Emily Russell
Research
Experiential and Creative Work
My research interests are situated in security, conflict, and peace subfields. I aim to measure subnational security force structure and complexity, including armaments, reporting mechanisms, training, recruitment patterns, and task-based orientation to determine the effects of these structural differences on disaggregated and diverse forms of state violence. My work examines force origin and engages with security as a facet of colonialism, state-making, and sovereignty, giving it relevance for contemporary studies of separatism. I hope to expand this work to the study of new sovereigns and their post-conflict institutions, in which I will quantify both consequences of violence and cases of peace.
Beyond the value of research to creating new knowledge is its accessibility, apprehension, and application by non-academics. I apply my work to mediums which can be practiced and appreciated by non-academics, including the mode of storytelling through political playwriting and writing in non-academic journals. Further, I apply theories of postwar interventions to stage creative peacebuilding initiatives in postconflict zones using techniques of applied theater.