Athens, Ga. – Regan Damron, a Ph.D. candidate in political science in the School of Public and International Affairs, recently took the grand prize in the Graduate Student Paper Competition at the International Studies Association (ISA) southern regional conference.

Damron’s paper, titled “At the Nexus of Social Capital and Postmaterialist Values: The case for Theoretical Convergence,” was based on research for his Master’s thesis, which he earned in December 2004 from the University of Georgia.  He presented the paper to a panel titled “Conceptualizing Global Change” at the conference, which was held in Miami, FL on November 3-5, 2005.

Presently, Damron is a research associate at the Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS) and an instructor for POLS 2000 (Introduction to Political Science).  After he completes his comprehensive exams this fall and finishes his dissertation, he plans to pursue a tenure-track teaching position at a research university and serve as a consultant to international development groups.