Grant, Fellowships Awarded to 4 at UCI

Three UC Irvine graduate students and a professor have received dissertation fellowships and a grant, respectively, from the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, which studies international conflict.

The students and professor applied for the awards through UCI’s Global Peace and Conflict Studies program, a research and teaching unit.

Kristen R. Monroe, a professor of politics and society, received a $15,000 research grant for a project titled, “From Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde: What Causes an Ordinary Person to Commit Genocide?”

Monroe is the author of “The Heart of Altruism,” which earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination for its exploration of the reasons people risk their lives to save strangers.

The students, who are studying politics and society, will apply their fellowships toward research this fall. They are:

* Michael E. Smith, who received $16,000 for his dissertation, “Toward a Common Foreign and Security Policy in Europe: Norms, Institutions and the Expansion of European Political Cooperation, 1970-79.”

* Bojan M. Petrovic, who received $12,000 for his dissertation, “Ethnicity, Regime Transition and Violence: Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia in Comparative Perspective.”

* Brenda M. Seaver, who received $12,000 for her dissertation, “Democratic Instability and War: How Democratization Leads to International Conflict, 1816-1995.”

The Global Peace and Conflict Studies program at UCI also received a $25,300 grant from the institute to cover general administrative costs, a lecture series and other programs.