Mako Interviewed for College of Arts and Sciences Newsletter
Shamiran Mako, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was recently interviewed for a feature in the College of Arts and Sciences newsletter. Mako discussed her educational background, current academic interests, and hobbies.
You can read an excerpt from Mako’s interview below, or view the entire newsletter here:
What is your educational background?
I hold a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, an M.A. from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada, and an Honors B.A. from York University in Toronto, Canada, all in political science.
What will you be working on this academic year?
I’m working on a book project on the Arab uprisings of 2010 and 2011 that systematically examines the socio-structural and political conditions that produced divergent outcomes across seven MENA-region country case studies. I’m also organizing a workshop on post-conflict peacebuilding in Iraq in April 2019, which draws on experts of Iraq who will be speaking about issues relating to women and gender issues, civil society, transitional justice and the rule of law, institutional reform, federalism and territorial management, addressing issues of trauma and collective memory, and inclusion and national reconciliation.
What drew you to your field of study?
As a native of Iraq, I have always been interested in understanding the drivers of conflict across the region. My academic interest in the region grew in earnest during my senior year of undergrad where I became more in tune with the destruction that ensued following the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. I benefited greatly from professors (some now turned colleagues) who shaped my intellectual pursuits and guided my academic and professional trajectory throughout graduate school and beyond.
What excites you the most about working at CAS? What has been most rewarding?
The diversity of disciplines, centers, faculty, and students in CAS resonates with me on a professional and personal level. I am especially grateful to be given the opportunity to work alongside incredibly collegial colleagues at the Pardee School who are engaged in fascinating and inspiring research that has both academic and policy-relevant implications.
What are your favorite hobbies?
Running, yoga, and playing board games
Shamiran Mako’s research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of international relations and comparative politics with a focus on authoritarianism, civil wars, democratization, institutional capacity building, governing in divided societies, and American foreign policy with a regional interest on the Middle East and North Africa. Specifically, she explores the historical and contemporary drivers of inter and intra-state conflicts that produce weak and fragile states and examines ways in which successful conflict mitigating strategies relating to post-conflict state and peacebuilding can be applied to states in the MENA region.