Dona Roy is a Ph.D. candidate studying international relations and judicial politics.  Originally from India, Dona graduate from Women's Christian College in Chennai, India with a BA in history in 2001.  She then chose to pursue further studies in the United States and graduated summa cum laude with a BA in politics from Converse College in Spartanburg, SC in 2003.  She is currently working towards the completion of her dissertation.

Dona's primary field of interest is international relations with an emphasis on human rights, conflict processes and institutional behavior.  She is currently researching the effect of judicial independence on state repression of human rights.  Her dissertation will focus on the development of legal institutions in post-conflict areas after the breakdown of authority.  Because of a strong interest in judicial politics, she has also worked on and presented papers dealing with the behavior of American Supreme Court Justices.

Dona also teaches the following undergraduate courses here at USC.

*  Controversies in World Politics
*  Introduction to International Relations
*  Contemporary U.S. Foreign Policy

Her classes are a combination of lecture and discussion with an aim to develop critical thinking and analytical skills among the students.

Dona can be contacted via email at donaroy@sc.edu.  She also maintains personal webspace here.