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Jordan Kiper

Assistant Professor jkiper@uab.edu
University Hall (UH) 3133
(205) 975-3199

Research and Teaching Interests: Anthropology of Human Rights; Experimental Philosophy; Political and Legal Anthropology; Propaganda, Fake News and Hate Speech; Religion and Cooperation; Religious Cognition; Transitional Justice; Violence

Office Hours: By appointment

Education:

  • BA, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Anthropology, Art History, Philosophy
  • MA, Colorado State University, Philosophy
  • MA, University of Connecticut, Anthropology (Graduate Certificates in Cognitive Science & Human Rights)
  • PhD, University of Connecticut, Anthropology

I am a cultural anthropologist concerned with human cooperation and conflict. My work in these areas has been highly interdisciplinary, drawing primarily from anthropology but also cognitive science, human rights, and philosophy. For my dissertation, I examined the causes of collective violence and the role of propaganda during periods of social unrest and military campaigns targeting recognizable civilian populations. My study centered on the Yugoslav Wars and included extensive fieldwork with ex-fighters and survivors throughout the Balkans.

Building on my dissertation research, my current work explores the effects of hate speech and propaganda; digital authoritarianism and social media campaigns against human rights defenders; cross-cultural beliefs about human rights; the health and political lives of combatants after war; and the role of religion in fostering cooperation. To explore these issues, I have conducted lab and field experiments, cross-cultural surveys, and ethnography in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia. I am also in the preliminary stages of fieldwork in Northern Ireland. Other ongoing projects include predictors of support for addressing human rights violations, cross-cultural variations in understandings of knowledge and wisdom, and moral cognition.

In addition to my research, I have been involved in veteran efforts to heal from the moral wounds of war and to reconcile after conflict, including work with veterans of the Vietnam War and veterans of the Bosnian and Kosovo Wars. I am also the former United States Ambassador for the Human Rights Measurement Initiative and continue to participate in professional associations dedicated to monitoring, upholding, and understanding the social practice of human rights and addressing challenges of propaganda and hate speech.

Graduate Applicants: If you share any of these interests and are considering graduate school, please contact me (jkiper@uab.edu)

Scholars @ UAB Profile Visit Dr. Kiper's website