Cecelia Lynch
Living Our Values Award winner,
political science associate professor, and
Center for Global Peace and
Conflict Studies director

Conflict Resolution

Cecelia Lynch, director of the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies, tackles the tough issues (03.21.2008)

Cecelia Lynch, associate professor of political science and fall 2007 recipient of the first faculty Living Our Values Award, often goes the extra mile in pursuit of knowledge.

To write a book on the role of religious ethics in international relations, she spent a year studying at The University of Chicago Divinity School. To deepen her understanding of Islamic texts, she took classes in Arabic at UCLA. To research religion and social movements, she traveled to Kenya, Cameroon and the Middle East to interview members of humanitarian organizations.

"What better way is there to look at the roots of activism than to talk to the people who believe they’re trying to make the world a better place?" Lynch asks. "I want to assess their experiences against our concepts and theories about how the world works."

Many of her UCI colleagues and students believe Lynch herself is trying to make the world a better place.

"Her work on religion and ethics in international affairs has depended on an ability to be empathetic regarding the beliefs and values of numerous people and groups," writes Susan Bibler Coutin, associate professor of criminology, law & society, in her Living Our Values nomination letter.  Read more...