The Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame has welcomed four new faculty who will expand the scope of the school’s research on environmental policy, environmental justice, education policy, peacebuilding, organizational sociology, and international development. The new faculty members will enhance the school’s research profile and also bring their expertise into the classroom as they teach at every level—undergraduate, master’s and PhD.
“These four new faculty, each with a distinctive academic pedigree, each speaking to one or more ‘publics,’ represent something of the range of the Keough School’s blend of research, teaching, policy and practice,” said Scott Appleby, Marilyn Keough Dean. “They include a senior scholar whose research has helped shape the field of global environmental politics and policy; a newly minted PhD in organizational sociology whose early research explores the nexus between business, economic development, and humanitarianism; a leading peace studies educator; and, an expert in ways to enhance faith-based education serving children from low-and middle-income backgrounds in resource-poor countries and regions. Each of these talented individuals will contribute significantly to the school’s mission to advance integral human development.”
Krister Andersson has been appointed Notre Dame Professor of Sustainable Development. A political scientist, he studies the politics of environmental governance with particular focus on local institutional arrangements and the role they play in explaining policy outcomes. Andersson holds a PhD in public policy from Indiana University and an MA in international relations and diplomacy from Schiller International University in Paris. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and numerous other agencies. Prior to joining the Keough School, he was professor of political science at the University of Colorado Boulder.
TJ D’Agostino joins the Keough School as assistant professor of the practice in the Keough School’s Pulte Institute for Global Development. An expert in comparative education policy, he studies how systems and institutions can improve educational outcomes for vulnerable children in low- and middle-income contexts. D’Agostino has studied the role of faith-based educational institutions in Africa and Latin America, exploring how the institutional context shapes and influences the institutional character and contributions of faith-based education. He currently is a co-principal investigator for a USAID-funded global education research grant called SHARE (Supporting Holistic and Actionable Research in Education), where he leads cross-national studies on language and literacy policy and language and education policy for deaf students across nine countries in Africa and Asia. D’Agostino holds a doctorate in education leadership and policy from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody School of Education and will teach International and Comparative Education Policy on campus this fall. He is a fellow of the Keough School’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies.
Norbert Koppensteiner, associate teaching professor of peace studies, brings expertise in arts and peacebuilding, qualitative peace research methodologies, and peace didactics, among other areas. In addition to teaching courses on peacebuilding, conflict transformation, and peace research methods, Koppensteiner will direct the international peace studies concentration within the master of global affairs program. Prior to joining the Keough School’s core faculty, Koppensteiner spent two years as a visiting research fellow at the Keough School’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, where he advanced two lines of research: the art of facilitation for peace and transforming conflicts and methodological and epistemological study of comprehensive ways of knowing. He holds a PhD from the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.
Orla Stapleton, a cultural and economic sociologist, has been appointed assistant professor of development studies. Originally from Ireland, Stapleton holds a PhD in sociology from Indiana University and postgraduate degrees in development studies from SOAS University of London and also in humanities from New York University. Her research focuses on social interaction, constructing social solidarity, and business in community. Stapleton will teach a course on global Ireland for global affairs majors and undergraduates earning a minor in European studies, along with a research methods and Integration Lab (i-Lab) course for master of global affairs students. Prior to joining the Keough School, Stapleton held research positions in the Humanitarian Research Group at INSEAD and in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
The Keough School of Global Affairs advances integral human development through research, policy and practice; transformative educational programs; and partnerships for global engagement. Founded in 2014, the Keough School builds on the strengths of nine institutes focused on international research, scholarship, and education at Notre Dame. The School offers academic opportunities at both the graduate and undergraduate level, including a joint doctoral degree in peace research, a master of global affairs degree and a global affairs major.
Top photo: Clockwise from top left are new Keough School faculty members Krister Andersson, TJ D’Agostino, Norbert Koppensteiner, and Orla Stapleton.
