Kathy L. Powers

Kathy L. Powers is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of New Mexico (UNM), with cross-appointments in the UNM School of Law, Program of Africana Studies, Robert Wood Johnson Center for Health Policy, and Georgetown University’s Department of Government. Her research focuses on institutional authority, international law, and transitional justice, particularly global reparations following mass human rights violations and the legal personality of international organizations. Supported by NSF grants, her work examines how regional economic institutions evolve into military structures and impact conflict.

Dr. Powers has been honored with the 2013 UNM New Faculty Teaching Award and 2010 Faculty of Color Teaching Award. Her recent fellowships include residencies at the Woodrow Wilson Center (2015) and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (2014), where she studied reparations and transitional justice. She has also presented on victim justice in post-genocide contexts and taught in Germany.

Her research spans international relations, with publications in journals like the Journal of Conflict Resolution and Journal of Peace Research. Key themes include institutional design, reparations movements, and the interplay between trade and military alliances.