The Department of Defense (DoD) and the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) have announced fellowship awards to 19 graduate students for research in conflict management and peacebuilding. The selected 2024-2025 Minerva-USIP Peace and Security Scholar Fellows were chosen from a pool of 145 applicants based on their potential to advance these social science fields and influence future policies.
Since 2017, the Minerva Research Initiative, a DoD-sponsored program focused on social sciences relevant to U.S. national security, has collaborated with USIP's Peace Scholar Fellowship program. This partnership awards one-year non-residential fellowships to doctoral candidates enrolled in U.S. universities, supporting research related to global security concerns.
"These fellowships support advanced graduate students researching the intertwined political, economic, and social dynamics of international conflict and conflict management. Their insights directly inform DoD's approaches for promoting global peace and stability – one of its fundamental missions," said Dr. David Montgomery, DoD's director of social science.
The 2024-2025 Peace and Security Scholar Fellows include:
Minerva-Funded Peace and Security Fellows:
- Nangyalai Attal (University of Massachusetts), "Reclaiming the Critical Primacy of Nonviolent Jihad: A Case Study of Violent Jihad in Afghanistan and Pakistan as the Legacy of U.S.-sponsored Textbooks"
- Lisa de Sousa Dias (University of Wisconsin-Madison), "Escaping Violence, Returning Home: Disparate Political Belonging Among Refugees and Internally Displaced Populations in Post-Conflict Mozambique"
- Julian Gerez (Columbia University), "The Political Economy of Supply-Side Counternarcotics"
- Elizabeth Good (Northwestern University), "Willing and Able: Power Dynamics and Women's Representation in Peace Processes"
- Suha Hassen (George Mason University), "Investigating How and Why People Join the ISIS Terrorist Organization: A Comparative Study of Iraqi, Arab, and International Ex-Fighters Inside Iraqi Prisons"
- Whitney Hough (Teachers College, Columbia University), "Teachers as Transformative Agents During Protracted Conflict: A Case Study of Cameroon"
- Katherine Irajpanah (Harvard University), "Small Arms and Influence: How Decolonial Norms Disrupted Military Superiority"
- Julia Raven (University of California at Berkeley), "The Origins of Ethnic Stacking: The Design and Durability of Colonial Militaries"
- Nikoleta Sremac (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities), "History in Whose Hands? Gendering Collective Memory of the Yugoslav Wars in Serbia"
- Kristin Weis (George Mason University), "Arctic Change: Charting the Relationship Between Sense of Place, Social-Ecological Resilience, and Conflict"
- Lily Wojtowicz (American University), "Extended Nuclear Deterrence: How Allies Assess Credibility During Credibility Crises"
- Ilyssa Yahmi (Temple University), "Business in Conflict: The Effects of Smuggling on the Production Of Violence"
USIP/Minerva-Co-Funded Fellow:
- María Ballesteros (Harvard University), “How Rebels Become States: Essays on Post Civil War State Building”
USIP-Funded Peace Fellows:
- Nicholas Blanchette (Massachusetts Institute Of Technology),"Strategies Of Capability Revelation : How States Reveal Information About Advanced Nuclear And Conventional Military Technologies "
- Eleanor Freund(Massachusetts Institute Of Technology),"Strategies Of Security Cooperation : External Balancing In Chinese Foreign Policy ,1949-Present "
- Mirella Pretell Gomero(Syracuse University),"Beyond The Oil Pipeline : Environmental Injustices And Indigenous Women's Struggles In The Northern Peruvian Amazon "
- Isabel Güiza-Gómez(University Of Notre Dame),"Landing Peace : Rural-Poor Mobilization And Land Redistribution In Civil War Political Transitions "
- Eyal Hanfling(Massachusetts Institute Of Technology),"Lurking But Learning : The Effects Of WhatsApp On Intergroup Cooperation In India "
- Nicolás Torres-Echeverry(University Of Chicago),"Between War And Peace : Political Organizing In Twenty First Century Colombia "
Applications for the 2025–2026 cohort open in September 2024. Details can be found on USIP’s website under the Peace Scholar Fellowship Program section.
The Minerva Research Initiative is jointly administered by various offices within the Department of Defense including partnerships with military research organizations such as the Air Force Office Scientific Research Army Research Office ,and Office Naval Research . More information about Minerva’s collaboration with USIP is available at https://minerva.defense.gov/Programs/US-Institute-of-Peace-Collaboration/.
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The Under Secretary Defense For Research Engineering(USD(R&E)) serves as Chief Technology Officer Department Defense . USD(R&E) champions research ,science ,technology engineering innovation maintain United States military technological advantage . Learn more www.cto.mil visit LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/ousdre .
