December 2012 JAIMIE BLECK 217 O'Shaughnessy Hall jbleck@nd.edu Notre Dame, IN 46556 (202)445-1505 (Cell) EDUCATION 2011 PhD, Government, Cornell University 2008 MA, Government, Cornell University 2003 BA, Political Science, University of Chicago ACADEMIC POSITIONS 2011 Ford Family Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame PUBLICATIONS Valence Issues in African Elections: Navigating Uncertainty and the Weight of the Past, with Nicolas van de Walle. 2012. Comparative Political Studies (published online). (Impact Factor: 1.604; Ranking: 17/149 in Political Science) Parties and Issues in Francophone West Africa: Towards a Theory of Non-Mobilization, with Nicolas van de Walle. 2011. Democratization 18(5): 1125-1145. (Impact Factor 0.725) (To be republished by Routledge as part of an edited book - Political Opposition in Sub-Saharan Africa.) Mali, 2012. In Analysis of Democratic Governance: Countries in the Crossroads 2011, Ed. Jake Dizard, Freedom House: 383-404. GRANTS 2012 NSF Seed Grant ($25,000) Spencer Foundation Research Grant ($40,000) Honorable Mention 2011 Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics ($500) USAID contribution of equipment for Good Morning Timbuktu Research Project ($4,500) ISLA Large Biennial Grant ($8,375.00) ISLA Small Research Grant ($2,500) 2011 Notre Dame Kellogg Institute Research Grant ($9992) ISLA Small Research Grant ($2,500) APSA Study of Women and Politics Research Grant ($1,114) 2010 LaFeber Grant for Co-authored Paper with Nicolas van de Walle 2009 Cornell Einaudi Institute Summer Travel Grant Cornell Graduate School Travel Grant APSA Africa Workshop Fellow Research Grant 1
2008 LaFeber Grant for Africa and Central Asia Conference 2007 Contentious Politics Pre-dissertation Research Grant HONORS/FELLOWSHIPS 2012 Lynne Rienner Best Dissertation Award in African Politics 2011 2010 Houston I. Flournoy Graduate Fellow 2009 APSA Africa Workshop Fellow Boren Fellow, National Security Education Program Cornell Peace Studies Fellow Institute for Social Science Inequality Project Fellow 2007 Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship for Portuguese Working Papers Schooling Citizens: Education and Empowered Citizenship in Mali, Book Manuscript, Under Review Johns Hopkins University Press. Education for All? Education for Whom? Education for What? with Mody Bouboucar Guindo. Revise and Resubmit, Development in Practice Islamic Schooling in Malian Democracy: Disaggregating Parents Political Behavior. Under Review, Journal of Modern African Studies Out of Africa: Electoral failure and the future of political Islam in West Africa with David Siddhartha Patel. Preparing for submission Good Morning Timbuktu: The Impact of Radio on Democratic Citizenship Skills in Rural Islamic Africa, with Kristin Michelitch. Preparing for submission Public Opinion in the Aftermath of the Malian Coup and Insurgency with Kristin Michelitch. Preparing for submission. PROFESSIONAL SERVICE Education Section Chair, African Studies Association, Fall 2012 Conference African Politics Conference Group Best Article Committee 2012 Conference Co-organizer, Research Frontiers in African Politics, University of Florida, 2010 Conference Co-organizer, The Politics of Africa and Central Asia, Cornell, Fall 2008 Reviewer: British Journal of Political Science, The Canadian Journal of African Studies, Lynne Rienner Press, World Development, National Science Foundation 2
SELECTED CONFERENCES AND PRESENTATIONS Mali Briefings: USAID, April 2012 The World Bank, May 2012 The State Department, October 2012 Malian Elections Roundtable, Columbia University Institute for African Studies, April 2012. Out of Africa: Electoral failure and the future of political Islam in West Africa with David Siddhartha Patel. Presented at the Yale Democracy with Edge Conference July 2012, Midwestern Political Science Association April 2012 and the American Political Science Association Annual Conference in August 2011. Gooood Morning Timbuktu: The Impact of Access to Radio on Political Mobilization, with Kristin Michelitch. Presented at Mid West Group in African Political Economy at Northwestern University in December 2011; Contemporary African Political Economy Research Seminar, Columbia, November 2011 (Co-author Presented); Yale Experimental Research Working Group, October 2011 (Co-author Presented) Education, Citizenship, and Democracy in Mali. