HBS faculty comprises more than 300 scholars and practitioners who bring leading-edge research, extensive experience, and deep insights into the classroom, to organizations, and to leaders across the globe. We asked new faculty at HBS about their background, their new roles, and their interests.
Laura Jakli; assistant professor; Business, Government, and the International Economy.
What is your educational background?
I did my undergraduate studies at Cornell University in government and history. I then went to the University of California, Berkeley, for my PhD in political science. During the dissertation write-up stage, I spent two years as a research fellow at the Stanford Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and the Stanford Cyber Policy Center’s Program on Democracy and the Internet (PDI). Before joining HBS, I was a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows.
What’s your area of research and what led you to it?
I study comparative political behavior. More specifically, I investigate how information communication technologies shape political identity and behavior. I do this work primarily through field experiments and survey experiments. I have a second research stream on the destigmatization of extreme political ideas, which is more firmly rooted in computational social science. I also study a broad range of threats to democratic governance, including political apathy, exclusionary and ultranationalist attitudes, and misinformation.
Much of my research is influenced by political developments in my native country, Hungary.
What will you be teaching?
I will be teaching the Business, Government & the International Economy (BGIE) course in the RC curriculum.
What would you be doing if you weren’t an academic?
I could best imagine an alternative career path in investigative journalism or working within the tech industry on issues of online trust and safety.
Where are you from?
I am from Budapest, Hungary.
What is something you like to do outside of your academic work?
I like to travel, run, and weightlift. Most of my free time is spent with my daughter Emilia and goldendoodle, Cali.
What’s your favorite book, movie, or piece of art?
It’s tough to choose a favorite book, but one that inspired me to pursue some of my graduate research was Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media by Eric Klinenberg.
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