David Skarbek is the Michael Targoff Professor of Political Economy and the inaugural Director of the Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Brown University. His research studies the political economy of institutions and development, with a focus on criminal governance. He has published extensively on the informal institutions that govern life in prisons in California and around the globe. Professor Skarbek's work has appeared in leading journals in political science, economics, and criminology, including in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Journal of Law, Economics & Organization, and Journal of Criminal Justice. His work has been featured widely in national and international media outlets, such as the Atlantic, BBC, Business Insider, the Economist, Forbes, the Independent, and the Times. 

His book, The Social Order of the Underworld: How Prison Gangs Govern the American Penal System (Oxford University Press), received the American Political Science Association’s 2016 William H. Riker Award for the best book in political economy in the previous three years. It was also awarded the 2014 Best Publication Award from the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime and was shortlisted for the British Sociological Association’s 2014 Ethnography Award.

Skarbek's second book, The Puzzle of Prison Order: Why Life Behind Bars Varies around the World (Oxford University Press), won the Outstanding Book Award from sections of both the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Studies. It was also co-winner of the Best Book Award from the International Association of Organized Crime.

Tarana Chauhan is an applied micro economist studying questions at the intersection of labor, gender and development, and climate change and development. Her research examines the distributional effects of various events, such as economic policy changes or extreme weather events. Employing econometric techniques on publicly available datasets, these papers rigorously evaluate current policies and identify potential gaps. Before the Ph.D., she helped evaluate a program on maternal and child health and nutrition with the International Food Policy Research Institute in India. She completed my Master's in Development Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and received a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Delhi (Lady Shri Ram College for Women). She enjoys learning new dance styles and hiking. 

Kaitlyn is interested in the intersection of political violence, civil society, and democracy with a regional interest in Latin America. In her book project, she asks how the presence of criminal groups affects whether and how citizens interact with the state. Her analysis is based on a mixed-methods study of municipalities across Mexico. Kaitlyn earned her PhD in Government from Harvard University and a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish from Northwestern University. Her research has been supported by the U.S. Institute of Peace, National Science Foundation, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, among others.

Bréond is a philosopher whose interests are in the legal, social, and political dimensions of the built-environment. His current research focuses on the material and symbolic elements of our punitive practices. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University and B.A. from the University of Southern California

Sam Schmitt is a political theorist whose research combines normative philosophy with a deep understanding of institutions and diverse perspectives to examine questions at the intersection of contemporary political theory, religion, and political economy. In his book project, Sam analyzes several religious objections to market-oriented liberalism to advance reforms which make market society more open to more ways of life, religious or not. His other projects include developing a realistic account of character and ethics for politicians and improving political science and PPE curricula for civic outcomes. Sam earned his PhD in Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Bowling Green State University. 

Tim is a political theorist whose research focuses on civic education and citizenship in the history of political thought and contemporary political theory. In particular, he is interested in the pedagogical, moral, and political assumptions that inform past and present conceptions of civic education in liberal-democratic states. His current work examines judgment as a civic educational outcome in modern and contemporary educational and political theory. Tim earned his PhD in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and BA in Political Science from Carthage College.

Leja is a fourth year graduate student in the department of political science. Her doctoral research aims to understand how public policies such as curricula and land reform impact identity in India.