William O’Brochta, Ph.D.

Political Scientist

I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas Lutheran University. 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 developing nations. I earned a B.A. from Hendrix College and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis.