Victoria Fontan

Nationality: France

Current Position within UPEACE

Director of Academic Development, Office of the Dean for Academic Programmes
Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, Department of Peace and Conflict Studies Project Leader, UPeace Program in South Asia, the Horn of Africa and the Middle East
In addition to teaching courses in peace and conflict studies, I am responsible for the development of academic ties with foreign partners. I am also leading UPSAM, a Dutch-financed project geared towards facilitating the establishment of MA programs in Peace and Conflict Studies in 17 universities worldwide. My research background is eclectic, while centered on key issues in the development of insurgent groups engaging in political violence and acts of terrorism in post-conflict areas. I conducted field research in Lebanon, the Spanish Basque country, and more recently post-Saddam Iraq. Recently, I have been exploring how to apply quantum and chaos theories to Peace and Conflict Studies.

Education and Qualifications

• PhD Candidate in Education, Universidad De La Salle, Costa Rica
• PhD, MA, Peace and Development Studies, University of Limerick, Eire
• BA, Politics, University of Sussex, UK

Work Experience

• Fellow to the Iraq Program, Centre for International Conflict Resolution, Columbia University, USA
• Visiting Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, Colgate University, USA
• Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Sabanci University, Turkey
• Research Associate, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
• Democratization Officer, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Mission to Bosnia-Herzegovina

Courses/Subjects Taught

• Foundation Course in Peace and Conflict Studies
• Terrorism, Insurgency and the Media
• Conflict Management
• Quantum Peace

Research Interests

• Terrorism and Political Violence
• Peace Operations Training
• Human Trafficking and Sexual Slavery
• The Media and Political Conflict
• Transrational Peaces

Publications

• Voices from Post-Saddam Iraq: Living with Terrorism, Insurgency and new Forms of Tyranny, published by Preager Security International, Westport, CT. December 2008.
• ‘ “Our ears and our eyes”: journalists and fixers in Iraq’, written with Jerry Palmer, Journalism, Vol. 8, No. 1, 5-24, Sage Publishers, 2007.
•  ‘Polarization between occupier and occupied in Post-Saddam Iraq: humiliation and the formation of political violence’ in Terrorism and Political Violence, 18:217-238, Routledge: Taylor and Francis. Spring 2006.
• ‘Le discours d’al-Manar : vecteur de glasnost du Hezbollah ?’ in Questions de Communication, Vol 8, Université de Metz, France. April 2006.
• ‘Hubris, History, and Humiliation: Quest for Utopia in Post-Saddam Iraq
  in Social Alternatives (Special Issue "Humiliation and History in Global Perspectives"), Vol. 25, No. 1, First Quarter, 2006.
• ‘Al-Manar TV and Lebanese Women’s Groups’ in Naomi Sakr, Women and Media in the Arab World. London: IB Tauris, 2004.
•  ‘The International Media and the Lebanese Hezbollah: reporting or supporting a third party?’, in Humanitariannet, The Emotion and the Truth: Studies in Mass communication and conflict. Bilbao: University of Deusto, 2003.
• ‘The importance of education and training in modern peace operations’ in The Yearbook of International Peace Operations, Volume 9, 2003. Amsterdam: Brill Academic Publishers.
  ‘The Media and Conflict Prevention: Warning or Monitoring? The Case of Dvar, Bosnia’ in M Aguirre, F Ferrandiz & J-M PurezaBefore Emergency: Conflict Prevention and the Media. Bilbao: University of Deusto, 2003.
• ‘Responses to human trafficking: from the Balkans to Afghanistan’ in C Van den Anker, The Political Economy of New Slavery London: Palgrave, 2003.
  ‘US Newsmedia influence on US Foreign Policy: from the Gulf war to the War on Terrorism’, UL Perspectives, Volume 1, February 2002.
• ‘David vs. Goliath: The Lebanese Hezbollah in the Current World Order’ in Journal of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations.Kuala Lumpur: IDFR Press, December 2002.