معرفی
Professor Kristin M. Bakke is a Professor of Political Science and International Relations at University College London's Department of Political Science, where she has been a faculty member since 2009. She co-founded the Conflict & Change research cluster and serves as a core faculty member in the European and International Social and Political Studies (EISPS) program. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor at Leiden University and a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center.
Her academic background includes:
- BA in journalism and political science from Indiana University, Bloomington (2000)
- PhD in political science from the University of Washington, Seattle (2007)
- Additional studies in political science at Østfold College, Norway and theatre at the University of Oslo
Professor Bakke's research focuses on political violence, with particular attention to how states respond to opposition, the dynamics of violence in self-determination struggles, post-war state-building, and geopolitical orientations in Russia's near abroad. She employs both quantitative and qualitative methods, including surveys and extensive fieldwork in Northern Ireland, India, Guatemala, and post-Soviet states. Her work examines rebel governance, informal institutions in conflict zones, and the long-term legacies of wartime experiences on political attitudes and social cohesion.
Her recent publications demonstrate a growing emphasis on survey research in conflict and post-conflict settings, particularly in Ukraine and the post-Soviet space. There's a clear trajectory toward examining how wartime experiences shape political attitudes, with increasing methodological sophistication in survey design for challenging environments. Her work bridges political science, geography, and security studies, with strong emphasis on the interplay between local governance structures and broader geopolitical forces.
Professor Bakke has received significant recognition for her scholarly contributions:
- Conflict Research Society's Book of the Year Award (2016) for "Decentralization and Intrastate Struggles: Chechnya, Punjab, and Québec"
- Chair of the Conflict Research Society (CRS)
- Associate editor at the Journal of Peace Research
- Member of the editorial board of International Security
Professor Bakke is an active mentor to PhD students, currently supervising five doctoral candidates and having successfully guided nine students to completion. Her students pursue diverse research on political violence, rebel governance, post-war democracy, and nonviolent resistance. She teaches undergraduate courses on "International Conflict and Cooperation" and "Political Violence and Intrastate Conflict," as well as the postgraduate course "Conflict Resolution and Post-War Development." Her research has been supported by various grants enabling fieldwork in conflict-affected regions and collaborative projects with international scholars.
As co-founder of UCL's Conflict & Change research cluster, Professor Bakke has helped establish a vibrant intellectual community focused on understanding conflict dynamics and pathways to positive social transformation. Her work bridges academic research and practical policy concerns, engaging with questions of state-building, peace processes, and the challenges of governance in post-conflict societies.
