Since 1988, USIP has awarded 371 non-residential fellowships to doctoral candidates enrolled in U.S. universities, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in research, teaching and policymaking. Over the past four years, USIP has collaborated with the Minerva Research Initiative to build upon the successes of the Peace Scholar program.

The 2021-22 cohort includes:

USIP-Funded Peace Scholars:

• Hannah Baron (Brown University), “In Pursuit of Justice: Vigilantism, Policing, and Rights in Mexico.”
• Soha Hammam (Claremont Graduate University), “A Multi-Method Analysis of Civil Resistance Dynamics and Outcomes.”
• Sumin Lee (Rutgers University), “Gender Justice for Whom: Domestic Accountability for Wartime Sexual Violence.”
• Paula Mantilla-Blanco (Columbia University), “Education through Memory Sites: Youth and the (Im)Possibility of Peace in Colombia."
• Apekshya Prasai (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), “Gendered Processes of Civil War: Understanding Women’s Inclusion in Rebel Organizations.”
• Matt Schissler (University of Michigan), “Histories of Violence and Inter-religious Life in Myanmar.”

Minerva-Funded Peace Scholars:

• Peyman Asadzade (Arizona State University), “Diplomatic Support for Protest Movements: Causes, Effectiveness, and Consequences.”
• Nejla Asimovic (New York University), “Growing Closer or Further Apart: Exposure to Social Media in Post-Conflict Societies.”
• Zenobia Chan (Princeton University), “Affluence without Influence? Understanding Positive Economic Statecraft and Influence in International Politics.”
• Jiwon Kim (Stanford University), “Security, Identity, and Minority Politics: Explaining Ethnic Mobilization in Post-conflict Elections.”
• Casey Mahoney (University of Pennsylvania), “How Friends Fight: International Alliances, Military Technology, and Intra-Alliance Bargaining in the Shadow of Conflict.”
• Aidan Milliff (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), “Seeking Safety: The Cognitive and Social Foundations of Behavior During Violence.”
• Dijana Mujkanovic (University of Pittsburgh), “Conflict Prevention and Transformation: A Study of the Effects of Contact between Ethnic Groups in Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
• Paul Orner (University of Southern California), “The Logics of Chinese Strategy: How the PRC Undermines American Security Partnerships.”
• Faizaan Qayyum (University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign), “Dis-placemaking: Ethnicization of Afghan lives in Quetta, Pakistan.”
• Mashal Shabbir (American University), “Rebelling Against the Rebellion: Explaining the Magnitude of Insurgent Group Disintegration.”
• Aaron Stanley (City University of New York), “Local Conceptions and Perceptions of Legitimacy in Post-Conflict States.”
• Olivia Woldemikael (Harvard University), “South-South Migrants, Refugees, and Hosts: Lessons of Tolerance from Uganda and Colombia.”

USIP congratulates these distinguished scholars for their accomplishments and looks forward to supporting future generations of peacebuilders through our dissertation fellowship program.

The competition for the 2022-23 cohort opened on September 14, 2021, and the awardees will be announced the following spring. If you or someone you know is interested in applying to the program, visit the Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar Dissertation Fellowship Program page on USIP’s website for more information.