Alexandra Blackman

Alexandra Blackman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Government at Cornell University. She was previously a Post-Doctoral Associate at New York University - Abu Dhabi (2019-2020) and a Pre-Doctoral Fellow at Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (2018-2019). Her research focuses on the intersection of political regimes and religious institutions, with a regional emphasis on the Middle East.

• Education: PhD in Political Science, Stanford University (2019); BA in International Relations, Tufts University (2010)
• Research Interests:
  • Relationship between political regimes and religious institutions
  • Role of religious identities in political spheres
  • Gender dynamics in Middle Eastern politics
  • Authoritarian institutional evolution
  • Impact of foreign/transnational forces in the Middle East
  • Legacy of French colonization in Tunisian political identities

Her current book project examines French colonial administration’s influence on Tunisian political identities and state-religious institution dynamics. She has conducted fieldwork in Egypt, France, Tunisia, and the United States. Scientific awards include prestigious fellowships at NYU Abu Dhabi, Stanford, Tufts, and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She received funding from Notre Dame’s Global Religion Research Initiative and the American Institute for Maghrib Studies for her dissertation research.