New Geographies of Conflict and Development (GeoCoDe) Program!

Geographies of Conflict and Development

(GeoCoDe)

BACKGROUND

The Center for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM) is establishing the Geographies of Conflict and Development (GeoCoDe) program, which will operate during 2015.

Among the primary objectives of GeoCoDe are to cultivate students’ interests and skills in studying the geographic patterns, trends, and relationships of armed conflict and development assistance around the world. Armed conflict remains a persistent problem, with 25-35 countries usually embroiled in significant active hostilities each year and dozens of other countries emerging from past episodes of violence and/or experiencing aggression that present threats to security. Meanwhile, a range of donors collectively spends $200+ billion per year in development assistance, the majority in countries exposed or susceptible to conflict. Low levels of development often contribute to fragile conditions, by intensifying grievances and vulnerability to predation. Conflict has a devastating impact on development trajectories: the World Bank estimates that the average cost of a civil war is equivalent to losing 30 years of GDP. Improving understanding of these issues is imperative for numerous stakeholders in the international community, with important consequences for populations suffering direct harms in hard contexts.

Over recent years, using visualization tools and analytical techniques to examine spatial characteristics of political violence and foreign aid and their correlates, dynamics, and effects has received heightened attention. Cutting-edge approaches amplify the granularity in empirical inquiry, employing emergent data disaggregated below the level of nation-states to explore with greater precision and fidelity to proximity in theorized mechanisms. Scholars, policy makers, and practitioners are increasingly attuned to the value of these new sources and methods, which yield rigorous, evidence-based insights that facilitate making decisions about strategies, interventions, and the allocation of resources; assessing outcomes; and communicating implications. Likewise, students seeking related careers should be exposed and build capabilities to become intelligent consumers of information who are equipped for professional needs.

RESEARCH PROJECT

The goals of GeoCoDe will be accomplished by combining specialized training with a direct role in faculty-led applied research. The program is intended to function in synergy with a three-year project (Aiding Resilience? The Impact of Foreign Assistance on the Dynamics of Intrastate Armed Conflict) that began in September 2014 with a grant from the Minerva Initiative of the US Department of Defense. GeoCoDe capitalizes on the design, organizational framework, inter-institutional partnerships, and personnel from this project, which was conceived to have a large set of students assisting with key tasks.

The basic purpose of the project is to evaluate empirically the relationships between (1) the sources, types, geographic locations, timings, and amounts of development assistance and (2) resilience to intrastate armed conflict, defined in terms of (a) withstanding or moderating stresses and shocks that can heighten the risk, escalation, scope, and severity of conflict, (b) the speed and extent of conflict resolution, (c) the degree of post-conflict recovery, and (d) reducing future vulnerability to destabilizing stresses and shocks. Whether associations are positive, negative, neutral, or non-existent remains unresolved. The analysis plan is configured with broad cross-national and detailed sub-national aspects.

A necessary step is to georeference (i.e., match mapping coordinates of locations identified based on related documentation) the large volume of development aid projects conducted across Africa from 2001-12. Appending such information will enable spatial visualization and analysis of patterns, including as they evolve over time and in relation to conflict events and other potential factors.

DESIGN OF THE GeoCoDe PROGRAM

To facilitate the research, we are seeking 40 undergraduate students and 8-10 graduate students to participate in GeoCoDe. The program consists of three stages:

·         A 3-credit special topics course during the Spring 2015 semester.

·         A paid research assistantship during the Summer 2015.

·         Another 3-credit special topics course during the Fall 2015 semester.

An expectation is that most students will participate in all three stages, in order to take full advantage of the learning opportunity and tangible contributions they can make to the implementation of the project. Students who are prepared from the outset to participate in the entire program will be given priority.

Spring 2015

During the first half of the initial special topics course, students will receive relevant introduction and training on the following:

·         The database on foreign aid projects compiled by the AidData lab – a preeminent initiative to track and scrutinize the landscape of development finance. Limited portions of the database have already been georeferenced.  More of this work is in progress, with additional segments due to be completed via the Minerva project.

