We are pleased to announce the Cline Center’s 2024 Schroeder Summer Fellowships. This year the fellows are Alesha Lewis, Ekin Alpay, and Myung Jung Kim
The Schroeder Summer Graduate Fellowship Program is made possible by a generous gift from William A. and Paul W. Schroeder. The program aims to enhance the quality of rigorous research on topics that fall within ongoing research programs at the Cline Center by helping graduate students in Political Science at the University of Illinois generate original and publishable research at an early stage in their graduate career.
Ekin Alpay - Ekin's research project conducts a descriptive analysis of anti-democratic rhetoric within partisan media, utilizing sentimental variables to trace its evolution. Focused on the coverage of anti-democratic events and the rhetoric surrounding them, the study examines various forms of media content, including speeches and articles. Leveraging the Global News Index of the Cline Center, it aims to discern patterns and trends in the portrayal of anti-democratic events across different media outlets. Her research seeks to deepen understanding of the dissemination and impact of anti-democratic rhetoric within contemporary discourse.
Myung Jung Kim - Myung Jung's research project focuses on how armed actors accused of war crimes and other mass atrocities confront or manage to evade punishment in today's international legal context. In particular, she explores how the increased risk of prosecution under international and universal jurisdiction impacts rebels' operations in foreign territories—previously considered "safe havens"—thereby influencing the operational strategies of rebel groups, the peace process, and the outcomes of conflicts. Specifically, by utilizing the Cline Center's Historical Phoenix Event Data, she aims to examine the dynamics of cross-border violence spillover and the external state sponsorship in supporting foreign rebel groups within an evolving legal landscape.
Alesha Lewis - Alesha's study will include both statistical analysis of police force as well as analysis of the news coverage surrounding shootings across the US. She plans to examine whether the race of a victim predicts the likelihood of an outcome being fatal with the SPOTLITE data set. Using the Global News Index and the Archer system, she intends to examine articles that cover police shootings and use discourse
