Howard Sanborn

Howard Sanborn is Associate Dean for Faculty and Graduate Affairs and Professor of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma State University; he joined the OSU faculty in 2022. 

Dr. Sanborn has published research in several highly-respected journals, including the British Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, Political Research Quarterly, European Political Science Review, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties, Journal of Legislative Studies, Korea Observer, Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, Psychological Reports, and the Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia. His research has focused on the support for, and development of, democracy around the world, with a specific focus on Asia. In 2019, Dr. Sanborn was named a Core Fulbright Scholar, investigating legislative politics in Hong Kong while in residence at the Chinese University of Hong Kong during the anti-ELAB protests that took place in the city that summer and fall. His public commentary has been featured on the Monkey Cage blog of the Washington Post, in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and on With Good Reason, broadcast to National Public Radio stations across the United States.

Dr. Sanborn has taught several courses on the politics of China and East Asia, as well as on democracy, American government, and political economy, and has published numerous manuscripts on effective pedagogical approaches. His studies on teaching and student success have been published in ASIANetwork Exchange, Military Psychology, and as chapters in a number of edited volumes. He has co-led students on study abroad trips to China, the United Kingdom, Germany, Slovenia, and Belgium, and has worked with them as part of individual research projects in Italy, Scotland, and Japan. He has mentored several undergraduate and graduate students, who have been recognized with awards, such as the Wilbur S. Hinman, Jr '26 Research Award and the James J. Hentz Award for Best National Security Minor Thesis, and grants, including multiple Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI) and Advancing Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (AURCA) grants.

Off-campus, Dr. Sanborn has worked as a teacher at the Payne County Detention Center HiSET-Social Studies program, funded by an Oklahoma State University College of Arts and Sciences' Community Engagement Grant (PI: Kathryn Weinland, Ph.D). He is a proud member of the Tulsa Committee on Foreign Relations and the Oklahoma State University Theatre Circle, and is an Oklahoma State University Art Advocate. He is also a co-facilitator of the American Civics Course Requirement Working Group of the American Political Science Association.

Prior to joining the faculty at OSU, Dr. Sanborn taught at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) from 2008 until 2022. Originally from Staten Island, NY, Dr. Sanborn received his B.A. in Politics from W&L University in 2001 and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Iowa in 2009.

Research Interests:

Democracy; Education and democratization; East Asia; China; political participation; protest