 275-300.
"Review Essay: Hindu Nationalism Five Years After Godhra," India Review, Vol. 7, No. 1 (January 2008), 73-90.
“Economic Reform, Federal Politics, and External Assistance: Understanding New Delhi’s Perspective on the World Bank’s State-level Loans,” in Rahul Mukherji, ed., India’s Economic Transition: The Politics of Reforms (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2007), 265-299.
“Banking on India’s States: The Politics of World Bank Reform Programs in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka,” India Review, Vol. 4, No. 3-4 (July-Oct 2005), 287-325.
Commentary
2019. "China and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: If You Build It, They Will Come (or, A River Runs Through It)," Raisina Files 2019. Invited essay for the fourth annual Raisina Dialogue, Taj Diplomatic Enclave, New Delhi, January 8-10, 2019, hosted by Observer Research Foundation and Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
2014. “India 2014: A Big Election’s Biggest Stories,” Political Insight (blog), Political Studies Association, UK (May 18, 2014).
“After Pakistan’s Elections, A Troubled Alliance ‘Drones’ On,” op-ed, The Roanoke Times (June 12, 2013), The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, VA (June 9, 2013), Gaston Gazette, Gastonia, NC (May 30, 2013)
"India's Painful End-of-Aid Graduation," The Business Standard, New Delhi, India (April 11, 2010).
Presentations
Academic Conferences
2018. “State Homophobia: India’s Shifting UN Positions on LGBTQ Issues.” Paper Presentation. 59th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, Hilton Union Square, San Francisco, April.
2017. “Queering the Pitch: India’s Anti-LGBT Agenda at the United Nations,” with Vikash Yadav. Paper Presentation. 58th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, Hilton Baltimore, February
2016. "From Swagger to Self-Advocacy: India's Postgraduate 'Transition' in the World Bank," with Vikash Yadav. Paper presented at the 57th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, Hilton Atlanta (March 16-19).
2015. “From Swagger to Self-Advocacy: India’s Extended ‘Transition’ in the World Bank,” with Vikash Yadav. Paper presentation. Also chair, panel on The Design and Effectiveness of Foreign Aid Programs. 86th Annual Conference of the Southern Political Science Association, Hyatt Regency, New Orleans (January 15-17)
2014. “The Swagger Factor and Sticker Shock: Explaining India’s Reluctance to Graduate at the World Bank,” with Vikash Yadav. Paper presented at the 43rd Annual Conference on South Asia, hosted by the Center for South Asia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison Concourse Hotel, Madison, WI (October 17-19)
2014. “India and the International Financial Institutions.” Chapter prepared for Authors’ Conference, Oxford University Press Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy, Taj Ambassador Hotel, New Delhi, India (January)
2012. “Threshold Concepts in Political Science,” with Dion Farganis. Presentation at the Ninth Annual Teaching & Learning Conference at Elon University (August)
2012. “Theorizing the New Indian American Foreign Policy Activism: Ethnic Lobby, Social Movement, andTransnational Politics Dimensions.” Paper presented at the International Studies Association Annual Convention, San Diego (April)
2011. “Keeping an Eye on South Asian Skies: Washington’s ‘Pivotal Deterrence’ in India-Pakistan Crises, 1990- 2008.” Paper presentation. Discussant, panel on The Domestic Sources of Foreign Policy. Annual conference of the International Studies Association-South, Elon, NC (October)
2011. “Student Perceptions of a Role-Playing Simulation in an Undergraduate International Relations Course,” with Sean Giovanello and Mileah Kromer. Paper presented at the APSA Teaching & Learning Conference, American Political Science Association, Albuquerque (February)
2010. “A Durable ‘Strategic Partnership’?: India’s Outlook on U.S. Policy in South Asia Under Obama.” Paper presented at the International Studies Association Annual Convention, New Orleans (February)
Invited Talks and Commentary
2014. “India: U.S. Strategic Partner or Ambivalent Friend?” debate with Lisa Curtis (The Heritage Foundation), Alexander Hamilton Society, Duke University, Durham, NC (November 24).
2011. “India and the World Bank: Evolution of Development Assistance, Implications for Global Governance.” Invited talk, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem (March)
2010. Guest analyst, "Why Not a Nuclear Deal for Pakistan?," The Platform, cable news program in Pakistan, co-production of Express 24/7, Islamabad, and Voice of America, Washington, D.C. (August 17)
2010. Featured guest, “India and the World Bank,”The State of Things, Frank Stasio and Lindsey Thomas, producers, WUNC North Carolina Public Radio, Durham (June 30) http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/sot0630b10.mp3/view
2010. “The World Bank and India,” invited talk with discussant N. Roberto Zagha, Country Director for India, and moderator Vikram Raghavan, Senior Legal Counsel, the World Bank, sponsored by the World Bank-IMF India Club and South Asia Region, Washington, D.C. (April 22).
Professional Activities
• Reviews Editor, Asian Security (a Taylor & Francis Group journal), 2007-present
• Reviewer for American Journal of Political Science (2005); Cambridge University Press (2009); Continuum Press (2010); CQ Press (2010); Current Sociology (2015); Foreign Policy Analysis (2015, 2013, 2010, 2007); Georgetown University Press (2013); India Review (2008, 2007); Journal of Political Science Education (2013, 2012); Lynne Rienner Publishers (2013); Routledge (2012)
• Award Selection Panelist, David L. Boren Graduate Fellowships, National Security Education Program
(NSEP) and Institute of International Education (IIE), 2011, 2007, 2006
Service Activities
Common Reading Committee, Core Curriculum, Elon University
International Studies Advisory Board, College of Arts & Sciences, Elon University
Members-in-Course Committee, Phi Beta Kappa, Eta Chapter, College of Arts & Sciences, Elon University
Asian Studies Advisory Board, College of Arts & Sciences, Elon University
Social Sciences Curriculum Committee, College of Arts & Sciences, Elon University, 2013-15
Graduate Council, Elon University, 2009-11
Professional Development
2013. “India: Megacities and Villages,” International Faculty Development Seminar, Council for International Educational Exchange (CIEE), Mumbai and Pune, Maharashtra, India (June)