Teaching

Courses

During the Fall semester I teach the following classes:

  • Metode de cercetare în știința politică (undergraduate class in Romanian)
  • Global Civil Society (undergraduate class in English)
  • Public Opinion, Social Movements, and Civil Society Organizations in International Contexts (graduate class in English)
  • Research Methodology in Political Science (graduate class in English for all MA students, starting in Fall 2025)

During the Spring semester I teach the following classes:

  • Statistică (undergraduate class in Romanian)
  • Statistics (undergraduate class in English)
  • Research Design, Methods, Techniques, and Digital Tools for International Public Affairs (graduate class in English, until Spring 2025)
  • Research Methods in Political Science (graduate class in English for all MA students, starting in Spring 2026)

Coordinating BA / MA papers

Every year I can advise up to ten students write their BA / MA paper. I take students on a first-come, first-served basis, so there is some advantage to deciding on your paper earlier rather than later. In deciding to coordinate your paper, the following will increase your chances of working with me:

  • you have worked with me on one of my research projects
  • you have taken one of my classes,
  • the topic of your paper is related to  one of the classes I teach or to one of the following topics:
    • Confidence in institutions
    • European Parliament elections
    • Voting behavior
    • GIS and political science
  • you ask to work with me no later than November 30th.

During this academic year I am working with the following students:

  1. Vlăduț Alexandru Chivu, SPE: Navigating political landscapes: Social media and mass media in Romanian politics.
  2. Daniel Andrei Constantin, SSL: Rolul societății civile în dezvoltarea urbană a Bucureștiului.
  3. Relu Gabriel Dană, SPR: City Apps: Analiză comparativă a rolului lor în participarea civică.
  4. Marius Gae, MIPA: Regulating Video Game Publishers.
  5. Ana Maria Mocanu, SPE: …
  6. Smaranda Oprina, RISE: Educational inequality in Romania: Justice, victimhood, and the rural-urban divide.
  7. Elena Bianca Pantaia, RISE: Feminism in South Korea.
  8. Antonia Pașcanu, RISE: The Romanian Left: Dilemmas, mobilization, failures.
  9. Diana Mihaela Turcu, SSL: Pozițiile parlamentarilor români vizavi de gestionarea consumului și traficului de droguri.
  10. Irina Voicu, SPE: Trust in the Church and Army amongs Romanian cohorts.

I have started compiling the list of students I have coordinated over the years. If we worked together and I somehow missed to include you on the list, please send me a message and I will fix it.

BA students coordinated:

