Michele Leiby

Michele Leiby is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the College of Wooster, specializing in human rights, political violence, and gender and conflict processes. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico (2011), an M.A. from the same institution (2004), and a B.A. from Moravian College (2002). Her research focuses on state-perpetrated sexual violence in Latin America, using mixed-methods approaches including archival research, fieldwork, and experimental designs.

Key research interests include transitional justice, the strategic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, and the efficacy of human rights advocacy campaigns. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Latin America and the U.S., with publications in American Political Science Review, International Studies Quarterly, and Revista Memoria. Her work bridges comparative politics and international relations, emphasizing methodological rigor and interdisciplinary approaches.

Dr. Leiby teaches courses on comparative politics, human rights, Latin American politics, and research methods. She has received the International Interactions Best Paper Award (2020) and contributed to policy-relevant research on conflict-related trauma and gendered violence. Her experimental studies examine how framing strategies influence public engagement with human rights issues.

Her research highlights the intersection of gender and conflict, particularly in post-authoritarian societies. Notable works include analyses of sexual violence in Guatemala and Peru’s civil wars, the role of truth commissions, and the psychological legacies of wartime trauma on intimate-partner abuse.