Risa Kitagawa

College of Social Sciences and Humanities Assistant Professor, Political Science and International Affairs

Risa Kitagawa is assistant professor of political science and international affairs at Northeastern University. Her research interests include the politics of transitional justice, state violence, post-conflict processes, and human rights, with a regional focus on Central America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Her current book project uses econometric and experimental methods to investigate transitional justice policymaking in post-conflict states and its impact on political reconciliation. Other current projects explore the impact of criminal justice on political legitimacy in Central America; the effects of policy rhetoric on citizen attitudes toward government; and state apologies for historical injustices. In prior work, she examined the role of new information and communication technologies (ICT) in urban informal settlements of Kenya.

She holds a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University (2017) with specializations in comparative politics, political theory, and methodology, and a B.A. in international relations and French from New York University (2009). Prior to joining Northeastern, she was postdoctoral research scholar in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University.