CV
Contact Information
mason.auten@vanderbilt.edu- Web
- https://mason-auten.github.io
- GitHub
- https://github.com/Mason-auten
- Location
- Nashville, TN, United States
Education
- Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Ph.D. in Political Science, Expected 2028.
Advisor: Prof. Brenton Kenkel.
Primary Field: International Relations.
Research Interests: State formation, state capacity, and historical political economy. - University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO
B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies, 2021-2023.
Thesis: "The Eroding Nuclear Taboo".
Graduated Summa Cum Laude.
Awards: President's List (multiple semesters).
National Security Scholars Program (Member, 2021-2023).
Research Experience
- Research Assistant, Vanderbilt University
2025-2026.
Supervisor: Prof. Brenton Kenkel.
State building, conflict, and formal modeling. - Research Assistant, Vanderbilt University
Spring 2024.
Supervisor: Prof. Andres Gannon.
Arms, programming, GitHub-based workflows, and quantitative methods in R. - Research Assistant, Vanderbilt University
2023-2024.
Supervisor: Prof. Brett Benson.
International security and multiparty conflict. - Organizer, Online Peace Science Colloquium (OPSC)
2024-Present.
Managing logistics, coordinating speakers, and facilitating discussions.
Working Papers
Conference Presentations and Talks
The Foreign Politics of State-Making: Endogenous Power Shifts and the Logic of External Influence
Conference paper at 83rd Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL
Teaching Experience
Fellowships and Grants
- Graduate Research Fellowship, Vanderbilt University, 2023-Present.
Workshops and Seminars
- Conflict Workshop, Vanderbilt University — Discussant and Presenter, 2023-Present.
- IR Graduate Student Workshop, Vanderbilt University — Presenter, 2024-Present.
- Online Peace Science Colloquium (OPSC) — Organizer, 2024-Present.
Skills
- Programming: R, Python, LaTeX
- Methodologies: Quantitative methods, formal modeling
Service
- Graduate Student Workshop Planner, Graduate Student Association, Vanderbilt University, 2024-2025.
References
Available upon request.