Maya Marie Van Nuys
Maya Van Nuys is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Vassar College beginning Fall 2026. She specializes in international relations (IR) and comparative politics with an emphasis on international security, global governance, and policing.
After receiving her PhD in Political Science from the University of Chicago in 2025, Dr. Van Nuys was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. Working at the intersection of international relations (IR) and comparative politics, her research critically assesses international security, global governance, and policing to explore conflict dynamics and state-building.
Her book project, Reforming Policing, Reproducing Power: The Global Governance of Domestic Policing, explores the parameters of international norms for policing. Putting critical policing studies in anthropology, sociology, and history into conversation with IR, the book argues that there is a decoupling between international policing standards and the actual policies and practices of reforms, particularly in post-conflict states outside of the West.
Research and Academic Interests
- International Security
- Policing and Criminal Justice
- Critical International Relations
Departments and Programs
Courses
- POLI 365 Policing From a Global Perspective
Selected Publications
- Carson, A., Min, E., & Van Nuys, M. (2024). Racial Tropes in the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: A Computational Text Analysis. International Organization, 78(2), 189–223. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818324000146
- Van Nuys, M. (Forthcoming 2026). Better or Best? International Organizations and the Production of Norms in Transnational Policing. In S. Schrader & J. Go (Eds.), The Imperial Entanglements of Policing. Duke University Press.
Grants, Fellowships, Honors, Awards
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University
- Neubauer Family Distinguished Doctoral Fellowship
Photos
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