Alex Dukalskis and Laura Taylor are Ph.D. candidates in political science (Alex), psychology (Laura), and peace studies.
The University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute is pleased to announce its doctoral candidates seeking academic appointments. The following students anticipate defending their dissertations in spring 2013. They will be fully credentialed in both their primary discipline as well as in interdisciplinary peace research.
Alexander Dukalskis
Political Science & Peace Studies
Alex is a University Presidential Fellow specializing in comparative politics, international relations, and peace studies. His research focuses on ideology and information control in authoritarian regimes, transitional justice, and international human rights norms. He has conducted fieldwork in South Korea, Thailand and Myanmar, and has published or forthcoming work in several academic journals.
Dissertation: “Ideology and Political Discourse: Mechanisms of Domination in North Korea and Burma/Myanmar”
Laura Taylor
Psychology & Peace Studies
Laura is a University Presidential Fellow specializing in conflict transformation, mental health, and transitional justice, with field experience in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Nepal. Her research applies a risk and resilience framework, within a developmental psychopathology approach, to examine the impact of political violence on children, families, and communities in Colombia, Croatia and Northern Ireland.
Dissertation: “Does Violence Beget Violence? Moderating Trajectories of Adolescent Aggression in a Context of Political Conflict”
Alex and Laura will be the first graduates of the Kroc Institute's Ph.D. Program in Peace Studies, which was established in 2008. The program offers five distinct degrees in history and peace studies, political science and peace studies, sociology and peace studies, psychology and peace studies, and theology and peace studies. Students are trained in research methods associated with one of five disciplines and also immersed in interdisciplinary peace research.