I am Ibrahim Chiu (he/him), a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities (2022–present), specializing in comparative politics and methodology.
My research interest lies in religion and politics, particularly the impact of modernization and its backlashes, and how religions adapt to or resist modernity. My core topics are political Islam, religious-right, political violence, and the intersection of religion and ethnicity. Currently, I serve as a research assistant to my advisor Dr. Kathleen Collins, examining Jihadism and Islamic radicalization in the Middle East and Central Asia.
In terms of methodology, I focus on mixed methods and causal inference. My work involves employing statistical techniques to triangulate causal hypotheses derived from qualitative research, conducting causal inference analyses using time-series cross-sectional (TSCS) data from large-scale surveys like Asian Barometers, and utilizing spatial data to assess the causal effects of conflicts and policies.
Prior to starting my life in Twin Cities, I was a policy researcher at an education think tank while lecturing in the humanities at several private institutions in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. I earned my BA in 2017 and my MA in 2020, both from the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taipei, Taiwan.
Beyond research and teaching, I am a fan of the Fubon Guardians (since 2003, formerly the Sinon Bulls) baseball team in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) of Taiwan, and an amateur baseball player. Additionally, I have been trained for more than a decade as a classical pianist. Born in Taitung, Taiwan, I consider Taipei, Taiwan, where I grew up, my hometown.