I am a Research Fellow at the University of Michigan. I was previously an Assistant Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
My research spans comparative politics, the political economy of development, education politics, and public policy. I have a regional focus on South Asia, with comparative work in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. I am interested in the effects of education on citizen-state relations, political participation and socialization, and bureaucratic politics.
My work has been supported by the Spencer Foundation, the Lemann Fund, and the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) and has won awards from the Comparative International Education Society.I teach classes on education politics, the political economy of development, and the use of data in international development.
I received my Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania, and my B.A. in political science and economics from Stanford University.
You can reach me at eeemda@umich.edu and I am frequently inactive @eeemda.bsky.social