Benjamin Goldfrank joined the School of Diplomacy and International Relations in 2007 and served as Department Chair from 2013 to 2019. He teaches classes on Latin American politics, society, and economic development, and U.S. foreign policy toward the region, as well as the capstone research project course. His research interests focus on the comparative analysis of Latin American politics, experiments in participatory democracy, and political parties.

Dr. Goldfrank has published over 30 articles and book chapters. He is also the author of Deepening Local Democracy in Latin America: Participation, Decentralization and the Left (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2011) and co-editor of The Left in the City: Participatory Local Governments in Latin America (London: Latin American Bureau and Transnational Institute, 2004), which was translated into Spanish and Italian.