Aaron Christensen is a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science. He studies state-society relations and the political economy of development, with research concerning Africa and the Middle East. His dissertation project examines communities that have acquiesced to or resisted state-building in the context of post-colonial Africa. Methodologically, he uses both historical observational data and randomized experiments and has additional interest in the analysis of experiments under noncompliance. Prior to his time at Columbia, he worked in the international NGO sector. Mr. Christensen holds a B.A. from Washington University in St Louis.
