Biography

Dominic Pfister is a PhD candidate in International Relations and Political Theory with research interests in global governance, international order, and international history. His dissertation, Governing the Sick World,: Health Governance and the Making of Modern International Order, reconceptualizes global health as a central site for the construction of the liberal international order, challenging IR’s traditional focus on security and trade. Through qualitative analysis of archival evidence from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the dissertation traces how technical practices of health governance, such as standard-setting, program funding, and data classification, established institutional and normative continuities between Europe’s imperial order and the emerging liberal international order. Dominic’s research has been supported by the Mershon Center for International Security Studies and the Ohio State University Graduate School. His work is forthcoming in the Review of International Studies.

Dominic holds a B.A in Political Science and English-Writing from Denison University. In Fall 2023 he was an Assistant Instructor at Denison University and taught courses in International Relations and Comparative Politics. Prior to attending OSU, he worked for Epic Systems on their population health and dashboards team.