Brian Burgoon is Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). He received his PhD from MIT in 1998, and between 1998 to 2000 was Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He joined the UvA faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2000, was appointed Professor in 2012, and served as Academic Director of the UvA's Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) from 2014 till December 2020.
Burgoon's research focuses on three realms of politics: global economic integration; welfare state development; and democratic political representation. The key goal of that research is to understand how these realms of politics influence each other, and in particular whether and how economic interdependence, social protection, and democracy can be rendered compatible or even mutually reinforcing.
Burgoon's teaching focuses on general political science, political economy, international relations, and quantitative and qualitative research methods. The key goal of that teaching is to help students want and know how to use the theoretical and empirical tools of social science to explore political life, and to use such exploration to further human purposes.