William O’Brochta, Ph.D.

Political Scientist

I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas Lutheran University and Director of Professional Development for the American Political Science Association Civic Engagement Section. I invite students in my classes to become engaged citizens where they learn transferrable critical thinking, research, and writing skills; collaboration and teamwork; and community engagement. My research seeks to understand how identity and representation shape relationships between political elites and the public and when these interactions turn violent. I use a mix of survey, experimental, observational, and qualitative techniques to study these questions, particularly in the Global South. My work has been published in the British Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, Governance, and Political Research Quarterly, among other outlets. I earned a B.A. from Hendrix College and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis.