Assistant Professor of Government; Director of the International Justice Lab, William & Mary
Kelebogile Zvobgo is an Assistant Professor of Government at William & Mary, and founder and director of the International Justice Lab. She earned her Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Southern California in 2021. At USC, she was Provost's Fellow in the Social Sciences, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and a recipient of the 2021 USC Ph.D. Achievement Award. She received her B.A. (with honors) in International Relations and French Language & Literature from Pomona College in 2014.
Zvobgo is broadly interested in human rights, transitional justice, and international law and courts. Much of her past and ongoing research concerns quasi-judicial and judicial bodies that have proliferated around the globe over the past half-century to address serious violations of human rights law and humanitarian law. Thus far, her work has centered on domestic truth commissions and international criminal tribunals, especially the International Criminal Court.
Zvobgo's research is published or forthcoming in peer-reviewed journals like the International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Human Rights, and PS: Political Science & Politics. She has also written for Foreign Policy Magazine, The Washington Post, The Conversation, and Ms. Magazine.
Experience
2019–present
Director, International Justice Lab, College of William & Mary
2021–present
Assistant Professor of Government, College of William & Mary
2015–2021
Provost Fellow in the Social Sciences and Ph.D. Candidate, University of Southern California
2019–2021
Pre-doctoral Fellow, Global Research Institute, College of William & Mary
Education
2021
University of Southern California, Ph.D., Political Science and International Relations
2014
Pomona College, B.A., cum laude, International Relations & French Language and Literature
Publications
2021
The Stewardship Model: An Inclusive Approach to Undergraduate Research (with Megan Becker and Benjamin A.T. Graham), PS: Political Science & Politics
2021
Safeguarding truth: Supporting children’s participation at truth commissions (with Sameer S. J. B. Rana), Journal of Human Rights
2021
Field Research: A Graduate Student's Guide (with Ezgi Irgil, Anne-Kathrin Kreft, Myunghee Lee, and Charmaine N. Willis), International Studies Review
2020
Reserving Rights: Explaining Human Rights Treaty Reservations (with Wayne Sandholtz and Suzie Mulesky), International Studies Quarterly
2020
Smoothing the Pipeline: A Strategy to Match Graduate Training with the Professional Demands of Professorship (with Megan Becker), Journal of Political Science Education
2020
The World Bank as an Enforcer of Human Rights (with Benjamin A.T. Graham), Journal of Human Rights
2020
Demanding Truth: The Global Transitional Justice Network and the Creation of Truth Commissions, International Studies Quarterly
2019
Designing Truth: Facilitating Perpetrator Testimony at Truth Commissions, Journal of Human Rights
2019
Human Rights versus National Interests: Shifting US Public Attitudes on the International Criminal Court, International Studies Quarterly
Grants and Contracts
2017
NSF Division of Graduate Education (Grant No. DGE-1418060)