Desha Girod
Desh Girod (Ph.D. 2008, Stanford University) is an associate professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University.
Desh Girod (Ph.D. 2008, Stanford University) is an associate professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University. Dr. Girod is also an affiliate of the Conflict Resolution Program, the African Studies Program, and the Center for Latin American Studies.
Dr. Girod specializes in foreign policy, white supremacy, and foreign aid. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Dr. Girod grew up thinking about how powerful countries influence their less powerful counterparts. Dr. Girod has deftly researched these dynamics for nearly 20 years, publishing in top-ranked journals, such as the American Journal of Political Science and International Organization. Dr. Girod's first book, Explaining Post-Conflict Reconstruction, was published by Oxford University Press. In 2020, Dr. Girod was named a Latinx Foreign Policy Expert by the Diversity in National Security Network and an LGBTQIA+ Foreign Policy and National Security Leader by Out in National Security.
Dr. Girod's research has received support from the Political Instability Task Force, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, Georgetown University's College of Arts and Sciences and Office of the Provost, and Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.
From 2018 to 2021, Dr. Girod served as director of the Master's Program in Conflict Resolution. In that role, Dr. Girod trained students in the theory, practice, and artisanship of solving problems between groups. Dr. Girod also updated the program's curriculum, reducing its cost and duration while deepening its quality. In particular, Dr. Girod added a mediation certificate and a program-wide summer field fellowship, a stipend allowing students to work at an organization of their choice. To introduce students to the highest levels of policy, Dr. Girod hosted a series of public discussions with top policymakers, including, for example, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Dr. Girod received a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2008, an M.Phil from Trinity College, Dublin, in 2002, and a B.A. from Penn State in 2000, after serving as student-body president of 33,000 undergraduates. The Bunton-Waller Scholarship for under-represented minorities funded the B.A. The US-Ireland Alliance funded the M.Phil. Stanford's Political Science Department and the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, and the Harry S. Truman Foundation funded the Ph.D.