I am a Phd candidate in the Department of Political Science at the Ohio State University, majoring in International Relations and minoring in political methodology.  My research focuses on the intersection of religion and international politics, specifically religion and conflict.  I am interested in studying religiously-motivated actors as rational actors, and how the use of religion complicates, transforms, and shapes the conflict bargaining of political actors. I differentiate political actors who use religion as zealot, instrumentalist, or enigma, and focus on how their use of religion creates uncertainty over the extent to which espoused religious views represent the real incentive and constraints of a political actor. For more details, please see the Religion and Conflict page.

At Ohio State, I am, have, or will be teaching the following undergraduate classes: If God be on our  side: Exploring Religion, Conflict, and War (PS597.1); Introduction to International Politics (PS145); China and the World (PS597.1). I have also taught a graduate class "Teaching Political Science Graduate Seminar" (PS795). For the 2011-2012 academic year, I am an Ohio State Teaching Enhancement Graduate Teaching Fellow and the Graduate Teaching Coordinator in the Department of Political Science. For more details, please see my Teaching page.

Previously, I studied at the American University (Washington DC) and the University of Chicago. For more details, see my CV page. Details on my unpublished research is found on the Other Research page while previous published articles are found on my Publications page.

I was born in Taiwan, but have since lived in Singapore, Boston, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Washington DC, London, Chicago, and now Columbus, Ohio. Besides English, I am also fluent in conversational Mandarin. Outside of school, I am interested in both kinds of football (big New England Patriots and Manchester United fan), photography, religion, travel, cooking, and spending time with my wife Christina.  

I can be reached at wu.639@osu.edu or joshua.s.wu@gmail.com


| Site updated: January 18, 2012 |