Dr. David Laitin

Biography

David D. Laitin is the James T. Watkins IV Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. He received his BA from Swarthmore College and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Somalia and Grenada. Laitin earned his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked under Ernst Haas and Hanna Pitkin. His academic career has included teaching at prominent universities including the University of California, San Diego, the University of Chicago, and finally Stanford. Laitin's research focuses on comparative politics with field studies in Somalia, Yorubaland in Nigeria, Catalonia in Spain, and Estonia, with an emphasis on the relationship between language, religion, and the cultural phenomena linked to the nation-state. He authored several influential books such as "Politics, Language and Thought: The Somali Experience" and "Muslim Integration Fails in Christian-Heritage Societies." Laitin has collaborated on research regarding ethnicity and civil conflict and has examined the integration of Muslims in France, publishing several findings in top-tier journals. He's a recipient of multiple fellowships and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2021, he received the prestigious John Skytte Prize in Political Science.

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