Shelley Liu is an Adjunct Professor in the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy, as well as an Assistant Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy. Her primary research and teaching focuses on issues relating to conflict, development, and state-building in fragile political contexts. Her ongoing research projects examine (1) how war shapes politics and development, (2) citizen agency in state legibility projects, and (3) the determinants of polarization, politicization, and disengagement. Liu’s research has been published in the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Peace Research, PLOS ONE, Politics & Society, and World Politics.
Prior to joining Duke faculty, Liu was an assistant professor at UC Berkeley, Goldman School of Public Policy. She holds a PhD in government from Harvard University (2020).