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School for Cross-faculty Studies Global Sustainable Development

Professor Christopher Dolan

Professor Chris Dolan

Contact details
Email: chris.dolan@warwick.ac.uk
Tel.: +44 (0) 24765 51309
Room: R3.18 (Ramphal Building)

Office hours:

Tuesdays 15.00 - 16.00 (in person, Ramphal R3.18)

Wednesdays 16.00 - 17.00 (online, Teams)

For in-person meetings please come to my office on Tuesdays from 15.00 onwards. For an online Teams discussion on a Wednesday, please email me in advance and I will send you a Teams invitation.

Professor in Global Sustainable Development

Biography

As a Professor in Global Sustainable Development in the School for Cross-faculty Studies at the University of Warwick, I combine research, teaching and writing on forced displacement, conflict, sexual violence and gender, as well as data and research methodology. Prior to joining Warwick, my career was largely spent in Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda), and spanned academia, practice, policy and activism.

From 2006-2022 I was Director of the Refugee Law Project in Uganda, a position in which I developed work with refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) around five thematic areas: Access to Justice; Gender and Sexuality; Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing; Conflict, Transitional Justice and Governance; and the use of Media for Social Change.

My work on inclusive and non-binary understandings of and approaches to gender-based violence and victimisation has contributed to international awareness of conflict-related sexual violence against men and boys and its deep interconnections with such violence against women and girls, and the urgent need for a rethink on gender and recovery.

These experiences have given me a keen interest in methodological innovations related to power and voice. These include the use of film to open development and justice-related conversations from grassroots to global level; catalysing peer support initiatives that can decentre technical ‘expertise’ and re-centre people’s lived experiences; and convenings that bridge the gaps between survivors, practitioners and academics.

Teaching and Supervision

Honours-level modules at Warwick:

Postgraduate modules at Warwick:

I am available for postgraduate supervision in areas related to gender, forced migration, humanitarianism, aid, justice, voice and power.

Professional Training

I regularly teach for and am a member of the Steering Committee for the Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies (University of Geneva).

    Research with Impact

    My 2005 PhD in Development Studies from the London School of Economics was published as Social Torture; the case of northern Uganda, 1986 – 2006 (Berghahn Books, 2009). My research interests include conflict, forced migration, gender/masculinities, sexualities, humanitarianism, and conflict-related sexual violence. I have a particular interest in the relationship between pathways to disclosure of sexual violence, the resultant (un)reliability of evidence, and the ways in which the lack of data shapes the political economy of sexual violence response and prevention – as well as long-term (un)sustainability. I also explore the related knowledge economies and the place of survivors in those.

    Publications

    Selected Recent Articles

    Selected Books and Chapters

    Selected Recent Policy Reports

    Please see here for a full list of publications by Professor Christopher Dolan.

    Convening

    Conceptualisation, planning, and implementation of:

    • Regional Conference on Forced Migration, Refugee Law Project, Kampala (Sept ‘17, Nov ‘18, Nov ‘19, Nov ‘20)
    • Digital Dialogue on “Human Trafficking in a Pandemic Landscape: Implications for Children and Forced Migrants” (30 July 2020)
    • Wakimbizi Film Festival, Kampala (November 2019)
    • Summer Institute on Men’s and Women’s Relations in Coercive Settings, Kampala (May 2017)
    • South-South Institute on Sexual Violence against Men & Boys in Conflict & Displacement, Kampala (April 2013), Pnomh Penh (May 2015), Kampala (April 2019),
    • Undressing Patriarchy: Conference co-hosted with Institute for Development Studies, Brighton, Sept 2013
    • Institute for African Transitional Justice, Uganda (Annually from 2010 to date, except 2020)
    • Governing Migration: IASFM 13 Conference, Kampala (July 2011)
    • Beyond Juba: Building consensus on a sustainable peace process for Uganda, National stakeholders’ dialogue, Kampala (December 2006)
    • Peace Research and the Reconciliation Agenda, Gulu, Uganda (September 1999)