I am an Assistant Professor of 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. I serve as the chair for the International studies major and act as thesis advisor to numerous wonderful MA students.
Research and teaching are my two passions. In 2021, I was named a Fulbright Nehru scholar to carry out research in the Indian state of Kerala. I was also selected as HPU's Teacher of the Year for 2020-2021, which was very exciting considering the challenges related to Covid and the necessary adaptation to online, hybrid, and socially distanced/masked in-person classes. 

My research focuses on nationalism and political violence with a regional specialization in South Asia.  I have a regional interest in South Asia, but a broad interest in development, gender, peace studies, and religion. My research and teaching background helped me secure external funding from the NEH and International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. 

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

I love learning languages and am actively studying Malayalam (നമസ്കാരം), Chinese (你好), and Hindi (नमस्ते). I believe learning the language is an important part of being a regional specialist and a comparativist. I also speak Spanish and some French.  Because I am a resident of Hawaiʻi I have also taken two years of ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i because it is important for settlers like myself to normalize learning the language that was banned, and nearly driven to extinction, following the overthrow and occupation of the Hawaiian kingdom.