Category: Research Assistant Opportunity

Professor: Joseph Trullinger
Department: Honors and Philosophy
Title: Moral Theology in Kant and Others
Description: I am thinking of writing a book that will explore Kant’s philosophy of “moral religion,” with a chapter that sets it alongside liberation theology, so as to reveal some parallels between the two that have
gone unnoticed by Kant scholars on the one hand and liberation theologians on the other. I know Kant scholarship fairly well, and the majority of the book would be about Kant, but I need to supplement my knowledge of liberation theology by reading more books and articles in it. To that end, I need to gather together materials on that (especially by Black and Latin American theologians), and see points of contact and divergence between how they conceive of the relationship between morality and religion, and critical
social thought.
Duties: I need a research assistant to canvass secondary literature relevant to liberation theology (and, where relevant, its opinions of Kant), and then synopsize the relevance of those books and articles to my research project by building a substantive annotated bibliography. The RA would meet with me periodically to report and discuss their findings. As time progresses, the student should recommend certain ways of categorizing the secondary literature, in response to our discussions about the research project.
Time commitment: 4-6 hours per week (average)
Credit hour option*: 0
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: trullinger@gwu.edu
*If credit is sought, all registration deadlines and requirements must be met.  Students selected to be research assistants should contact Catherine Chandler at cbrady@gwu.edu whether they intend to pursue credit or not.

Professor: Remi Jedwab
Department: Economics and ESIA
Title: Cars, Rapid Transit, Elevators and Skyscrapers and the Fast Growth of Cities in Poor Countries
Description: Urbanization and economic development have been coupled throughout history. However, the post-war period has witnessed the very fast growth of poor megacities in developing nations. Dhaka, Karachi, Kinshasa, Lagos, Manila, and Mexico City comprise some of the largest cities on the planet today. By 2030, most of the largest cities in the world will be located in poor countries. The prevalence of poor mega-cities today counters historical experience. In the past, the largest agglomerations in the world were located in the most advanced economies (e.g. London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo).
Countries usually urbanize when they industrialize. If agglomeration promotes economic growth, urbanization has a positive effect on growth. There is thus a virtuous circle between development and urbanization, as shown by the historical experience of Europe, North America and East Asia. In many developing countries, however, urbanization has deviated from this pattern. Many developing countries have high rates of urbanization with little significant industry. What has driven the urbanization process in
these countries, in the absence of industry? If their cities have a different origin, does it matter for economic development?
Our major hypothesis is that technological advances in both urban housing (e.g., elevators, high-rise buildings and skyscrapers) and urban transportation (e.g., electric and underground railways, motor buses, private cars and highways) have allowed cities to become much larger for developing countries since the mid-20th century. In particular, these new technologies have allowed cities to absorb more people, whether “vertically” (in tall residential and office buildings) or “horizontally” (by accelerating suburbanization and/or creating polycentric cities).
Prakash Loungani (Senior Manager of the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prakash_Loungani), Professor Anthony Yezer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Yezer) and I (http://home.gwu.edu/~jedwab/) want to use a theoretical model of urban economics and empirical methods to document and quantify the role of these
new technologies in the fast urbanization of the developing world. For this project, we need to collect data on the evolution of these technologies and cities across space and over time. In particular, we need to
find data on the respective evolution of: (i) elevator speeds, (ii) building heights, (iii) modes of urban transportation, (iv) city sizes, (v) city shapes, (vi) buildable area, (vii) housing, (viii) slums, (ix) GDP and wages, and (x) prices, for enough cities in the world over time. With this data at our disposal, we will be able to use our model to simulate the effects of these technological changes on the fast growth of cities, in
developed countries where these technologies are widely used, but also in developing countries where these technologies are increasingly used.
Lastly, we will ask whether cities in developing countries are really “inefficient” today. As of now, most cities in developing countries are very spread out, so they are more horizontal than vertical. But for these
cities to become taller, and potentially more sustainable, they will need elevators that work, meaning fewer power failures than they currently experience. These questions are especially important for governments in developing countries, as they have to deal with the very fast growth of their cities and the associated problems of slum expansion and traffic jams. We will present the results of this research at the seminars and conferences of various multilateral and bilateral aid agencies in Washington D.C., as they are particularly interested in learning how to help developing countries with their urban issues. One of the team members is the Senior Manager of the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund, so that is a great opportunity for any student interested in international development.
Duties: The RA will help us collect data on the respective evolution of: (i) elevator speeds, (ii) building heights, (iii) modes of urban transportation, (iv) city sizes, (v) city shapes, (vi) buildable area, (vii) housing, (viii) slums, (ix) GDP and wages, and (x) prices, for enough cities in the world over time. The RA will help us find historical sources (encyclopedias, books, academic articles, etc.) documenting these for some cities and some years, and compile the information in excel files that we will then use to establish some stylized facts and determine parameters that we will use in our analysis. In terms of time commitment/credits, both 4-6 hours per week (2 credits) and 7-9 hours per week (3 credits) work.
Time commitment: 4-6 hours per week (average)
Credit hour option*: 2
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: jedwab@gwu.edu
*If credit is sought, all registration deadlines and requirements must be met.  Students selected to be research assistants should contact Catherine Chandler at cbrady@gwu.edu whether they intend to pursue credit or not.

Professor: Theo Christov
Department: Honors/History/Elliott School
Title: Global Governance and the Idea of a World State, 1850-1950
Description: The proposed project lays the foundations for a book project on the idea of global governance in the period 1850-1950, when proposals supporting the creation of governing institutions that would be supranational and universal emerged. Many of these proposals advanced the creation of a global political order, where governments shared sovereignty with some sort of a new world state, and where nation-states were no longer capable of responding to the demands of the modern world. The project involves creating an extensive bibliography on the subject by generating an extensive set of summaries/abstracts of articles and books.
Duties: The RA will be responsible for reading books and chapters and summarizing the main points in an extensive bibliographical set. Readings will be drawn mostly from history, political theory, and international relations. The preferred candidate will have some familiarity with history and international relations. The RA should have critical thinking and analytical skills necessary to identify relevant research material, read through it, systematize it, and provide a succinct abstract of numerous articles and book. Attention to detail in reading, creativity in writing and interest in developing a research agenda will be considered major assets. Depending on interest and availability of the RA, I will certainly consider a credit hour option.
Time commitment: 4-6 hours per week (average)
Credit hour option*: 2
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: christov@gwu.edu
*If credit is sought, all registration deadlines and requirements must be met.  Students selected to be research assistants should contact Catherine Chandler at cbrady@gwu.edu whether they intend to pursue credit or not.