·         The latest information resources on armed conflict such as the Georeferenced Event Dataset of the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), the Armed Conflict Location and Events Dataset (ACLED), and the Social Conflict in Africa Dataset (SCAD).

·         Employing online sources for searches of information on development assistance projects.

·         Best practices of georeferencing, including for data coding, entry, and matching place names.

·         Commonly-used commercial (ArcGIS) and open-source (Quantum GIS) mapping software.

·         Writing analytical articles, briefs, and blog posts for academic and policy audiences.

In-class and online lectures, complemented by hands-on interactive experiences, will be conducted by the instructors and guest experts (for a list, see below).

In addition, teams comprised of 4-6 students will be constituted. During the remainder of the semester, each team will tackle the georeferencing of development projects for a particular country. Teams will also draft plans for analytical products – e.g., country profiles, blog columns, policy briefs, academic articles – that examine key patterns and trends of relationships between development assistance and armed conflict. Appropriate templates and specific topics will be devised in consultation with the instructors.

Summer 2015

Students who successfully complete the course will continue in paid summer research assistant positions. The teams will work intensively – approximately 25-30 hours per week for 10 weeks – to advance the georeferencing and begin assembling analytical products.

Fall 2015

During the second special topics course, the teams will finish the georeferencing, as necessary. Most of the time will be devoted, however, to completing analytical products. Each team will generate at least three products, together resulting in a comprehensive set of country profiles. Teams will present products both to peers and at a public symposium. Afterwards, the products will be refined and expanded in collaboration with senior project personnel, as warranted, and released on the Minerva project website. Select products may later be transformed into publications co-authored with senior project personnel.

INSTRUCTORS

The GeoCoDe program will be directed by two faculty members:

·         Paul Huth is a Professor of Government & Politics, Director of CIDCM, and Editor of the Journal of Conflict Resolution. A leading scholar in the study of armed conflict, he has a long record of grants leading to books released by university presses and articles in peer-reviewed journals. Many of these publications were developed with inputs from graduate students he has mentored (some later co-authors) and teams of undergraduate students, who helped with data collection and other tasks. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses for nearly 30 years.

·         David Backer is Assistant Director of CIDCM and a Research Associate Professor, as well as the Director of MIDCM. He has a substantial record of externally funded research leading to publications on conflict and post-conflict processes and political development. Undergraduate and graduate students assisted him with a number of these projects. His experience in teaching undergraduate courses dates back over 15 years and he has overseen MIDCM since June 2012.

Huth and Backer are Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator, respectively, on the Minerva research project. They will be assisted in operating the GeoCoDe program by:

·         Jacob Aronson will complete his PhD in Government & Politics from UMD in December 2014. His research involves quantitative and geospatial analysis of the conduct and impact of warfare.

Aronson will be a postdoctoral scholar on the Minerva project, contributing to data collection and analysis, from January 2015 – August 2017.

GUEST EXPERTS

Further instruction and guidance will be supplied by set of experts, including:

·         Kevin Jones is a Research Scholar with the Center for International Security Studies at Maryland. He received his PhD in Public Policy from the University of Maryland in 2002. An expert on emerging threats, civil violence, and political forecasting, he has led past research projects about the detection of localized protest, conflict severity, and spatial distributions of conflict dynamics. He is a Co-Principal Investigator on the Minerva project.

·         Michael Findley is currently an Associate Professor of Government at the University of Texas. He received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Illinois in 2007. His research examines civil wars, terrorism, development aid, and development. He also conceived AidData’s mapping initiative and geocoding methodology and serves as a consultant on the Minerva project.

·         Andrew Linke is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Colorado, from which he completed his PhD in Geography in 2013, and also a consultant with ACLED. His research relies on GIS, spatial statistics, and fieldwork to understand the geographies of political violence. He serves as a consultant on the Minerva project, advising on geospatial analysis.

·         Daniel Strandow will finish his PhD in Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University [Sweden] in December 2014. His research involves quantitative and geospatial analysis of the relationship between aid and conflict. He helped devise the geocoding methodology that is being employed for the Minerva project, for which he serves as a consultant.

Staff from AidData will also be involved in the following capacities:

·         Providing training on geocoding methodology.

