Ragnhild Nordås

I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, and a Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) , as well as an Associate Editor of Journal of Peace Research.

My PhD is in Political Science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). I’ve been a research fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard Kennedy School and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, IN.

My primary research interest is political violence. I’m particularly interested in understanding the causes and consequences of  organized violence and repression, and ways to mitigate such violence.

My main ongoing research project focuses on sexual violence in war and as part of the repressive repertoire of states. Central here is a global data collection on Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict (SVAC), collaborative work with Dara Kay Cohen (Harvard University), but also several case studies using various methodologies and levels of analysis.

I’ve also conducted research on the possible effects of climate change on conflict, the effects of identity politics on conflict risk, and I also study organizational and ideological characteristics of armed non-state actors and how these characteristics matter for violence, conflict escalation, and conflict settlement. Other research interest include state repression, group inequalities, child soldiering, and demography and security.