Katherine (Katie) Mann is a 2024-25 Visiting Scholar at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies. She is also a PhD candidate and Cambridge Trust Scholar at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Politics and International Studies and a 2024-25 Civil War Paths Fellow at the University of York. Katie’s doctoral research draws on archival material and 95 extended interviews with ex-combatants and other stakeholders to investigate the relationship between of armed group ideology, socialization practices, and conflict-related sexual and reproductive violence, focusing on the FARC in Colombia. In a second line of research, she examines issues related to gender and democratic politics. Her book Aiding Empowerment: Democracy Promotion and Gender Equality in Politics, co-authored with Saskia Brechenmacher and published by Oxford University Press (2024), leverages research in Kenya, Nepal, Morocco, and Myanmar to assess the evolution and effectiveness of international support for women’s political empowerment over the last thirty years. Her work has also been published in Foreign Policy, Just Security, and other outlets. Alongside her research, Katie teaches undergraduate courses on peace, conflict, politics, and gender.

Katie has previously been a Visiting Researcher at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, a Research Analyst in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., a Junior Fellow at the Conference of Defence Associations Institute, and a Managing Editor for the Cambridge Review of International Affairs. She has also worked with non-governmental organizations to reduce group-targeted political violence and promote civic activism, as well as held various other research and editorial positions. She holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford and a dual-BA in Political Science and International Affairs with a minor in French from the University of Georgia.

Personal website: katherine-mann.com