Dara Cohen

Areas of Expertise

International security; civil conflict; the logic of wartime violence; gender and international relations

Biography

Dara Kay Cohen is an assistant professor in the global policy area at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on the dynamics of violence during civil war. Her dissertation research examines the variation in the use of sexual violence during recent civil conflicts. She has completed eight months of fieldwork in Sierra Leone, East Timor and El Salvador, where she interviewed more than 200 ex-combatants and noncombatants. She is a 2007-2008 recipient of the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant.

Other research interests include the participation of female combatants in armed groups, the politics of homeland security, and the response of government agencies to international crises. Her research has appeared in the Stanford Law Review and International Security.

Dara graduated with an A.B. in political science and philosophy with honors from Brown University in 2001, and served as a paralegal in the Outstanding Scholars Program in the Counterterrorism Section of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2001-2003. She will receive her Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University in 2010.

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Courses Taught

For syllabi for the current semester, view the University of Minnesota's Course Guide. For syllabi for public affairs classes for Fall 2007 or earlier, view the Humphrey Institute's course syllabi web page. Syllabi are available in alternative formats. Please send requests to Stacey Grimes, Humphrey Institute Office of the Associate Dean (grime004@umn.edu).

Go to the University of Minnesota One Stop website to apply for these and other public affairs courses.

Fall 2009
PA 5890 - Topics in Foreign Policy and International Affairs
PA 8991 - Independent Study