Dr Giuditta Fontana

• PGCHE, University of Birmingham, 2018
• PhD Education and Conflict Regulation, King's College London, 2014
• MA Mediterranean Studies, King's College London, 2008
• BSc International Relations and History, London School of Economics, 2007

Giuditta is a Birmingham Fellow in International Security. Her research interests include institution-building in conflict-affected societies, power-sharing, education reform and cultural policy in Europe, the Middle East and West Africa.

She was previously a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow focusing on the interface between peace processes and reforms of cultural institutions (such as schools, the media and museums) in divided societies (Northern Ireland, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and North Macedonia).

Giuditta is a United World College alumna and holds a BSc International Relations and History from the London School of Economics (2007) and an MA Mediterranean Studies from King's College London (2008). Her PhD (awarded in October 2014 by King's College London) focused on the political function of formal education in deeply divided societies and compared the experiences of Lebanon, Northern Ireland and North Macedonia.

Prior to her doctorate, Giuditta worked in a number of non-governmental and international organisations in Europe and the Middle East, including the European Commission and Minority Rights Group International.

• Causes of conflict
• Approaches to peace and conflict management
• Power-sharing
• Education reform

Giuditta welcomes new PhD applications in the areas of:

• Conflict;
• War-to-peace transitions;
• Education reform in conflict-affected contexts;
• Cultural policy in conflict-affected contexts;
• Institutional design and power-sharing

Research Interests
Giuditta’s research interests include institution-building in conflict-affected societies, the design of peace agreements, power-sharing, education reform and cultural policy in Europe, the Middle East and West Africa.

Current Projects
Giuditta is currently working on the following projects:

• Learning from Failure: Tackling War Recurrence in Protracted Peace Processes (Co-I, with S. Wolff, A. Kartsonaki, N. Neudorfer and C. Yakinthou, University of Birmingham, UK).
• Education in Conflict-Affected Societies Network (Co-I, with T.Gallagher at Queen’s University Belfast, UK, B.Akar at Notre Dame University Louaize, Lebanon and E. Maloku at Rochester Institute, Kosovo).
• The Prevent Duty in Primary Schools (Co-I, with R. da Silva and M. Armstrong).
• The Ingredients of Peace (PI, with I.Masiero, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brazil).
• The Securitisation of Education Reform in Cyprus and Lebanon (PI, with E.Christodolou, Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research, Germany).