  1. Mihaela Mădălina Pena, SPR, 2024: Evoluția partidelor politice de la marginea sistemului de partide: Studiu comparativ PRM – PPDD – AUR.
  2. Valentina Pițu, RISE, 2024: Indigenous women’s rights: Integrating traditions and modernity in cultural contexts.
  3. Alexandra Cristiana Popescu, RISE, 2024: Exploring the significance and influence of feminism in gender equality: South Korea, 1990’s – 2020’s.
  4. Alexandra Maria Staicu, RISE, 2024: Political parties and social media usage in electoral campaigns.
  5. Karina Ștefania Dudui, SPR, 2023: Reprezentarea femeilor în politica românească.
  6. Ioan Bogdan Ghiță, SPR, 2023: Ascensiunea Republicii Populare Chineze și impactul asupra sistemului internațional.
  7. Andreea Ilinca Simion, RISE, 2023: The evolution of women’s rights in South Korea.
  8. Elena Angelica Deaconu, SPR, 2022: Analiza comparativă a sistemelor de partide politice din țările scandinave.
  9. Claudia Andreea Ilie, RISE, 2022: Digital electoral campaigns: #RomanianPoliticians.
  10. Maria Leuștean, RISE, 2022: A Comparative overview and typology of state-level responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU member states.
  11. Maria Cristina Popescu, RISE, 2022: The acceptance of the LGBT community: A Romanian case study.
  12. Andreea Florentina Rusu, SPR, 2022: Finanțarea partidelor politice în România post-comunistă.
  13. Bianca Ioana Sandu, RISE, 2022: Youth political participation and political activism in Romania: Why are young peoplr turning to online political engagement on social media?
  14. Miruna Ana Toma, RISE, 2022: Partisanship within the family: transmission of political patterns of engagement to the Romanian younger generation.
  15. Livia Anamaria Vasile, RISE, 2022: Discourses on feminism in Romanian politics: From stigma to empowerment.
  16. Eduard Ionuț Alecu, RISE, 2021: International relations through video games: The simulation and resolution of international conflict through shooters, strategy, and simulation games.
  17. Maria Andreea Cadinoiu, RISE, 2021: The Black Lives Matter movement: The impact of social media on social movemennts in the 21st century.
  18. Valentina Alexandra Ghibu, SPR, 2021: Istoria feminismului românesc.
  19. Ioana Lefter, RISE, 2021: The #metoo movement.
  20. Ionuț Bogdan Macoveanu, SPR, 2021: Abuzuri asupra minorităților sexuale din România între 1990-2020: Aspecte politico-legislative conservatoare vs. dezvoltarea comunității LGBTQ+.
  21. Lina Masri Hendawi, SPE, 2021: Stranger in/out: Immigrants in traditional and adoptive environments.
  22. Ștefan Pătru, RISE, 2021: The digitalization of the relation between citizens and the public administration in Romania.
  23. Mihaela Octavia Șerban, RISE, 2021: Immigration enforcement during the Trump era.
  24. Ruxandra Cap, RISE, 2020: A study on the anti-globalization movement.
  25. Maria Alexandra Cezar, RISE, 2019. The evolution of women’s rights in Romania.
  26. Irina Neagu, RISE, 2019. The role of civic education in the evolution of Romanian citizens.

MA students coordinated:

  1. Maria Leuștean, MIPA, 2024: The Romanian press: Watchdog or lapdog of political parties?
  2. Bianca Ioana Sandu, MIPA, 2024: The role of Romanian influencers in the formation of political opinions of young people on social media.
  3. Wesley Felipe da Silva Siqueira, MIPA, 2024: Study in Romanian universities: how to improve the recruitment process of international students.
  4. Ruxandra Cap, MIPA, 2022: The stray dogs’ situation in Romania.
  5. Maria Francesca Cristea, MIPA, 2022: The future of work in the post-pandemic era: New opportunities for enhancing public policy at the European and national levels during and after the European Year of Youth.
  6. Mihai Alexandru Geormăneanu, MIPA, 2022: Hallyu, or the Korean wave.
  7. Irina Neagu. MCP, 2022: A comparative study of Color Revolutions in the wider Black Sea region.
  8. Sofia Caterina Oproiu și Dragoș Sârbu, MIPA, 2022: A perspective on electoral participation in Romania: Methods of encouragment and education of political engagement among the youth.
  9. Ioan Radu Preda, MIPA, 2022: The need for a reform of civic education.
  10. Diana Stanciu, MIPA. 2022: Pro and Against Vaccination Arguments in Romania: Comparative Analysis between Childhood Immunization Schedule, HPV and COVID-19.
  11. Maria Alexandra Cezar, MIPA, 2021: Civic education, an indispensible tool in training active citizens.
  12. Dragoș Dănilă, MIPA, 2021: Romanian civil society, relevant actor in the management of health crises: Opportunities and recommendations for an active collaboration with political stakeholders.
  13. Ștefania Dumitrescu, MIPA, 2021: Prescription drug abuse and misuse: An analysis on the current situation of prescription drug abuse handling in Europe.
  14. Daniela Andreea Munteanu, MIPA, 2021: Homelessness, poverty, and housing policy in Romania.

Recommendation letters

Every year quite a number of students approach me asking for recommendation letters. I am happy to write you such a letter, under the following conditions:

  • you have worked with me on one of my research projects for at least a semester, OR
  • you have taken one of my classes and have received a grade higher than 9, OR
  • you are writing your B.A. / M.A. paper under my supervision, AND
  • you ask me for the recommendation letter at least a week before the deadline for submitting it.

