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About Michael
Michael Chwe is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University in 1992. Before joining UCLA, he served on the faculties of the University of Chicago and New York University. Professor Chwe's research centers on game theory, examining how individuals coordinate their actions when each wants to participate only if sufficient others do, often through explicit communication networks rather than evolution or adaptation. His interests encompass social coordination, common knowledge, collective action, cultural practices and rituals, stereotypes, hate crimes, information aggregation, jury decision-making, television advertising, and applications to literature including Jane Austen's novels and social networks. He teaches game theory courses to both graduate and undergraduate students at UCLA.
Professor Chwe is the author of Jane Austen, Game Theorist, which reveals game-theoretic concepts in Austen's six novels, and Rational Ritual: Culture, Coordination, and Common Knowledge (2001), which applies coordination game theory to cultural phenomena. Other key publications include papers on communication and coordination in social networks, structure and strategy in collective action, and strategic reliability of communication networks. Recent works feature The Benefits and Pitfalls of Google Scholar (2018, PS: Political Science & Politics), Act-Sampling Bias and the Shrouding of Repeat Offending (2017, Virginia Law Review Online), Confronting Hate Collectively (2017, PS: Political Science & Politics), Stereotypes Are More Powerful When People Like to Agree with Each Other (2016), and The May 1 Marchers in Los Angeles: Overcoming Conflicting Frames, Bilingual Women Connectors, English-Language Radio, and Newly Politicized Spanish Speakers (2015, Urban Affairs Review). His book Rational Ritual was selected for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's book club. Professor Chwe received a fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford in 2014-2015 and a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance in 2020 as a member of the UCLA Chamber Singers. He has served as Chair of the UCLA Political Science Department.
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