The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Welcomes Its 2020 Distinguished Scholars

February 17, 2021

(NEW YORK) — The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of its 2020 HFG Distinguished Scholars. These fifteen leading researchers are undertaking projects poised to make significant contributions to understanding the causes, manifestations, and control of violence across the globe. 

The international cohort of scholars, chosen through a rigorous peer-review competition, are investigating a rich and varied collection of violence topics, including those involving gender, religion, ethnicity, prisons, policing, social media, intergroup attitudes, conflict resolution, and post-war societies.

In selecting the awardees, highest priority was given to research that addresses urgent, present-day problems of violence—what produces it, how it operates, and what prevents or reduces it.  

“Given the abundance of violence in the world, we are gratified to be able to support the work of this impressive group of researchers,” said Foundation Director of Research Joel Wallman. “As they seek to comprehend the array of violence issues from different disciplinary perspectives, we expect their work to significantly augment the body of knowledge forged by scholars who study violence, and we hope that the scholarship we support will inform efforts to reduce violence.” 

These awards were previously known as the Harry Frank Guggenheim Research Grants. The Foundation adopted the new name to better reflect the excellence of the scholars who receive these grants and the promise of their research. 

The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation is a leader in creating and disseminating knowledge on the nature, consequences, and reduction of violence in its many forms, including war, crime, and human aggression.

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2020 Scholars and Research Topics

Smadar Ben-Natan (University of Washington). The Carceral State in Conflict: Between Reconciliation and Radicalization

Katherine Bruce-Lockhart (University of Waterloo) and David M. Anderson (University of Warwick). Understanding Violence and Incarceration in Africa: Evidence from British Colonies and Postcolonial States

Ankur Datta (South Asian University). Victimhood in a Time of Crisis: Muslims and the Riots of 2020 in New Delhi, India

David Henig (Utrecht University). Deadly Environments: Living Among Explosive War Remnants in Former Yugoslavia

Daniel Hirata and Carolina Christoph Grillo (Fluminense Federal University). Police Special Operations and Armed Criminal Groups in Rio De Janeiro

Benjamin Hoy (University of Saskatchewan). Dominating a Continent: Violence, Retribution, and Forcible Confinement in North America

Dorian Juric (Unaffiliated). “Twas Always Known As the Bloody Frontier”: Rumours, Memories, and Bosnian Identity in the Migrant Crisis   

Gema Kloppe-Santamaria (Loyola University Chicago). In the Name of Christ: Religious Violence and Its Legitimacy in Mexico (1920-2020)

Uri Lifshin (Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya). Increasing Perceived Similarity of the Self to Animals to Reduce Intergroup Hostility and Promote Peace: Testing a Novel Intervention in Three Nations

Pamela Mainye (Kisii University). Super-Cops, Extra-Judicial Killings, and Popular Imaginaries of Policing in Facebook Groups in Nairobi

Eric Min (University of California, Los Angeles). Fighting and Bargaining Across Two Centuries of International Conflict

Laine Munir (University of Rwanda). Valuable Resources: Women, Conflict, and Modern Mining Practices in Rwanda

Robert Simiyu (Kisii University). Geography, Identity Formation, and Intra-Ethnic Conflicts in Kenya’s Mt. Elgon Region: Deconstructing the Soy-Mosop Divide As a Basis for Conflict Resolution

Jeremy Speight (University of Alaska), Philip A. Martin (George Mason University) and Giulia Piccolino (Loughborough University). Ex-Rebel Authority in Post-Conflict Politics: Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire 

Yael Zeira (Syracuse University) and Alexandra Siegel (University of Colorado Boulder). The Ethnicization of Conflict: A Social Media Analysis