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC, September 2010, NYU/Columbia Contemporary African Political Economy Research Seminar (CAPERS), May 2010, and Cornell Institute for African Development March 2010. The Meaning of Alternation: Big Men, Democratization, and Informal Power in African Elections, with Pablo Yanguas. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago, April 2010 and Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association in Chicago, November 2008. Education for All, Education for Whom, with Bouboucar Mody Guindo. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, New Orleans February 2010. Politiki Manye: Malian Perceptions of Politics. Presented at Research Frontiers in African Politics at the University of Florida, January 2010. Political Issues in Francophone West Africa, with Nicolas van de Walle. Presented at the Democratization and Political Opposition Conference in Nairobi, November 2009. Decentralized Social Services and Electoral Participation in Nascent Democracies. Presented at APSA Africa at University of Legon, Ghana, July 2009. 3
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE Good Morning Timbuktu: Solar Radio Experiment, Ongoing, Mopti Region and Bamako, Mali Developed and pre-tested three survey instruments using I-touch and MP3s Conducted over 1600 three-panel surveys in 10 villages in rural, Northern Mali Manage weekly data collection by 6 Malian RAs Trained 25 enumerators on survey instrument, methodology, and i-touch data collection Dissertation Research, January November 2009 and July August 2007, Mali Conducted 1000 household surveys in Kayes, Bamako, Sikasso and Timbouctou Collected GPS data on 400 households to track proximity to schools Conducted 450 Exit Polls during Municipal Elections in Bamako March 2009 Gathered Malian Government voting data at the commune level for all elections Conducted 200 interviews with university students Conducted 50 interviews with teachers, ministry officials, parents, and school directors Trained four Malian research assistants on research methods and survey implementation Undergraduate Thesis Research, July September 2002, Mali Interviewed members of women s associations in Bamako TEACHING EXPERIENCE COURSES: Field Research Methods (grad) Spring 2012 Globalization in Africa (undergrad) Fall 2011, Fall 2012 Democracy and Citizenship in Africa (undergrad) Fall 2011 Education, Citizenship, and Democracy (undergrad) Fall 2012 SENIOR THESIS ADVISING: Adam Cowden (2012), Tara Lucian (2013) PREVIOUS TEACHING EXPERIENCE: Teaching Assistant and Instructor, Cornell University. 2008-2010 Introduction to International Relations (IR) and Introduction to IR Writing Seminar OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE Sahel Analyst, Freedom House, 2009-20110 Researched and wrote country evaluations for five countries for 2010 Report Writing country evaluations for six countries for the 2011 Report Monitoring and Evaluation, Winrock International, 2011, Mali and Nigeria Conducted monitoring and evaluation surveys for USAID s Farmer to Farmer Program in 10 States in Nigeria and 3 regions in Mali Consultant, Care International, 2008 4
Wrote literature review to guide CARE s Planned Governance Initiative Advised CARE staff on how to undertake Good Governance Project Review Consultant, World Bank, 2008 Wrote a Case Study Evaluation of the World Bank s PSIA on the Cotton Sector in Mali Consultant, Winrock International, December 2007-January 2008, Juba, Sudan Worked with local NGO, Sudan Women s Action Network, to build their mentoring and administrative capacity. Program Assistant, Africa Education Initiative, Winrock International, January 2004-July 2006, Arlington, VA Primary point of contact for 20 African NGOs administering 20,000 scholarships Responsible for capacity training with NGO partners, monitoring and evaluation, and briefing local stakeholders, US Ambassadors, USAID staff and host-country Ministry officials LANGUAGE AND RESEARCH SKILLS Language: Highly Proficient in French; Proficient in Bambara; Competent in Portuguese Computer: Stata, Excel, Powerpoint AFRICA COUNTRY EXPERIENCE: Angola, Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, and Sudan (Southern) 5