Summer E. Lindsey is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at Columbia University. Her research examines violence against women in the wake of armed conflict. In her dissertation, she provides a new theory of attitude and norm change during war. She uses a three-pronged approach—quantitative, experimental, and qualitative in nature—to empirically test attitude, norm, and behavior change in relation to armed conflict across eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Her study informs our understanding of post conflict environments while pushing the field of political science into new territory. In addition, her work aims to enrich the lives of the other “half the sky”.
Summer has conducted fieldwork in Democratic Republic of Congo, India and Croatia. Her dissertation research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, United States Institute of Peace, Folke Bernadotte Academy, and the Earth Institute, Harriman Institute, and the Department of Political Science at Columbia University. She has also worked on the evaluation of two randomized control trials: a program designed to reduce violence against women in Madyha Pradesh, India with Sarah Khan and Macartan Humphreys, and a community-driven development program in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo with Peter van der Windt, Eric Mvukiyehe, and Ann Laudati.