Aloha, I am an Associate Professor of International Studies and chair of the Dept of History, Humanities, and International Studies at Hawaiʻi Pacific University in Honolulu. I joined the faculty at HPU in 2017 and teach courses in Political Science, International Studies, and the MA program in Diplomacy and Military Studies where I serve as thesis advisor to numerous wonderful MA students. In 2021, I created the new interdisciplinary minor in Human Rights. 

Research, teaching, and community engagement are my passions. In 2021, I was named a Fulbright Nehru scholar to carry out research on inter-religious peace-building in the southern Indian state of Kerala. In 2021, I was also selected as HPU's Teacher of the Year which was very exciting considering the challenges related to Covid and the necessary adaptation to online, hybrid, and socially distanced/masked in-person classes. In 2022, I received the golden apple honor of Scholar of the year for HPU. 

My research focuses on traditional and non-traditional security challenges and political violence with a specialization in South Asia. I have a broad interest in human security, particularly as it relates to climate and development.  My research has been published with Cambridge University Press, Routledge, the Hoover Institute, Terrorism and Political Violence, Progress in Development Studies, and Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism among others. 

My research and teaching background have helped me secure external funding from CAIS (Germany),  CAORC-Inya Institute (Bangladesh/Myanmar),  the NEH (Sri Lanka) and the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. In 2019 I was selected as an ICNC teaching fellow and developed a new graduate and undergraduate course on civil resistance.

In addition to my research and teaching I serve as the Model UN co-advisor for HPU as well as the Fulbright, Marshall, and CLS advisor for the university. I am currently serving as faculty senator for the College of Liberal Arts. 

I love learning languages and have studied Malayalam (നമസ്കാരം), Chinese (你好), and Hindi (नमस्ते). I am currently taking introduction to French at HPU.  I also speak Spanish.  

On a personal level, I enjoy arts and nature. I am a lifelong dancer and my first job was teaching dance.  I continue to practice ballet and contemporary dance at Queen Emma Ballet.