Jonathan Hiskey, associate professor of political science and director of graduate studies at Vanderbilt University, will present “Central American Politics and the Decision to Emigrate” from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 17 in Oldfather Hall, Room 827, as part of the university’s Global Café lecture series. Lunch and refreshments will be served.

Hiskey’s research interests center on local development processes in Latin America during times of political and economic reform. In particular, much of his research has focused on the development consequences of Latin America’s uneven political and economic transitions over the past thirty years, with a particular interest in Mexico.

More recently, Hiskey has carried out research on the political implications of migration for sending communities across Latin America. He has been published in the American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Electoral Studies and the Latin American Research Review. He was also a contributor and co-editor of a special volume of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, “Continental Divides: International Migration in the Americas.”