Raj Patel, Chair for Research Students
Ph.D. Candidate, Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, School of Arts & Sciences
M. Phil., University of Cambridge
M.P.P., George Washington University
B.A., George Washington University
Raj Patel is GAPSA's 2016-2017 Chair for Research Students. As the Chair for Research Council, he is committed to advocating on behalf of all the research students across the University.
Raj is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Philosophy. He is currently a Benjamin Franklin Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and an Adam Smith Fellow at the George Mason University. He is originally from London, UK. Most recently, he worked on a joint anti-corruption project in Nigeria with the UK Department for International Development and the Chatham House for International Affairs. He has also been involved in projects with the Global Insights Initiative at the World Bank. Before coming to Penn, he received an M. Phil. from the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, UK. He also worked at the US Department for Homeland Security before beginning his academic career.
His academic research interests lie in the intersection of politics and the social sciences. These interests stem from an underlying question: why do inefficient or pernicious social practices persist, and how can we go about changing them? His broader dissertation research focuses on the relationship between social science and public policy. In particular, he's interested in how social science currently informs public policy under democratic governance, and how social scientific information is mediated in the policy process. His work aims to find ways to improve public policy through the appropriate application of social science.
If you are graduate research student, and have questions or suggestions regarding GAPSA, please feel free to contact Raj at gapsa.research@gmail.com.