Dr Sara Polo
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Email
sara.polo@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 876347
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Location
5A.135, Colchester Campus
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Academic support hours
Friday 13:30-15:30 (on Zoom)
Profile
Biography
Sara Polo is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Government at the University of Essex. Her research focuses on the causes, diffusion, and targets of terrorism and on the the determinants and dynamics of violent and nonviolent conflict. Her current projects examine why groups use terrorism in civil war, the sub-national and cross-national diffusion of terrorist tactics, the relationship between government repression and strategies of dissent, and the unintended consequences of peacekeeping operations during civil conflicts. Sara was previously an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Qualifications
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PhD in Government University of Essex, (2015)
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MSc in International Relations University of Essex, (2010)
Appointments
University of Essex
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Lecturer, Government, University of Essex (1/1/2019 - present)
Other academic
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Assistant Professor, Political Science, Rice University (1/7/2015 - 31/12/2018)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Terrorism
Civil Conflict
Political Violence
Spatial Analysis of Conflict
Peacekeeping
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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Co-Operation and Conflict (GV113)
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Violent Non State Actors: Violence, Crime and Conflict (GV211)
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Conflict Analysis (GV217)
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Development, State Building and Conflict (GV537)
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MA Dissertation (GV993)
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MRES Dissertation (GV995)
Current supervision
Publications
Journal articles (8)
Hinkkainen Elliott, K., Polo, SMT. and Reyes, L., Making Peace or Preventing It? UN Peacekeeping, Terrorism and Civil War Negotiations. International Studies Quarterly
Polo, SMT. and Wucherpfennig, J., Trojan Horse, Copycat, or Scapegoat? Unpacking the Refugees-Terrorism Nexus. The Journal of Politics
Polo, SMT., (2020). The Quality of Terrorist Violence: Explaining the Logic of Terrorist Target Choice. Journal of Peace Research. 57 (2), 235-250
Polo, SMT. and Gonzalez, B., (2020). The Power to Resist: Mobilization and the Logic of Terrorist Attacks in Civil War. Comparative Political Studies. 53 (13), 2029-2060
Polo, SMT., (2020). A Pandemic of Violence? The Impact of COVID-19 on Conflict. Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy. 0 (0)
Polo, SMT., (2020). How Terrorism Spreads: Emulation and the Diffusion of Ethnic and Ethnoreligious Terrorism. Journal of Conflict Resolution. 64 (10), 1916-1942
Polo, SMT. and Gleditsch, KS., (2016). Twisting arms and sending messages: Terrorist tactics in civil war. Journal of Peace Research. 53 (6), 815-829
Gleditsch, KS. and Polo, SMT., (2016). Ethnic inclusion, democracy, and terrorism. Public Choice. 169 (3-4), 207-229
Book chapters (1)
Gleditsch, KS., Beardsley, K. and Polo, SMT., (2017). Issues in Data Collection: International Conflict. In: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies
Contact
Academic support hours:
Friday 13:30-15:30 (on Zoom)