Alicia Luedke was born and raised in Vancouver, B.C and is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Political Science and a Vanier Canadian Graduate Scholar. She has also worked as a researcher, consultant and analyst for a variety of national, regional and international non-governmental organizations, including the United Nations in the East and Horn of Africa Region, particularly in South Sudan where she has been working over the past decade on issues of conflict, gender, human rights and humanitarianism. She has a passion for carrying out research to inform policy and practice on the ground in the areas she has worked. Straddling the divide between research and praxis herself, she tries to use the research she does to bridge the gaps that exists between academics and practitioners.

Building on her professional experience working in the development and humanitarian sector in East Africa, Alicia’s doctoral work investigates the impact of international policies and discourses seeking to bring an end to sexual violence and promote gender equality in situations of armed conflict, specifically in South Sudan where she has been working on and off since 2012.

Alicia is interested on the impacts of the international humanitarian regime and has already written on gender and violence in South Sudan both academically and for policy purposes. Her dissertation looks at the effect of global efforts to eliminate gender-based violence (GBV) and promote gender equality in fragile and conflict-affected environments, with a focus on different forms of public authority in South Sudan, including militias and gangs. Her research seeks to understand the ways in which international discourses and policies addressing GBV and gender equality in the midst of a crisis influence perceptions and practices on the ground where they are intended to have the greatest impact.

Luedke, Alicia. (2020). Violence, crime and gender in South Sudan: Reflections from the field on militias and gangs. Conflict Research Programme, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

Luedke, Alicia. 2019. “Chapter 2. Preventing and Responding to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence In and Around South Sudan’s Protection of Civilian (POC) Sites.” In Shane Joshua Barter and William Ascher (Eds) Internal Migration: Challenges in Governance and Integration. Peter Lang.

Luedke, Alicia. 2018. “Chapter 3. At Home and on the Frontlines: Custom, Commodification and Sexual Violence in South Sudan’s Conflict.” In Merril Smith and Tuba Inal (Eds) Rape Cultures and Survivors: An International Perspective, Volume 2: Rape Cultures and Their Consequences for the Survivors. Praeger Press.

Luedke, Alicia and Hannah Logan. 2018. “That Thing of Human Rights: Discourse, Emergency Assistance and Sexual Violence in South Sudan’s Current Civil War.” Disasters, 42, S99-S118.

• Conflict Research Fellowship, Social Science Research Council, 2018-2019
• Izaak Walton Killam Doctoral Scholarship, 2016-2018 (Accepted in Name Only)
• University of British Columbia Public Scholars Initiative, 2016-2020
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship, 2015 (Declined)
• Vanier Canadian Graduate Scholarship-SSHRC, 2015-2018
• Liu Scholar, Liu Institute for Global Issues, 2015-Present
• University of British Columbia Doctoral Award, 2015
• Political Science Doctoral Entrance Award, 2015
• University of British Columbia, Premier Four-Year Fellowship (4YF), 2015-2019
• Political Science Master of Arts Entrance Award, 2012-2013
• McGill University First Class Honours Standing, 2012
• Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honours Society, 2012