In other words, I need to know you and what you can do in order to write you a letter, and you need to give me at least a week to write it. It’s simple.

Research opportunities for students

Throughout the semester I might work on various research and teaching projects on which I need help. These projects are conducted either as part of my work in the Faculty of Political Science, or as part of my work in the Romanian Quantitative Studies Association – RQSA, in the Center for International Cooperation and Development Studies – IDC, in the Romanian Group for the Study of Social Values, and in the Romanian Election Studies group (for a list see the Research page).

Each student will go through a training / guidance period. After that, students will most of the time work on their own and provide regular reports on their progress. Most of the work that students will do is computer- and internet-based, although in some cases it is possible that I will need students to access libraries and / or archives. About once a week we’ll have project meetings to track project activity, solve possible problems, and keep everyone involved.

I am looking for students who fulfill one or more of the following criteria:

  • they have an interest in continuing their studies in a masters program.
  • they can work for the project at least five hours a week over the semester.
  • they have at least a general interest in the topic of the research project.
  • they might want to do a B.A. / M.A. thesis related to any of my research projects.
  • they are not afraid of working with numbers, datasets, and statistical software.

If you want to join me or if you have any questions about my research, e-mail me at this address.

Ph.D. Defense Committees

I have been a member of the following Ph.D. defense committees:

  • Enikő-Orsolya Nagyi:
    • Thesis: Soarta bunurilor evreiești rămase fără moștenitori în urma Holocaustului și/sau nerevendicate, în Transilvania de Nord.
    • Coordinator: Cosmin Gabriel Marian (Universitatea Babeș Bolyai din Cluj Napoca)
    • Defense: September 2024
  • Adela Georgiana Alexandru:
    • Thesis: Drumul nedreptății: gen și infrastructură O analiză a zonelor rurale marginalizate.
    • Coordinator: Mihai Păunescu (SNSPA)
    • Defense: July 2024
  • Cătălin Daniel Pop:
    • Thesis: Curtea Constituțională a României – comportament judiciar strategic.
    • Coordinator: Cosmin Gabriel Marian (Universitatea Babeș Bolyai din Cluj Napoca)
    • Defense: June 2024
  • Andreea Stancea:
    • Thesis: The impact of economic perceptions on support for the incumbent government: testing different perspectives on how individuals assess the state of the economy.
    • Coordinator: Andrei Gheorghiță (SNSPA)
    • Defense: February 2024
  • Giacomo Salvarani (external reviewer):
    • Thesis: The Disengagement Trap: Political Participation in the Visegrád Area Thirty Years after the Transition.
    • Coordinator: Antonello Zanfei (Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo)
    • Defense: March 2023
  • Matteo Zanellato:
    • Thesis: Democracy under pressure addressed through a historical institutionalist approach of the technological revolution. Designing a normative proposal to save party democracy in a knowledge-based pluralism.
    • Coordinators: Mihaela Miroiu (SNSPA) and Marco Almagisti (Università degli Studi di Padova)
    • Defense: February 2021
  • Andreea Gheba:
    • Thesis: Alegerea școlii. Analiza mecanismelor de înscriere în învățământul preuniversitar. Studiu de caz: admiterea la liceu în București.
    • Coordinator: Adrian Miroiu (SNSPA)
    • Defense: May 2019
  • Giorgian Ionuț Guțoiu:
    • Thesis: Comportamente electorale în context geografic și urban. Un studiu de caz al geografiilor electorale de la alegerile locale și legislative din București în 2016.
    • Coordinator: Georgeta Ghebrea
    • Defense: November 2018
  • Veronica Anghel:
    • Thesis: The Formation and Life of Coalition Cabinets in Romania.
    • Coordinator: Ioan Stanomir (Universitatea din București)
    • Defense: May 2018