Rate My Professor Kristina Mani

Kristina Mani is Professor of Politics and Chair of the Department of Politics at Oberlin College. She earned a BSFS cum laude in Diplomatic History from Georgetown University in 1991, an MA in Political Science from Columbia University in 1996, and a PhD in Political Science from Columbia University in 2004. She joined Oberlin College in 2003 as Assistant Professor of Politics, advancing to Associate Professor in 2011 and full Professor in 2021. Previously, she was Visiting Instructor in the Department of International Relations at Lehigh University from 2002 to 2003. Mani chaired Oberlin’s Latin American Studies program from 2015 to 2017 and 2018 to 2021. She teaches courses in international relations and Latin American politics, including Introduction to International Politics and topical courses on transitional justice and transnational actors. Additionally, since 2020, she has mentored high school students on undergraduate-level research projects in international politics through Oberlin’s partnership with Pioneer Academics.

Professor Mani’s research examines the relationships between domestic political change and regional security in Latin America, including how processes of democratization and democratic consolidation affect elite political learning and historical memory of conflict and cooperation. Her current projects focus on Latin American militaries as influential economic actors, with implications for military autonomy and professionalism across Central and South America. She authored the book Democratization and Military Transformation in Argentina and Chile: Rethinking Rivalry (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011). Selected publications include “Military Entrepreneurs: Patterns in Latin America” (Latin American Politics and Society, 2011), “Honduras: All-Purpose Militarization” (Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, 2021), “Toward a Citizen Soldier Paradigm? Assessing Three Decades of Civil-Military Relations in Argentina” (Geopolitics, History, and International Relations, 2017), and chapters in Research Handbook on Civil-Military Relations (Edward Elgar, 2024) and Governing the Military: The Armed Forces under Democracy in Chile (Manchester University Press, 2024). Her work has appeared in journals such as Armed Forces and Society and Bulletin of Latin American Research. Mani has received the Best Paper Award from the Latin American Studies Association’s Defense, Democracy, and Public Security section (2012), GLCA New Directions Initiative grants (2012-2013), Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grants (2009, 2016), and Oberlin College research and travel grants. She has consulted for think tanks including Transparency International, Providing for Peacekeeping, RESDAL, and the Christian Michelsen Institute.