Stephen Joiner

Education:
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Milligan College (2014)
Masters in Political Science, Univerisity of Kentucky (2017)
Biography:

Stephen Joiner is a fifth year graduate student at the University of Kentucky in the area of International Relations and Comparative Politics.

Stephen currently serves as the Head Teaching Assistant for the Political Science Department at UK.

During his time at UK, Stephen has solo taught PS 230 International Relations, PS 210 Comparative Politics, PS 101 American Government, and PS 372 Political Science Research methods. Each class consisted of approximately 60 students. Stephen enjoys using fun and innovative techniques in his classrooms, including running simulations of United Nations meetings, active research sessions, and designing interesting classroom and homework assignments to enhance student learning. In addition to solo teaching, Stephen also has experience as a teaching assistant, as well as an assistant for grading and assignment design.

Research Interests:
International Relations
Comparative Politics
Interstate Conflict
Alliances
Military Coalitions
Availability

Fall 2018 office hours: 1:00-2:00pm MWF or by appointment

Research

Stephen's research interests revolve around interstate conflict. He is currently working on a project regarding alliances and challenger decision making. Another set of projects Stephen is working on involves military coalitions, their formation, and their command structures. Stephen is investigating how coalitions form the way they do, including asking why/when coalitions choose suboptimal command structures over strategically superior options during war, and is working on this project from both a quantitative and a qualitative angle. This latter project is part of Stephen's dissertation at UK.

Selected Publications:

Fall 2018 - Johnson, Jesse and Stephen Joiner - "Power Changes, Alliance Credibility, and Deterrence" Accepted for publication at Conflict Management and Peace Science