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Felicity Vabulas Faculty Profile

Felicity Vabulas

Associate Professor of International Studies
International Studies and Languages Division, Seaver College
PLC 196

Biography

Dr. Vabulas earned her PhD and MPP in public policy from the University of Chicago. She earned her BS in business administration from the University of Illinois. Dr. Vabulas' doctoral dissertation is entitled "Enhancing Monitoring and Enforcement in Intergovernmental Organizations: When and Why States Grant Consultative Status to NGOs." At the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, Vabulas taught classes on international organizations, foreign policy, research methods, and five practicum classes on global policy. Her research focuses on the political economy of international organizations and foreign lobbying. She has three ongoing research projects. Her first project examines when and why states exit international organizations (IOs). This set of papers investigates both suspensions as a multilateral diplomatic sanctioning tool as well as unilateral IO withdrawals (like Brexit). Her second project studies states' increasing use of informal intergovernmental organizations such as the G7 and G20 rather than traditional IOs with treaties and permanent secretariats. Her third research project examines how foreign lobbying affects U.S. foreign policy including how it alters human rights, trade, and foreign aid allocations. This research includes work published in the Review of International Organizations, International Studies Quarterly, and multiple edited volume chapters.

Education

  • PhD, Public Policy, The University of Chicago, 2013

 

Articles

Edited Volume Chapters

  • 2021. Informality in International Political Economy. Chapter for the 2021 Oxford Handbook of International Political Economy. Jon Pevehouse and Leonard Seabrooke (ed.)
  • 2019. Transnational Administration in Informal International Organizations. Handbook on Global Policy and Transnational Administration (Oxford University Press). Kimberly Moloney & Diane Stone (ed.)
  • 2019. Rational Choice and the G20. G20 and International Relations Theory. Stephen Slaughter (ed.)
  • 2013. Consultative and Observer Status of NGOs in Intergovernmental Organizations. Bob Reinalda (ed.) Handbook of International Organization 2013, Routledge: London.
  • Seaver College Pandemic Research Recovery Grant, 2021-22 (with Amanda Rizkallah)

  • Pepperdine University Endowed Fellowship, 2020/21

  • University College London’s Global Engagement Fund: 2020/21 (with Inken von Borzyskowski).

  • Rethinking Multilateralism for the Post-COVID Era Grant: 2021 (administered by Vijayendra Rao (World Bank), JP Singh (George Mason University), and Michael Woolcock (World Bank))

  • Academic Exchange trip to Israel and Palestine, December 6-16 2019

  • International Studies Association Committee Grant for the Workshop on International Organization Dissolution, June 18-19 2019 in Zurich, Switzerland.

  • International Studies Association at UNAI: "The United Nations at 75" event series; Grant for the Workshop on UN Financing, Fall 2020 in New York, NY

  • Dean's Research Grant: Spring 2019
  • International Studies Association Committee Grant for the Workshop on International Organization Dissolution, June 18-19 in Zurich, Switzerland

  • International Studies Association at UNAI: "The United Nations at 75" event series; Grant for the Workshop on UN Financing, Fall 2020 in New York, NY

  • Winner of the 2015-2016 University Professional & Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) Excellence in Teaching Award
  • International Studies Association Travel Grant, February 2015
  • National Science Foundation Grant 1023967 (PI: Jon Pevehouse): Foreign Interest Groups and American Foreign Policy, August 2010
  • P.E.O. Scholar Award, P.E.O. International, August 2011-June 2012
  • University of Chicago: Doolittle-Harrison Conference Award, March 2011, November 2009
  • University of Chicago: Program on Political Institutions Conference Award, March 2011, September 2009
  • University of Chicago: Program on Political Institutions, Graduate Fellow, 2008-2009
  • Harris School of Public Policy Studies: Women in Public Policy Conference Fund Grant, Spring 2012, Winter 2011, Spring 2010, Fall 2009, Spring 2008
  • University of Chicago: Program on Political Institutions, Research Grant (with Boris Shor), 2007

Areas of Expertise

  • International Organizations
  • Global Governance
  • U.S. Foreign Policy

Topics

  • Democratization
  • Diplomacy
  • Global Governance
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • International Political Economy
  • International Relations
  • Lobbying
  • NGOs
  • Research Design
  • US Foreign Policy

Courses

  • INTS 344: International Relations
  • INTS 351: The Global Economy

  • INTS 452: Intelligence Analysis

  • INTS 497: Capstone