·         Offering advice about workflow and technical tools.

·         Demonstrating forms of data visualization and analysis.

·         Giving feedback on draft products.

BENEFITS

Training & Experience

GeoCoDe will emphasize methods used heavily in disciplines such as political science (especially the sub-fields of comparative politics and international relations) and geography – and at their intersection. A key tool is geographic information systems (GIS) software, an integral resource to map location-specific data. The availability and variety of georeferenced information are multiplying at a rapid pace, now encompassing numerous indicators of political, economic, social, demographic, environmental, health, technological, and other features of countries around the world, obtainable from different sources. These variables – individually and in layers – can be organized into a wide array of spatial representations. Those outputs are valuable as illustrations to accent the sorts of case overviews and analyses of patterns, trends, and relationships that are common in academic scholarship and assorted items commonly prepared by international organizations, government agencies, NGOs, and private-sector firms. Some students are already required to navigate and make sense of this sort of material – and generate it themselves for assignments. GeoCoDe and the Minerva project will also acquaint students with topical applied research, which is pertinent to the policy community nearby in Washington, DC and other audiences worldwide. These skills and exposures are becoming a norm in many of the social sciences and represent vital assets in pursuing appealing graduate school and job prospects with growth potential upon graduation.

Fulfill Requirements

The special topics course during the Spring 2015 (1) will fulfill the methods course requirement of MIDCM, or (2) subject to approval, may be used to fulfill the Global Studies Signature Elective course requirement for non-MIDCM students.

The special topics courses during the Spring 2015 and Fall 2015 will apply toward GVPT requirements of upper-level credits.

The research assistantship during the Summer 2015 is pre-approved as a practical experience for MIDCM (BSOS388E must still be taken afterwards to receive a necessary practicum credit).

Products

Students who complete the program will contribute to compiling new datasets that are public resources, as well as co-author analytical materials of interest to scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. Referencing these activities and outputs should afford students a major boost in resumes, applications, and interviews.

Future Opportunities

Participation in the program can be an excellent stepping-stone that helps students to define paths of interest in academic majors and minors and to pursue graduate school and professional opportunities.

For example, one partner on the Minerva project is the College of William & Mary (W&M), a lead institution of the AidData lab. To date, almost 100 undergraduate and graduate students from W&M and other universities have adeptly assisted AidData’s sizeable professional staff. W&M/AidData will offer UMD students who complete the GeoCoDe program the following:

·         Eligibility for the AidData Summer Fellows Program: This year, 21 fellows from W&M, BYU, the University of Texas, and Georgetown were deployed overseas in government ministries, embassies, NGOs, and educational institutions to improve their capacity to use geocoded data on development finance in program planning, advocacy, and research.

·         Consideration for AidData summer internships and long-term employment (upon graduation): AidData hires both current students and graduates to do an assortment of technical, analytical, and outreach work, including contributing to the ongoing georeferencing of development projects that is being subsidized by the Minerva grant.

ELIGIBILITY

Participation in GeoCoDe is open to students with suitable interests. Logical candidates include:

·         Undergraduates with majors in Government & Politics, Geographical Sciences, Economics, and Environmental Science & Policy.

·         Undergraduates in any of the Global Studies minors (MIDCM, Global Poverty, Global Terrorism, International Engineering).

·         Undergraduates in other programs with an international focus (e.g., Global Communities; the International Studies and Global Public Health tracks of College Park Scholars).

·         Graduate students in Public Policy, especially the International Development Policy and International Security and Economic Policy specializations.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

In order to participate, please fill in the table below and email as soon as possible to dbacker@umd.edu.

NAME
UID
EMAIL
MAJOR(S)
MINOR(S)
EXPECTED GRADUATION
OVERALL GPA
GPA IN MAJOR(S)
ANY PRIOR EXPERIENCE WITH GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS AND SOFTWARE
INTEREST IN PROGRAM (LIMIT TO 100 WORDS OR LESS)
ARE YOU INCLINED AND AVAILABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ENTIRE PROGRAM? Note: Students prepared to participate in the entire program have priority for spots.

Permissions will be granted on a rolling basis.