Aaron Martin researches in the area of political theory, focusing on political provocation. He began studying local food politics as founder and director of the local community-like garden project, TLC Charitable City Garden. He is the faculty sponsor of the WSU’s Warrior Garden, which was integrated into his honors seminar course: Surveying the Politics of Food.

He also teaches three honors seminar sections of the first-year course: The City. The classroom becomes the City of Detroit, from museums such as the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Historical Museum, to the famed historical Detroit Eastern Market and the Redford Theatre.

He obtained a PhD in political science from WSU (2014).

Prior to pursuing an academic career, he worked at Chrysler (now Fiat-Chrysler). Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he began working on the assembly line at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant on the East Side of Detroit at 19 before transferring to the Warren Stamping Plant (2002) where he took on several managerial roles in the Manufacturing Group. In 2008, he accepted a position in Chrysler’s Capitol Hill office in Washington, DC where he conducted legislative and public policy research analysis on various key issues, including securing the multi-billion dollar appropriation in direct loans as well as advocating on international trade and commerce.

As a life-long Detroiter, he enjoys the opportunity to apply his knowledge of and commitment to the city and the auto industry into the classroom as well as his research interests.

He was a mobile workshop expert with Jerry Herron at the 5th International Forum for Sustainable Construction dedicated to “Infrastructure Space” held April 7-9, 2016 in Detroit, USA.