Peter Cummings, Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

South Bend, In, Us

Washington Dc-Baltimore Area

I defended my dissertation, "The Foundations of Anti-System Protests in Democracy" in December 2023 and was awarded my degree of PhD in Political Science on February 21, 2024.Independent Researcher- Conducted 76 semi-structured interviews in Spanish with Chilean government officials, activists, and academics.- Developed proposals and secured field research funding through competitive research grants.- Accessed full archive of Twitter data for multiple social movement organizations, scraped and cleaned data in R (currently in the process of conducting longitudinal content and network analysis).- Presented preliminary findings and papers at academic conferences and workshops.Graduate Teaching Assistantships- Created lesson plans and taught two hourlong discussion sections on a weekly basis for 25 undergraduate students in course on U.S. health policy.- Advised 16 students on policy memos and research papers for public policy course.- Currently serving as primary advisor for 9 students in applying, networking, and interviewing for summer internships in DC through MIT-Washington Summer Internship Program. Co-Organizer of Latin American Working Group- With one other graduate student, invited speakers from US and Latin America, promoted events, handled all logistics, and moderated discussion for 20 sessions of an interdisciplinary forum on issues related to Latin America.Graduate Research Assistantships- Conducted interviews in Spanish, collected and analyzed quantitative data, and synthesized secondary source information for comparative research projects on teacher unions and education policy in Latin America.- Analyzed legislative histories, conducted literature reviews, and drafted reports and policy memos on federal law enforcement agencies in the United States.

Santiago, Chile

Senior Analyst on the Controversies and Community Relations team at TIRONI, where I focused on developing and implementing methods of participation and dialogue to manage conflicts between companies, governments actors, and communities in Chile.

Served as Research Assistant in the Social Marketing and Communication (SMC) department, a group of more than 50 staff dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through innovative social marketing and behavior change strategies to help clients implement programs and campaigns that work. SMC offers expertise in social marketing, health communication, social media, strategic partnerships, technical assistance, creative development, communication research, and evaluation. We have industry-leading experience using social marketing for systems and community change, supporting the communication efforts of communities across the nation. Our multidisciplinary teams address a wide range of health issues and diseases—both chronic and infectious—for clients including CDC, NIH, USDA, VA, HRSA, RWJF, OSHA, and several foundations.

Washington, District Of Columbia, United States

Developed lesson plans and tutored native Spanish-speaking adult immigrants in DC in English.

Santiago, Chile

Lead researcher for the project, Somos Choapa, a collaborative community development initiative between the mining company Minera los Pelambres, the local governments of the Province of Choapa, Chile, and community actors.Strategic communications and political consulting for the Mayor and Municipal Government of Los Ángeles, Chile, which entailed: research and data gathering using secondary sources, preparing presentations, drafting diagnostic and strategic reports, evaluating the municipality's performance, and participating in interviews and workshops with the Mayor and municipal government directors.Researcher for a comparative study of social conflict management strategies that have been used by public and private institutions in Latin America supported by the International Development Research Centre

Notre Dame, Indiana

Research Assistant for Professor Scott MainwaringAnalyzed, synthesized, and coded primary and secondary sources for the book, Democracies and Dictatorships in Latin America: Emergence, Survival, and Fall

Santiago, Chile

Composed grant proposal and was awarded financing to conduct 10 weeks of field research in Santiago, Chile for a senior honors thesis on the Chilean student protestsExecuted and transcribed 34 face-to-face interviews and focus groups with Chilean students, professors, and other relevant social movement actors (33 in Spanish)Studied student federation archives, survey data, and scholarly/media books and articles

Notre Dame, Indiana

Recruited and provided leadership for student mentors from Notre Dame and St. Mary'sOrganized events for mentor/mentee matches in the entire St. Joseph County areaHeaded the coordination and marketing for annual fundraisersManaged the club's expenses and produced semiannual expense reports/funding proposalsMet with a child from the South Bend for several hours on a bi-weekly basis

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Political Science

Political Science/Latin American Studies

(Study Abroad Fall 2012)