Katherine Sawyer

Biography

Katherine Sawyer is an assistant professor at the Political Science Department at Stony Brook University. She received her PhD in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland.

Research

Dr. Sawyer's research interests include civil conflict and rebellion, biopsychological predictors of political violence, and spatial/computational models of conflict. Dr. Sawyer’s research investigates the interplay between genetic and environmental effects on political behavior in the Basque country of Spain, and she plans to conduct field work in the US on individual and network responses to police violence, as well as experiments designed to assess the conditions under which aggressive responses are triggered by exposure to repressive environments.

Dr. Sawyer’s research on conflict and political violence has been published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences,International Organization,International Interactions, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Politics, and Journal of Peace Research, among others.

RECENT Publications - Articles

K Sawyer, KD Bond, KG Cunningham. 2021. “Rebel Leader Ascension and Wartime Sexual Violence.” The Journal of Politics 83 (1).

KG Cunningham, R Huang, K Sawyer. 2021. “Voting for militants: Rebel elections in civil war.” Journal of Conflict Resolution.

K Sawyer, TM Andrews. 2020. “Rebel recruitment and retention in civil conflict.” International Interactions 46 (6): 872-892.

KG Cunningham, K Sawyer. 2019. “Conflict negotiations and rebel leader selection.” Journal of Peace Research 56 (5): 619-634.

KG Cunningham, K Sawyer. 2017. “Is Self-determination Contagious? A Spatial Analysis of the Spread of Self-determination Claims.” International Organization 71 (3): 585-604.

K Sawyer, KG Cunningham, and W Reed. 2017. “The Role of External Support in Civil War Termination.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 61 (6): 1174-1202.

Teaching

News