Soha Hammam
Soha Hammam
 
 

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Harvard Kennedy School’s Nonviolent Action Lab, where I work with Program Director Dr. Jay Ulfelder and faculty PIs Dr. Erica Chenoweth (Harvard) and Dr. Jeremy Pressman (UConn) to advance a dynamic portfolio of research, writing, and dissemination activities. This involves the meticulous collection and analysis of real-time event data concerning political mobilization and law enforcement responses across the United States.

I was a Democracy Visiting Fellow at Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation for the academic year 2023-2024. My research examines the prospects for political change in authoritarian regimes through nonviolent collective action, with a specific focus on the MENA region. My current work also involves the application of computational social science methods to study strategies to empower vulnerable populations and address issues related to social justice and inequality. My research has been published in Regional Studies, Regional Science, and Social Movement Studies.

I hold a doctorate in Political Science and a master's in applied data science and international studies from Claremont Graduate University. I was a 2021-2022 Peace Scholar Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, a national, nonpartisan, independent institute founded by Congress and dedicated to peacebuilding and conflict mitigation worldwide. I was also a recipient of the 2021-2022 Transdisciplinary Studies Dissertation Award from Claremont Graduate University. The award recognizes students using transdisciplinary methodologies and perspectives in their research in innovative, creative, and compelling ways.

 

Curriculum Vitae





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Research

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

  • “Protests in the United States on Palestine and Israel, 2023-2024” Social Movement Studies (2024) (with Erica Chenoweth, Jay Ulfelder, and Jeremy Pressman)

  • “Political Sources of Urban Concentration in Latin America,” Regional Studies, Regional Science (2024) (with Melissa Rogers)

Research Articles in Progress

  • "Analyzing Administrative and Police Responses to the 2024 Student Palestine Solidarity Encampments in the United States" (with Erica Chenoweth, Jay Ulfelder, and Jeremy Pressman)

  • “A Computational Analysis of Civil Resistance Dynamics and Outcomes”

  • “Effects of Police Fatal Encounters on Birth Outcomes in California” (with Javier Rodriguez)

  • “Assessing Bias in Cross-Level Aggregation of Geographic Epidemiological Data to Policy-Meaningful Localities: A Case Study in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias” (with Javier Rodriguez, Dong Wook Lee, Sandra P. Garcia, and Melissa Rogers)

Research Experience

Dissertation Research

  • Conduct a computational analysis of civil resistance to examine the connection between the characteristics of civil resistance movements, repression, and outcomes

  • Apply machine learning algorithms to the NAVCO 2.1 dataset to simultaneously test and rank-order a large set of variables according to their likelihood of shaping civil resistance outcomes

  • Extend the findings using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to test the effect of proximity between same-year campaigns on their success

  • Explore the dynamics of modular political action and how the imitation of prior successful examples differed during the Arab Spring from the post-communist pro-democracy movements

  • Apply agent-based modeling to explore the emergent behavior in civil resistance processes and, using case studies from the Arab Spring, investigate how different mobilization scenarios can lead to different outcomes.

Learn more about my research

 

Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

My life-long curiosity about world politics, and persistent urge to find answers have led me to a deeply rewarding and fulfilling scholarly pursuit of knowledge. Knowing firsthand how confusing world affairs can be, especially in times of uncertainty and turmoil, I became driven to help others demystify them and see beyond the news headlines. Realizing that college students are often surrounded by a large magnitude of information that can sometimes be hard to filter through, I rely on various teaching methods to facilitate different modes of learning. In my teaching I incorporate a mixture of short lectures, class discussions, videos & podcasts, and class simulations; assign exit tickets for self-reflection at the end of each class meeting; and foster peer-learning through think-pair-share activities.

I believe the student is the core of the education process. Designing an inclusive learning environment is an intentional practice in which the educator anticipates and prepares for a classroom full of students with diverse backgrounds. Inclusivity is paramount when teaching Political Science since issues of race, culture, and identity are often intertwined with politics. Through my teaching, I encourage students to examine the connection between the material covered in class and their own experiences and understanding of the world around them. My goal is to help students develop the necessary knowledge and critical thinking skills that can guide them while navigating an increasingly complex world.

Learn more about my teaching

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Grants and Honors

  • United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Peace Scholar Fellowship 2021

  • Claremont Graduate University Transdisciplinary Studies Dissertation Fellowship 2021

  • Claremont Graduate University Scholar Award 2018

  • Department of Politics and Economics Board of Advisors Outstanding Scholar Award (Claremont Graduate University 2017)

  • Luther J. Lee Jr. Memorial Fellowship (Claremont Graduate University 2017)

Professional Associations

  • American Political Science Association (2017-present)

  • International Studies Association (2015-present)

  • Women in Conflict Studies (2016-present)

  • Project on Middle East Political Science (2017-present)

  • Visions in Methodology (2021-present)

Contact

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