Welcome! My name is Dr. Anne-Kathrin Kreft, and I am a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Political Science department at the University of Oslo. I hold a PhD in Political Science from the University of Gothenburg (2019), an MA in Political Science from Western Washington University (2010), and a BA in British and American Studies and Text Technology from the University of Bielefeld (2007).
Expertise. My primary research interests are armed conflict, gender-based and political violence, the nexus of victimhood and agency, civil society activism, and international responses to, as well as public opinion on, conflict and political violence. In addition, I have an interest in women’s rights, gender (including gender-based violence against men) and in violence and conflict dynamics more broadly.
Mixed methods. In my work, I combine quantitative, qualitative and surveys/ survey experimental methods, and embrace an interdisciplinary curiosity. My field research has taken me to different parts of Colombia, to the United Nations in New York, and to diplomacy circles in Oslo, Stockholm and Berlin. There I have done interviews with civil society actors, diplomats, international organization staff, bureaucrats and former armed actors.
Accomplishments. For my PhD dissertation “Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict: Threat, Mobilization and Gender Norms” I received the 2020 Christiane-Rajewsky-Prize for junior conflict researchers awarded by the German Association for Peace and Conflict Studies. To date, I have published 14 peer-reviewed articles, inter alia in the Journal of Peace Research, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Affairs, Comparative Political Studies, International Studies Quarterly and International Peacekeeping, as well as various book chapters and research reports.
Project management. In addition to independently conceptualizing, securing funding for, and implementing research projects as an academic, I have project management experience from working in higher education consulting and as external expert at KfW Development Bank (Frankfurt). I have also completed internships at GIZ (Lusaka), the German Foreign Office (Berlin), and the World Federation of United Nations Associations (New York).
Education and outreach. I have given (guest) lectures and taught courses on armed conflict, gender, political violence, fieldwork, interviewing and qualitative data analysis in Norway, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and the U.S. Likewise, I have both contributed to and been cited in different media outlets in various countries, and presented at more than 30 international conferences, workshops and events.
Other interests. I love traveling and photography, and in particular the two in combination. My most memorable travels include visits to Iceland, northern Norway, Cyprus, Cuba, Colombia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, but these days I try to cut down on trips that involve flying. Luckily, there is plenty to discover by train as well! I also enjoy northern lights hunting, reading crime fiction (at the moment mostly women crime writers from the UK and Ireland), going on hikes, and watching squirrels.
Anne-Kathrin Kreft 