Villegas joined the Kenyon community in 2011. His substantive research interests lie in the nexus between political economy, culture, and democracy in the developing world, particularly in Latin America and Southeast Asia. His methodological focus is comparative-historical analysis.

Professor Villegas' current research project investigates the truism that the middle class is closely associated with democracy by focusing on the public discussion of the middle class during three major protest events in the Philippines, Venezuela, and Ecuador. He will be completing articles and a book manuscript based on this research during his time at Kenyon.

Professor Villegas will be teaching courses on the comparative history of democratization and on comparative-historical methods, as well as a future course on writing in the discipline of Sociology.

Areas of Expertise

Democracy and democratization, class and class formation, comparative-historical methods

Education

Ph.D. Brown University
B.A. Connecticut College

Courses Taught

SOCY 291.01: Social Change, Dictatorship, and Democracy