Howard Liu is an Assistant Professor (Lecturer in the UK term) at the University of Essex. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke University in 2019. Before joining Essex, he was a postdoctoral researcher at The Center for Social Data Analytics, Penn State University. His research is centered on state repression, human rights, dictatorship, and armed conflict with particular attention to how network relationships shape the use of coercion and violence. You can find him on Twitter @haoliuhoward.