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Dr. Ryan Brasher

Dr. Ryan Brasher

Associate Professor of Political Science

Biography

Before joining Simpson University in 2021, Ryan taught at Forman Christian College in Pakistan for 7 years, lived in Indiana, Afghanistan, South Carolina, Sweden, Finland, and Chicago, and was born and grew up in Germany. He loves interacting with students and learning from their experiences, both in larger introductory classes and in smaller seminars with all Political Science majors. His research focuses on a number of issues across Central and South Asia: ethnic identity in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, how Political Islam has shaped the region, how Pakistani Christians think about their national identity, domestic factors shaping Pakistan’s foreign policy, as well as the plight of millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
 

Education

  • PhD, Indiana University, Bloomington (2014)
  • MA, Columbia International University (2003)
  • BA, Wheaton College (2001)

Publications

  • The Afghan Patchwork State: Political Ideology, Infrastructural Power, and the Critical Juncture of 1929. (2024)
    Palgrave Macmillan
  • "Domestic Politics and Structural Constraints: Pakistan and its South Asian Neighbors 1." (2022)
    In Routledge Handbook of the International Relations of South Asia, pp. 275-288. Routledge
  • "Pride and abstention: National identity, uncritical patriotism and political engagement among Christian students in Pakistan." (2020)
    South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 43, no. 1 (2020): 84-100.