Faculty

Karen K. Petersen
Associate Professor

Education | Research | Teaching | Work Address | Grants and Fellowships | Webpage | Email 

Education

• Ph.D., Political Science, Vanderbilt University, August 2004.
• M.A., Political Science, Vanderbilt University, August 2002.
• B.S., Magna Cum Laude, International Relations, Middle Tennessee State University, December 1998.

Research

Publications

• Prospects for Political Stability in a Democratic Iraq: A Study of the Clusters of Conflict (with Stephen R. Saunders). Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen (forthcoming, 2009).
• "Revisiting Downs's Issue-Attention Cycle: International Terrorism and U.S. Public Opinion." Journal of Strategic Security (forthcoming, 2009).
• "Multiparty Disputes and the Probability of War, 1816-1992." (with John Vasquez, and Yijia Wang). Reprinted in The Causes of International Conflict: Data, Methods and Theory. Glenn Palmer, ed.  London: Routledge (2008).
• "There is more to the Story than 'Us-Versus-Them': Expanding the Study of Interstate Conflict and Regime Type beyond a Dichotomy." Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy Vol. 14, Issue 1 (2008).
• “Multiparty Disputes and the Probability of War, 1816-1992.” (first author, with John Vasquez, and Yijia Wang). Conflict Management and Peace Science 21(2): 85-100 (Summer 2004).
• “A Research Note: Re-examining Transnational Ethnic Alliances and Foreign Policy Behavior.” International Interactions, 30:1, 25-42 (Winter 2004).
• “Neutrality, Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the Fourth Pillar of the European Union.” International Affairs Forum (15 August 2004).

for more information on research, including conference presentations click here

Teaching

Teaching Experience

• Assistant Professor: Middle Tennessee State University, 2005-
• Senior Lecturer: Vanderbilt University, 2004-2005. (Full-time faculty position)
• Graduate Instructor: Vanderbilt University, 2002-2004.

Current Courses

• PS 1010: Foundations of Government
• PS 2130: Model UN
• PS 3220: International and Comparative Politics
• PS 4210 International Conflict
• PS 4260: The Political Status of Women in the World

Grants and Fellowships

Research Grants

• Faculty Research and Creative Projects Grant. Middle Tennessee State University; 2008.
• Faculty Research and Creative Projects Grant.  Middle Tennessee State University; 2007.
• Middle East Center (Dept. of Education Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Languages) travel grant, Middle Tennessee State University; Spring 2007.
• Faculty Research and Creative Projects Grant.  Middle Tennessee State University; 2006.

Other Grants and Funding

•  International Education Grant, CIEE workshop, May 2009.
• Faculty Development Grant, CIEE workshop, May 2009.
• Curriculum Integration Grant.  Revise general education study abroad course to include gender focus. President's Commission on the Status of Women. Middle Tennessee State University; Summer 2007.
• Workshop Grant. International Studies Association; 2004. Co-proposed with Don Hancock.
• Dissertation Writing Grants, Vanderbilt University; 2002, 2003.
• Research Grants, Vanderbilt University; 2000, 2001.

Training Grants

• Journeys in World Politics, Funded workshop participant, University of Iowa, October 2004.
• Women In International Security Graduate Student Summer Symposium. Funded participant, Georgetown University; Washington, D.C.; June 2002.
• Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science. GIS Training Workshop. Funded participant, Florida International University; Miami, FL; March 2001.

Fellowships

• Faculty Fellow, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies; 2006-2007.
• Graduate Fellowship, Vanderbilt University; 1999-2004.

Work Address

Middle Tennessee State University
Department of Political Science
1301 East Main Street
P.O. Box 29
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
office: 615.494.8662 fax: 615.898.5460