Dr Michaelina Jakala is an ethnographer with a background in Peace Studies.  She has a PhD in Peace Studies (2011) from the University of Bradford in the UK (PhD research on peacebuilding, transitional justice and reparation amongst survivors of wartime sexual violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina), an MA in Central and Eastern European Studies (2004) from the Jagiellonian University in Poland, and a BA in Justice and Peace Studies (2002) from St. Catherine University in the United States.  Her research interests broadly focus on the everyday experiences of peacebuilding and transitional justice with particular interest in justice, reparation, and education amongst marginalised groups.  She has experience with participatory research and arts-based methods.

Prior to joining CTPSR she worked on the ESRC funded Localising International Law: Examining the Outreach Strategies of the War Crimes Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina project led by Dr Alex Jeffrey at the University of Cambridge.  

Dr Jakala has organised, chaired and presented at a variety of international conferences and workshops and currently teaches on the MA in Peace and Conflict Studies and supervises PhD students.  She also has experience working with young people, peacebuilding and arts-based methods within the civil society sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

Current Projects and Research:

• Co-I on the British Academy (2019 -2021) Gender and resistance to violent extrermism: untold stories of everyday resistence to violent extremism in Kenya, project led by Dr Sahla Aroussi.
• Erasmus+ KA2 (2019-2021) Be the change: conflict as a catalyst for transformation and empowerment led by Solidarites Jeunesses
• Co-Director of the 3-year (2016-2019) Erasmus+ BUILDPEACE project (http://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/research-directories/current-projects/2016/buildpeace/) exploring the ways in which peacebuilding is taught to practitioners and students of peace and conflict.  The project involves institutions and organisations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Scotland, Serbia and Turkey.
• Co-Investigator on the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canada funded project For Us by Us: Children's Picture Books to Promote Solidarity and Acceptance in the Age of Refugees lead by Dr April Mandrona (PI) from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Canada.

Past Projects and Research:

• Member of the AHRC funded Social Choreography Network led by Dr Nicolas Salazar Sutil at the University of Leeds.  The network brings together artists, academics, charities and refugees to addresses the way in which the movement arts (i.e. dance, body art, digital performance), deal with international refugee and border-crossing crises. Our core question, which concerns ethics, is what constitutes “good practice”.