Name: Amanda Blewitt
Email: amanda.blewitt@nyu.edu
Program: International Education
Research Interests: peacebuilding in non-war contexts, grassroots peacebuilding, everyday peace, nonformal community-based education, critical peace education, arts-based approaches to peacebuilding
Principal Advisor(s): Elisabeth King (Chair), Carol Anne Spreen (NYU), Roger Mac Ginty (Durham University)
Research Description/Bio: Amanda Blewitt is a Ph.D. Candidate in International Education at New York University. Her dissertation explores how civil society actors and other citizens in Honduras — a fragile environment plagued by ongoing violence — view peace and their role in cultivating it. Using interviews, focus group discussions, and observations, she analyzes formal and everyday approaches to peacebuilding, as well as perspectives on how to address the root causes of instability and injustice. Through focusing on the case of Honduras and listening closely to the perspectives of local people, Amanda considers what peace and justice mean in a non-war environment characterized by chronic violence and impunity.
Amanda’s dissertation fits into a broader research agenda focusing on civil-society, educational, and arts-based approaches to reducing violence and promoting human rights in Latin and North America; and applying peacebuilding lenses to contexts and problems that are often overlooked by the peace and conflict studies field. She is currently part of an interdisciplinary research team that uses mixed methods to evaluate how verbatim performance impacts biases and political perceptions for viewers, as well as how it fosters empathy in performers, within a polarized political climate in the U.S.
While at NYU, Amanda has been a course instructor for Introduction to Global Education (undergraduate) and Professional Development in International Education (graduate). She has served as a teaching or course assistant for the graduate courses Qualitative Methods in Comparative Education, Quantitative Methods in International Education, and Political Issues in International Education; and the undergraduate course Learning and the Meaning of Life. She also worked as a technical editor for the Journal on Education in Emergencies.
Prior to doctoral study, Amanda worked for community development, women’s empowerment, and educational nonprofit organizations in Honduras and Ecuador for six years, and she has worked or volunteered as an educator for universities and nonprofits in the U.S. and numerous international settings. Amanda holds a Master of Education in International Education Policy & Management from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Franklin & Marshall College.
Selected Publications, Awards, and Presentations:
Publications
Blewitt, Amanda; Christine Choi, and Elisabeth King. (2021). Combining the Theory and Practice of Peace and Conflict Studies through an Experiential Conflict Analysis Activity. PS: Political Science & Politics, 54(4), 744–749. DOI: 10.1017/S1049096521000445
Acris, Sorana; Amanda Blewitt, Laura Cabochan, Arja Dayal, Keith R. Huff, Elisabeth King, and Joe Salvatore. Disrupting Partisan Bias through Arts: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment. (Under review, Journal of Politics.)
Blewitt, Amanda. Misplaced Responsibility in an Undeclared War: The Civil Burden of Peacebuilding in Honduras. (In progress.)
Awards
AAUW American Dissertation Fellowship, American Association of University Women (AAUW). 2023–2024. $25,000.
USIP Peace Scholar Fellowship, United States Institute of Peace (USIP). 2023–2024. $20,000 (awarded), $17,250 (accepted).
Tinker Field Research Grant; Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, New York University. 2023. $2,000.
Summer Dissertation Writing Workshop Fellowship; Global Research Institute, Washington, D.C., New York University. Summer 2023. $2,350.
Visiting Graduate Student Fellowship; Global Research Institute, Madrid, New York University. Spring 2023. $7,425.
American Political Science Association (APSA) Centennial Center Research Grant: Herring Fund for Political Art. With Elisabeth King, Sorana Acris, Laura Cabochan, Keith R. Huff, and Joe Salvatore. “Can Theatre Disrupt Biases and Political Polarization in the U.S.?” 2021–2022. $10,000.
Steinhardt Doctoral Research and Travel Grant, New York University. $4,000 total ($1,000 in Spring 2023; $1,500 in Fall 2022; $1,500 in Spring 2022).
Shearwater Research Grant, New York University. $2,210.71 total ($800 in 2023; $925 in 2022; $485.71 in 2020).
ASH Professional Development and Research Support Fund, New York University. $1,000 total ($500 in Summer 2023; $500 in Summer 2022).
Norma Tarrow Scholarship, New York University. 2023. $250.
Innovative Social Change Methodologies in International Development. With Elisabeth King (PI), Emily Dunlop, and Sorana Acris. $24,873.
Presentations
“‘Living Peace’ in a Violent Environment: Local and Everyday Peacebuilding in Honduras.” International Peace Research Association Conference. Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. May 20, 2023.
“‘Living Peace’ in a Violent Environment: Everyday Peacebuilding amidst Chronic Insecurity in Honduras.” International Studies Association Conference. Montreal, Canada. March 16, 2023.
“Local Views of Education’s Role in Fostering Peace in Honduras.” Comparative and International Education Society Annual Conference. Remote. April 22, 2022.
“Can Arts Change Political Perceptions?” Workshop on Empathy and Reconciliation, Western University. London, Canada. February 17, 2020.