Richard Nielsen

Richard Nielsen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science. He holds a PhD in Government (2013) and an AM in Statistics (2010) from Harvard University, and a BA in Political Science (2007) from Brigham Young University. He studies and teaches on Islam, political violence, human rights, economic development, and research design. His dissertation, The Lonely Jihadist: Weak Networks and the Radicalization of Muslim Clerics, explored why some Muslim clerics adopt the ideology of militant Jihad while most do not. Some of his other research is published or forthcoming in The American Journal of Political Science, International Studies Quarterly, Political Analysis, and Sociological Methods and Research.