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Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Penn State

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University and a Global Fellow at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). I received my Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and a MA in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from Stockton University. My research is motivated by a desire to better understand and contribute to the prevention of violent conflict and the violation of human rights. I do this through assessing the intersection of violent behavior, political institutions, and political participation.

My current work focuses on transitional justice adopted both during and after armed conflict. I study the ways that justice processes can be used for good or for evil through political consolidation, political exclusion, social reconciliation, narrative construction, and for economic gain.

I have looked at these issues in East Africa, primarily Rwanda and Uganda. To explore justice processes in post-conflict democracies, I have conducted field work in Northern Ireland, Turkey, and Nepal.

I currently serve as the co-Director of the Northern Ireland Research Initiative (NIRI) funded by the National Science Foundation (SES# 1565409).

I have previously served as the interim director of the PELIO program at the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University running working groups on "Ungoverned Spaces" and "Non-State Actor Governance".

Experience

  • –present
    Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Pennsylvania State University

Education

  • 2011 
    University of Maryland, PhD Government and Politics