Hilary A. Matfess

Hilary A. Matfess is an Assistant Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Yale University (2021) and an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS (2015). Her research focuses on security, gender, and governance in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly examining women’s roles in armed conflicts and non-state armed groups.

• Affiliations: Council on Foreign Relations Term Fellow, Research Fellow at the Research on International Policy Implementation Lab, and Senior Associate (non-resident) at CSIS Africa Program.

Her work has been published in International Security, Security Studies, and African Studies Review. Her notable books include Women and the War on Boko Haram (2017) and In Love and at War (2024). Her research critiques media underrepresentation of women’s contributions to conflict and advocates for nuanced understandings of gender in political violence.

Recent publications address humanitarian crises in Tigray and gender dynamics in non-state groups. She actively engages with policy communities and critiques systemic biases in conflict reporting.