Conducting Hands-on Research
January 20, 2023
Weinstein chairholder engages students in international research
In 2010, Marcus M. Weinstein, R’49, H’02, and Carole M. Weinstein, W’75, G’77, H’04, established the Weinstein Chair in International Studies, supporting a professorship in the School of Arts & Sciences that is awarded to a faculty member with a specialty in an international subfield.
In 2013, the chair was awarded to Dr. Sandra Joireman, a political scientist who focuses on international development, property rights, and post-conflict return migration. She is the author of six books and numerous scholarly articles, and she has conducted field research in developing countries throughout Africa, eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
At the University, Joireman teaches classes in the political science and global studies departments while also keeping an active research agenda. She often takes the opportunity to engage students in her research: in 2019, she co-authored an article on property loss and restitution in Syria with Emily Stubblefield, '19, who is currently a student at Fordham University School of Law.
“Emily came up to me after class one day and said, ‘I would really like to learn more about this issue,’” Joireman said. “So, we published a paper together examining the actions that the Syrian government took during the Syrian civil war that essentially stripped property rights from citizens who fled.”
Joireman's collaborations with students extend beyond Richmond’s campus. In summer 2018, she and three students traveled to Kenya to conduct field research as part of the Kenya Settlement Scheme Project. Over the course of a month, they partnered with Kenya’s National Lands Commission (NLC) to compile data about settlement schemes – strategic land transfers granted to citizens by the Kenyan government – that have taken place over the past five decades.
In November that year, NLC representatives visited the University and worked with students in the Weinstein International Center’s Spatial Analysis Lab to build out and formalize the dataset. The representatives also talked with various groups on campus about the work they do with NLC and the goal of the Kenya Settlement Scheme Project.
“Not only did our students have the opportunity to live and work in Kenya, they helped publish a significant dataset that’s now available for the whole world to use,” Joireman said. “It was a vibrant collaboration that impacted the University in many different ways.”
In addition to publishing her latest book, Joireman recently completed a research fellowship with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations investigating how communities are impacted by climate change and violent conflict. She looks forward to applying her learnings to the classroom.
“This chair position has enabled me to take on research experiences that I would not have been able to do at another institution,” she said. “The impact that the Weinsteins have had is profound, ranging from what I do every day to the lives of the students that I teach.”
In 2013, the chair was awarded to Dr. Sandra Joireman, a political scientist who focuses on international development, property rights, and post-conflict return migration. She is the author of six books and numerous scholarly articles, and she has conducted field research in developing countries throughout Africa, eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
At the University, Joireman teaches classes in the political science and global studies departments while also keeping an active research agenda. She often takes the opportunity to engage students in her research: in 2019, she co-authored an article on property loss and restitution in Syria with Emily Stubblefield, '19, who is currently a student at Fordham University School of Law.
“Emily came up to me after class one day and said, ‘I would really like to learn more about this issue,’” Joireman said. “So, we published a paper together examining the actions that the Syrian government took during the Syrian civil war that essentially stripped property rights from citizens who fled.”
Joireman's collaborations with students extend beyond Richmond’s campus. In summer 2018, she and three students traveled to Kenya to conduct field research as part of the Kenya Settlement Scheme Project. Over the course of a month, they partnered with Kenya’s National Lands Commission (NLC) to compile data about settlement schemes – strategic land transfers granted to citizens by the Kenyan government – that have taken place over the past five decades.
In November that year, NLC representatives visited the University and worked with students in the Weinstein International Center’s Spatial Analysis Lab to build out and formalize the dataset. The representatives also talked with various groups on campus about the work they do with NLC and the goal of the Kenya Settlement Scheme Project.
“Not only did our students have the opportunity to live and work in Kenya, they helped publish a significant dataset that’s now available for the whole world to use,” Joireman said. “It was a vibrant collaboration that impacted the University in many different ways.”
In addition to publishing her latest book, Joireman recently completed a research fellowship with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations investigating how communities are impacted by climate change and violent conflict. She looks forward to applying her learnings to the classroom.
“This chair position has enabled me to take on research experiences that I would not have been able to do at another institution,” she said. “The impact that the Weinsteins have had is profound, ranging from what I do every day to the lives of the students that I teach.”