Ulrike is a Political Scientist specialising in the different manifestations, causes and consequences of political violence.

Core areas of her research are:

i.) the impact of formal and informal institutions on prospects of peace or violence;

ii.) the relationship(s) between direct, structural and cultural violence;

iii.) the social construction of political identities during times of peace and war;

iv.) power dynamics in the production and dissemination of academic knowledge.

Core areas of her teaching include:

i.) democracy, democratisation and democratic backsliding;

ii.) peace and conflict studies;

iii.) patterns of political inclusion and exclusion.

Ulrike obtained her PhD in Political Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 2012, having previously completed her first Masters degree (Magister Artium) in Political Science, Sociology and Philosophy at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) in 2005, and her second Masters degree (Master of Research) in Political Science at the LSE in 2006.

Her research has been published in outlets such as “Civil Wars”, “Comparative Political Studies” and “Ethnic and Racial Studies”. She has worked with academics and practitioners (both in and outside of the UK) in her research as well as in her engagement in the UEA University of Sanctuary initiative.

Civil wars and political violence; direct, structural and cultural violence; formal and informal political institutions (e.g., forms of government, electoral systems, state structures, corruption); power-sharing; political identity; gender, peace and security; democracy, democratisation and democratic backsliding; academic knowledge production.