John McCauley is Professor of Government and Politics and the Director of the minor program in International Development and Conflict Management (IDCM). He is also a Research Affiliate at the Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) and in the Center for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM). His research focuses on the political economy of development, conflict and terrorism, and informal institutions. He has conducted research in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, and Uganda.  He is the author of The Logic of Ethnic and Religious Conflict in Africa (2017, Cambridge University Press).

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.

Dr. McCauley teaches courses on International Development and Conflict Management, the Political Economy of Development, Field Research Methods, and Religion and Politics around the World.  He is the 2023 winner of the Excellence in Teaching award from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. He is on research leave during the Spring 2025 semester; please email to set up an office or virtual appointment.