Dr. McCauley's research focuses on the political economy of development, ethnic and religious conflict, informal institutions, and extremist violence in Africa. He has published articles on these topics in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, the British Journal of Political Science, and Political Science Research and Methods, among others. He has also conducted field research in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, and Uganda.
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Currently, Dr. McCauley is the Chief of Party/Principal Investigator of the USAID Trust2Peace Activity in Ghana. He is also the Principal Investigator of a US Department of Labor Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking initiative.
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Dr. McCauley received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has a B.A. in Economics from the College of William & Mary and an M.A. in International Relations from Yale University. Prior to joining the faculty at Maryland, he was a post-doctoral research fellow in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
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In addition to his research, Dr. McCauley teaches courses on the Political Economy of Development, International Development & Conflict Management, Field Research Methods, and Religion and Politics around the World. He has twice received the Excellence in Teaching award from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.