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Amanda Therese Rizkallah Faculty Photo

Amanda Therese Rizkallah

Associate Professor of International Studies
International Studies and Languages Division, Seaver College
PLC 193
310.506.7652

Biography

Dr. Rizkallah holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from UCLA and was a pre-doctoral research fellow in the Belfer Center’s Middle East Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. With a focus on the Middle East, her research examines the political legacies of war, identity politics and political party development in weak states, social solidarity in post-war contexts, and the role that civil society can play in mobilizing for political change across identity groups. Her research has been funded by a Belfer Center Middle East Initiative (MEI) fellowship, an Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) Herb York Global Security fellowship, a Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) TRE grant, and the Department of Education's Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) summer fellowship.

Education

  • PhD, Political Science, UCLA, 2016
  • MA, Political Science, UCLA, 2010
  • BA, Political Science, UCLA, 2008, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa

 

Articles:

  • The Local Effects of Foreign Intervention: Urban Politics in Post-War Beirut. International Security 48 (3): 86–128. Rizkallah, Amanda. (2024).
  • The Effects of Civil War on Post-War Political Development. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Kelmendi, Pëllumb and Rizkallah, Amanda. (2018).
  • The Paradox of Power-sharing: Stability and Fragility in Postwar Lebanon. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40(12), 2058-2076. Rizkallah, Amanda. (2017).

Book Chpaters:

  • Transcending Sectarian Politics: The Case of Beirut Madinati. Rizkallah, Amanda. (2019). In Rizkallah, Amanda, Gengler, Justin, Reedy, Kathleen, & Carpenter, Ami (2019). Countering Sectarianism in the Middle East (p. 15-40). RAND Corporation.
  • Seaver College Faculty-Student Partnership for Diversifying Courses Grant, 2023
  • Pepperdine Vice Provost Research Grant, 2021
  • Seaver College Pandemic Research Recovery Grant, 2021-22 (with Felicity Vabulas)
  • Seaver College Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative Award, 2019-2020
  • Pepperdine Center for Teaching Excellence Pedagogy Enhancement Grant, 2018-2019
  • Seaver College Summer Undergraduate Research Program Award, 2018, 2020
  • Harvard Kennedy School of Government Middle East Initiative Pre-doctoral Research Fellowship, 2015-2016
  • UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) Herbert F. York Global Security Dissertation Fellowship, 2015-2016
  • APSA Annual Meeting Travel Grant, 2015
  • UCLA Political Science Department nominee for Distinguished Teaching Award, 2015
  • UCLA Collegium of University Teaching Fellows Fellowship, 2014-2015
  • UCLA Department of Political Science Summer Travel/Research Grant, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015
  • UCLA Foundation Alumni Scholarship 2013-2014
  • Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) Travel-Research-Engagement Grant, 2013
  • UCLA Graduate Division Charles F. Scott Fellowship, 2012-2013
  • UCLA Graduate Division Affiliates Scholarship, 2012-2013
  • UCLA Graduate Division Graduate Research Mentorship, 2011-2012
  • UCLA Graduate Division Graduate Summer Research Mentorship, 2010
  • U.S. Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies Summer Fellowship, 2009

Topics

  • Comparative Politics (civil war, political violence, politics of displacement, post-conflict elections & development, democratization, ethnic politics)
  • International Relations (security, international intervention)
  • Middle East and North Africa Politics

Courses

  • International Communication and Negotiation
  • Politics of the Middle East and North Africa
  • Special Topics in Middle East Security
  • Civil War and Post-Conflict Peace-building
  • Islam and Politics

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