Kimberly Howe

Research Director and Assistant Professor

Research Assistant Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition

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Working with Feinstein since 2007

Based in France

Kimberly Howe

As the director of Feinstein’s research program on Conflict and Governance, Kimberly Howe leads the flagship program on Early Marriage in Conflict and Displacement: From Research to Practice.

Her work focuses on how civilians cope and adapt to war, and the effects of humanitarian and political interventions on civilians, armed groups, and political structures. Kimberly has written about trauma-informed field research and has designed and conducted mixed methods research projects in several war-affected countries around the world including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colombia, Uganda, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan.

Since the late 1990s, Kimberly has been working in a variety of ways to improve the lives of people affected by conflict and war. Kimberly regularly conducts research for the U.S. government on their programs targeting refugees, internally displaced persons, and war-affected populations. Prior to joining the center, she was a Randolph Jennings Peace Scholar at the US Institute of Peace, an Adjunct Associate Research Scholar at SIPA Columbia University, and a Fellow at Harvard University Medical School. From 1999 to 2007, she practiced as a psychotherapist treating survivors of torture and interpersonal violence.

Kimberly holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.S.W. from Simmons College, Boston. She has an M.A.L.D. and Ph.D. in international relations from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.

From 2019 to 2021, she was a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow to support her work on early marriage in conflict.

When she is not in the field, she is based in southern France, where the weather is always nice.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Early marriage in conflict and displacement
  • Governance in conflict
  • Civilian well-being during war and international intervention

REGIONAL FOCUS

  • Middle East
  • East/Great Lakes Africa
  • Colombia

COURSES TAUGHT

  • Conflict Resolution Theory at Fletcher (DHP D223)

MOST CITED BOOKS & ARTICLES

MOST RECENT EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS

  • Howe, Kimberly, Elizabeth Stites, Lucy Bassett, and Maya Ewart. 2024. “Health and Well-being of Young Mothers Displaced by Conflict: Experiences From South Sudan and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.” Social Science & Medicine 348 (May): 116710. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116710.
  • Howe, Kimberly. 2023. “The Ties That Bind: : Civilian Adaptation and Social Connectedness during the Syrian Civil War.” In Civilian Protective Agency in Violent Settings: A Comparative Perspective, edited by Jana Krause, et al. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192866714.003.0003.
  • Mukhopadhyay, D., & Howe, K. 2023. Good Rebel Governance: Revolutionary Politics and Western Intervention in Syria. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108778015
  • Howe, Kimberly. 2022. “Trauma to Self and Other: Reflections on Field Research and Conflict.” Security Dialogue 53 (4): 363–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/09670106221105710.
  • Carnegie, Allison, Howe, Kimberly, Lichtenheld, Adam & Mukhopadhyay, Dipali. “The Effects of Foreign Aid on Rebel Governance: Evidence from a Large-Scale USAID program in Syria.” Economics and Politics. (2021).
  • Carnegie, Allison, Howe, Kimberly, Lichtenheld, Adam & Mukhopadhyay, Dipali. “Winning Hearts and Minds for Rebel Rulers: Foreign Aid and Military Contestation in Syria.” British Journal of Political Science.  (2021). 
  • Stites, Elizabeth, & Howe, Kimberly. “From the border to the bedroom: Changing conflict dynamics in Karamoja, Uganda.” The Journal of Modern African Studies, 57, no. 1 (2019): 137-159. doi: 10.1017/S0022278X18000642.
  • Howe, Kimberly & Stites, Elizabeth. “Partners under pressure: Humanitarian action for the Syria crisis.” Disasters, 43, no. 1 (2019): 3-23. doi:10.1111/disa.12298 

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