Ajay Verghese

Today's conundrum: "The proper concepts are needed to formulate a good theory, but we need a good theory to arrive at the proper concepts." - Abraham Kaplan, Conduct of Inquiry.

Are you interested in the study of religion but tired of reading about Christianity? Boy do I have the article for you! Now under review.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

I hope one day the Wilson Center, where I worked last summer, will be back but I fear it will not.
thehill.com/opinion/inte...

🧵 Today's revocation of Harvard's ability to enroll international is awful for many reasons, chief among them the human cost as @jeremywallace.bsky.social notes. It's also an attack on the US economy. But maybe less obvious: it is terrible national security policy. It makes Americans less safe. 1/

Just reposting this, for no reason at all

Divided Supreme Court Rejects Bid for Religious Charter School in Oklahoma

Some good news for secularism in America:
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...

Truly an incredible post. Calling on economists, political scientists and sociologists working on corruption to please share your favourite corruption papers so we can help the NYT get up to speed on concepts and measurements in this field.

Was trying to do one of those revelatory "Failure CVs" but it basically just looked like my actual CV, I don't understand this exercise?

Happy May Day!

Happy to announce that the Fulbright Program still exists, and that I won a Fulbright Flex to travel to India for fieldwork over the next several years. The program is open for next year too, so think about applying!

One piece of advice about my research pipeline that I've always been given is: have multiple irons in the fire. But I really work best doing one thing at a time, often for weeks or months at a time. So maybe this advice isn't for everyone.

Happy first birthday to my article submission to [will potentially reveal journal name in the future to shame them]! A whole year, my baby is growing up.

New seminar this fall:

I'm not using social media much these days but I'm breaking the hiatus to say RIP David Lynch, one of my favorite directors. A true visionary, there was no one else like him.

Our department at Scripps College in California is hiring a tenure-track position in global politics, review starting this fall. Open to those who are more cross-disciplinary in their work, and to PhDs in adjacent disciplines. Please circulate! #polisky

www.scrippscollege.edu/hr/faculty/t...

New paper on how to conceptualize and measure Hindu religiosity, been working on this one for several years. Feedback welcome!
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Revised and resubmitted -- an updated version of my paper on studying history like an experiment: "Randomized Controlled History?" papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Trying to thread that needle of raising my daughters to question male authority -- except for me, right now.

Congrats!

Thank you for a post this heartwarming!

Solo parenting an almost-one year old tonight, thinking of watching Rosemary's Baby with her. Good idea?

What if I prefer swearing?

Congrats Drew!!

I know I'm supposed to be scared of AI, but when my phone has no autocorrect suggestions for the mysterious word "Frday," I feel a bit better.

[During a timeout]
Four-year old: "Do you still love me?"
Me: "Yes, even when I give you a timeout I still love you."
Four-year old: "And even when I punch you, I still love you."

Stunned to learn that "two-way fixed effects" is not a band but some kind of regression thingie.

Masks are off in Miami-Dade. Masks are in the trash can. There are no more masks.

Yeah, I would hope there is a room for both but the forecasters came in with such arrogance and it's amazing to see them all become pundits.

Election forecasters 15 years ago: "Punditry is stupid. We need data-driven scientific analysis!"

Election forecasters now: "Our model shows it will be either a slim GOP victory or a slim Dem victory, but a Dem blowout is also possible. My vibes tell me..."