Susan Brewer-Osorio

Dr. Susan Brewer-Osorio is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Latin American Studies, University of Arizona, where she has served since 2018 after faculty positions at the College of William & Mary and Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Her educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia (2014)
• M.A. in Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia

Her research focuses on subnational dynamics in Latin American conflict zones, particularly examining ex-combatant reincorporation, social movement mobilization, and sustainable peacebuilding frameworks. She employs qualitative methodologies to analyze how service provisions, security conditions, economic opportunities, and community relations affect post-conflict community cohesion, with significant fieldwork in Colombia's FARC demobilization camps. Her work bridges theoretical conflict studies with practical DDR program design.

Her awards include:

• 2011 Drugs Security and Democracy Fellowship (Social Science Research Council/Open Society Foundations)
• 2020 Fulbright Scholar award for Colombia research

Dr. Brewer-Osorio completed an IPRA Foundation-funded project 'The Collective Reincorporation of Ex-Combatants in Colombia: Sustainable Communities and Abandoned Spaces' analyzing fragmentation patterns in FARC reincorporation camps through ex-combatant interviews and Colombian government data. Her research has direct implications for improving future DDR initiatives globally while contributing to academic discourse through publications in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism and The Latin Americanist.