Two new tenure-track faculty members joined the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences (EPPS) at The University of Texas at Dallas this year with expertise in macroeconomics and global trends of political repression.

Dr. Irina Panovska, associate professor of economics, is interested in business cycles, fiscal and monetary policy analysis, and jobless recoveries. Dr. Rebecca Cordell, assistant professor of political science, focuses on global conflict and human rights violations.

Dr. Jennifer S. Holmes

“These two hires help address critical policy issues facing the United States and other countries, from trade-offs between security and human rights or understanding the dynamics of business cycles,” said Dr. Jennifer S. Holmes, professor of political science, public policy and political economy and recently appointed dean of the school. “Dr. Panovska is a rising star in empirical macroeconomics. She was elected to the executive committee of the Society for Nonlinear Dynamics and Econometrics, and we are confident she will contribute to EPPS’ strength in quantitative analysis through her work in time series and nonlinear econometrics.

“Dr. Cordell adds to our strategic core, specifically through her interests in repression, renditions, human rights violations and international security cooperation. She will contribute to EPPS’ strength in quantitative analysis through her work in machine learning and the development of measurement tools. Dr. Cordell will also lend us her expertise in our proposed Master of Science in cybersecurity, technology and policy. Both Dr. Panovska and Dr. Cordell have been previously recognized for outstanding teaching. We are fortunate to have them join us.”

The School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences encompasses seven programs: criminology and criminal justice, economics, geospatial information sciences, political science, public policy and political economy, public and nonprofit management, and sociology.

 

New Tenure-Track Faculty

Dr. Irina Panovska

Dr. Irina Panovska, associate professor of economics

Previously: assistant professor at Lehigh University; visiting scholar at the University of New South Wales and at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Zagreb in Croatia

Research Interests: macroeconomics, time series analysis, nonlinear business cycles

Quote: “I study the performance, structure, behavior and decision-making of an economy as a whole. It is fascinating to work on the understanding of economywide events such as the total amount of goods and services produced, the level of unemployment and the overall behavior of prices, as well as nonlinear models of the business cycle. I study why and how the nature of expansions and recessions has changed, and how the effects of macroeconomic policy change over time. In addition, given the policy-focused nature of my work, I am very excited to be joining UTD’s School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences in particular. I am impressed with the school’s large group of faculty members doing both theoretical and empirical policy-focused work across the entire spectrum of social sciences.”

 

Dr. Rebecca Cordell

Dr. Rebecca Cordell, assistant professor of political science

Previously: postdoctoral research associate, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University

Research Interests: state repression, political violence, human rights and international security cooperation

Quote: “In much of my research, I focus on the question: Which factors determine whether a government engages in repression and to what extent? The sensitive and secret nature of human rights violations makes it difficult to study these dynamics directly. I use statistical and computational techniques to overcome this measurement challenge and test new theories that can explain the causes, dynamics and consequences of repression. My research includes projects on national security and human rights trade-offs, and measuring and explaining subnational variation in repression across space and time. I chose UTD because of its reputation for producing rigorous social scientific research and for its students that are passionate about solving real-world problems using tools from political science.”

 

New Faculty Series

News Center is publishing profiles of tenured and tenure-track professors who have recently joined the University. The following school profiles have been published: