Megan Reif

Curriculum Vitae

Megan Reif

Department of Political ScienceTel: (734) 565-8591

The University of MichiganFax: (734) 764-3522

5700 Haven Hall, 505 S. State

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1045Algeria Mobile: 213.073.45.02.45

Mobile: 0092-322-516-6567

EDUCATION

University of MichiganDepartment of Political Science.Ann Arbor, MI.Ph.D. Candidate (Degree Expected May 2009)Major in Comparative Politics, Minor in World Politics, Second Minor (and certificate) inSpatial Analysis and Geographic Information Systems.Cognate: Middle East Politics.

Dissertation:Making Democracy Safe: Institutional Causes of Election-Induced Coercion and Violence

Co-Chairs: Mark A. Tessler and Allen Hicken

Members: Robert Franzese and James D. Morrow

University of Michigan Department of Political Science. Ann Arbor, MI. MA. April 2007

WakeForestUniversity.Winston-Salem, NC. Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Minors in Economics and International Studies. Summa Cum Laude. Phi Beta Kappa. May 1996.

OTHER TRAINING

Centre d’Études Diocesain, Intensive Classical Arabic, Algiers, Algeria, July 7 – July 19, 2007

Completed advanced grammar course, with emphasis on tashkeeland ‘Iraib.

Centre d’Études Diocesain, Algerian Dialect Arabic, Algiers, Algeria, May 18 – September 3, 2007

Completed equivalent of first- and second-year Algerian dialect course (3 hours per day).

University of Wisconsin-Madison Arabic Immersion Program. La Crosse, WI. Summer 2006 (First-Year Arabic) Over eight class hours per day and speaking 3-5 hours per day with native and advanced speakers. Reached low-intermediate level of proficiency. Completed Arabic 403, Fall 2006.

Middle East Symposium of the International Institute for Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Nicosia, Cyprus, June-July 2005 (Six 500-level graduate credits in conflict mediation and negotiation in the Middle East, Arcadia University; Program is affiliated with George Washington University).

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS

2007-2008Rackham International Research Award ($5000 for fieldwork in Pakistan)

2007-2008Rackham Debt Management Award ($10,000 unrestricted funds)

2007-2008 Harold K. Jacobson Fellow, Department of Political Science, University of Michigan

($4,000 for fieldwork in Pakistan and research assistant expenses)

2007-2008Center for International and Comparative Studies Student Research Fellowship ($2,000

for fieldwork in Pakistan)

2008Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) Supplemental Research Fund

($4,500 for costs associated with data collection, duplication, and managing team of UROP RAs)

2007Roy Pierce Scholar($5,000 for research assistance for continuation of data

collection for large-N dataset) (with Allen Hicken) (Summer)

2007Rackham International Travel Grant ($750 for travel to conference)

2007Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) Supplemental Research Fund

($2,500)

2007Rackham International Travel Grant ($700 to present paper at conference in the U.K.)

2007Committee on Institutional Cooperation Foreign Language Enhancement Fellowship

(Summer, declined)

2006-2007Political Science Department Fellowship Political Science Department Fellowship (Stipend & research expenses, part of regular 5-year funding package for all graduate

students, deferred until 6th-year)

2006-2007Margaret Dow Towsley Scholar, University of Michigan (UM) Center for Education of

Women ($6,000)

2006Foreign Language and Area Studies Summer Fellowship(alternate, support received for Summer Arabic Immersion Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison))

2006Committee on Institutional Cooperation Foreign Language Enhancement Fellowship (Summer Arabic Immersion Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

2002-2006Jacob K. Javits Graduate Fellowship (Four years tuition and $22,000 annual stipend)

2005Mahfoud Bennoune Memorial Award, University of Michigan Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies ($500 award recognizing scholarship emphasizing principles of tolerance, secularism, women’s rights, and human rights in North Africa)

2005Charles & Kathleen Manatt Democracy Studies Fellow, International Foundation for

Election Systems, Washington, DC($1,800 stipend to support on-site research)

2005Rackham Discretionary Grant ($1,400 used to purchase Terrorism Dataset))

2005Rackham Travel Grant ($400 for Middle East Studies Association meeting travel)

2003-2005Global Transformations Grant ($3,000 used for exploratory research in Indonesia)

2002(Honorable Mention) National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship

2001-2002University of Michigan Regents Fellowship
1996-1997Fulbright Fellowship (Supported one year research in Pakistan and Afghanistan)

1996Carswell Scholar, WakeForestUniversity

1995Truman Scholar ($27,000 for graduate training toward a career in public service; deferred for graduate tuition anddissertation research)

1995Scales Incentive Grant for Faculty-Student Collaborative Projects,

WakeForestUniversity($2,500 for summer research in Pakistan)

1995 Spires of Excellence Travel Grant, WakeForestUniversity (Pakistan, Summer)

1994Spires of Excellence Travel Grant, WakeForestUniversity, (London, Fall)

1994Spires of Excellence Travel Grant, WakeForestUniversity, (London, Fall)

OTHER AWARDS, HONORS, OR RECOGNITIONS

2006(declined) Invited to serve as Academic Coordinator, International Institute for Mediation Conflict Resolution, Hague, Cyprus, and South Africa, 2006

2002Senior Scholar, Truman Scholars Leadership Week, Liberty, MO, May 18 – 26.

1996USATodayAll-USACollege Academic Second Team

1996National Leadership Honor Society (Omicron Delta Kappa)

19952nd Place, NorthCarolina Political Science Association Undergraduate Research Award

1995International Honor Society in Economics (Omicron Delta Epsilon)

1995Mortar Board National Honor Society

1994National Political Science Honor Society (Pi Sigma Alpha)

1993D.A. Brown Award for Excellence in Writing, WakeForestUniversity

ACADEMIC &PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE(Chronological Summary; details follow below)

2008Technical Consultant, Free and Fair Election Network, Islamabad, Pakistan, January – June

2007Technical Consultant, The Asia Foundation, Islamabad, Pakistan, Consultant, December

2007-2008Dissertation Fieldwork, Algeria and Pakistan(May 1-Sept 5, 2007; November 2007 Algeria;

Dec 2007 – July 1, 2008 Pakistan; July 1, 2008 – July 31, 2008, Algeria)

2006Co-Instructor, University of Michigan, Honors Seminar in Political Science (481), with Professor Mary Gallagher. Winter.

2006-2008Mentor/Supervisor, University of Michigan Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program and Department of Political Science Research Assistants (Supervise work of 10 research assistants working on dissertation data collection effort.)

2005Manatt Democracy Studies Fellow, International Foundation for Election Systems (August-September)

2005Co-Instructor, University of Michigan, Interdisciplinary Middle East Seminar, Middle Eastern and North African Studies 591: Earth Odysseys Algeria, Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies and Department of Education. With Professor Jeffrey Stanzler and Lindsay Benstead. Winter.

2005Grader/Assistant, University of Michigan, Middle Eastern and North African Studies 491: Islam and Global Politics, Professor Juan Cole. Winter.

2004Co-Instructor, Building Capacity for Survey Research in Algeria, University of Algiers

Department of Economics, Algiers, Algeria (University of Michigan-University of Algiers Exchange Program, Citizen Exchanges Program of the U.S. Department of State), With Mark Tessler, Principal Investigator, and Lindsay Benstead. May-June.

2003Research Assistant,Professor Roy Pierce, University of Michigan, Summer.

2003Assistant Program Director,Workshop on Building Capacity for Survey Research in

Oman,Ministry of Social Development, Muscat, Oman. Professor Mark Tessler. January.

2001-2002Research Assistant, Professor Mark Tessler

2002Assistant Program Director,Building Capacity for Public Opinion Research in North Africa and the Middle East, Ann Arbor, MI, University of Michigan (July – August)

1999-2001 Associate Director of Development,Health Programs, The CarterCenter, Atlanta, GA

1998-1999Staff Associate, The Afghanistan Foundation, Washington, DC

1997-1998Legal Assistant,International Trade Group, Dewey Ballantine, LLP, Washington, DC

1996-1997Fulbright Scholar (Research in Pakistan and Afghanistan)

1996Intern, Department of Defense Office of Humanitarian and Refugee Affairs (Office

of Secretary of Defense Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict Division) U.S.

Department of Defense Pentagon, Secret Clearance, Summer.

1993-1996Research Assistant,Wake Forest University, Professor Charles H. Kennedy/American Institute of Pakistan Studies

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-Reviewed Publications

"Political Generations in Developing Countries:Evidence and Insights from Algeria." Mark Tessler,

Carrie Konold, and Megan Reif.Public Opinion Quarterly. Summer 2004 (68:2): 184-216.

Edited Volumes and Book Chapters

Islam, Democracy and the State in Algeria:Lessons for the Western Mediterranean and Beyond. Michael

Bonner, Megan Reif, and Mark Tessler, eds. Frank Cass, London, 2005. (Also a special issue of Journal of North AfricanStudies, Summer 2004 (9:2)).

"Afghanistan and the United Nations" in John Moore and Jerry Pubantz, eds.,Encyclopedia of the United

Nations. New York: Facts on File Publishers: 2002.

Book Reviews and Selected Non-Academic and Undergraduate Publications

Megan Reif, Voter Education Survey: Pakistan Provincial and National Assembly Elections 2007/ 2008.

The Asia Foundation, 2008 [forthcoming, 225pp].

Review of David Pinault, Horses of Karbala: Muslim Devotional Life in India,Journal ofAsian Studies,

62: 4 (November) 2003: 1287-1289.

"Beyond the Veil: Bigger Issues." Christian Science Monitor, May 3, 2000.

"Reassessing 'Primordial' Identities: Colonialism & the Creation of Ethnic Conflict in Rwanda." The Philomathesian (Peer-Reviewed Publication of WakeForestUniversity), Spring 1995.

"Islam at the Center in Central Asia." The Omega Journal(WakeForestUniversityFaculty-Reviewed Publication), Spring 1994.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL TALKS

"Hearts, Minds, and Pocketbooks: Anti-Americanism and the Politics of Consumption in the Middle

East." With Lindsay Benstead. Paper presented at:

  • Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, November 19-22, 2005
  • Interdisciplinary Working Group on Consumption, University of Michigan, February 9, 2006

“Electoral Intimidation & Violence in Ghana and Newark: Can we define, measure, and explain patterns

across different systems?”

  • Manatt Fellow Presentation, International Foundation for Election Systems, September 29, 2005

“Election Violence as a Political Strategy: How Institutions Define and are Defined by Electoral Conflict

in Old and New Democracies.”

  • Invited presentation at the Middle East Symposium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Nicosia, Cyprus, June 28, 2005
  • Paper presented in the Comparative Politics Seminar, University of Michigan, January 2005.
  • Presented preliminary version as member of Graduate Seminar in Global Transformations, University of Michigan International Institute, November 2004.

“Explanations for the Rise and Fall of Arab Nationalism: A Political Science Perspective.”

  • Invited guest lecture, Middle East Studies 241, University of Michigan, Professor Carol Bardenstein, March 2005.

“Constancy and Volatility: French Parliamentary Outcomes during the Years of Alternance (1988-2002): Insights from Geographic Information Analysis” With Roy Pierce.

  • Paper presented for panel, “Geography and Political Behavior,” at Mapping France, Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France, University of Reading, UK, September 6-8, 2007
  • Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, August 2004. Panel in Honor of Roy Pierce.

“Regime Type, Interstate Alliances, and TerroristStrategy.”

  • Paper presented at the Scientific Colloquium on the Strategic Importance, Causes, and Consequences of Terrorism, University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, March 13, 2004.
  • Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, March 2003
  • Invited guest lecture, Introduction to International Relations, Department of Political Science, WakeForestUniversity, Winston-Salem, NC, April 2002
  • Invited guest lecture, University of Michigan Honors Program Seminar, Fall 2002

"Politics is not Randomly Located: Mapping as a Tool to Understand SocialPhenomena."

  • Presentation atthe Conference on Research in the Service of Human Development, Al-Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco, October 2-3, 2003.

"Design and Application of Survey Research Training Programs:Lessons from Oman."

  • Report presented at the Conference on Research in the Service of HumanDevelopment, Al-AkhawaynUniversity, Ifrane, Morocco, October 2-3, 2003.

Other Conference Activities

Invited Discussant and Participant, “Institutional Roots of Religious Radicalism: Madrasas.”Asia-PacificCenter for Security Studies Conference on Religion and Security inSouth Asia, August 18-21. Honolulu, Hawaii.

Conference Presentations Prior to GraduateSchool

"Reaching Women under the Taliban: Post-Cold War Humanitarian Assistance in Afghanistan."

  • Paper presented at the Islam in the 21st Century Conference, Statesboro, GA, April 2001.
  • Invited talk, FloridaCommunity College, April 19, 2001.
  • Paper presented at the Association of Third World Studies 18th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, October 18-21, 2000.

"More than Images: Women and Islam in Afghanistan."

  • Paper presented at the Third Annual Southeastern Conference on Central Asia & the Middle East. ValdostaStateUniversity,Valdosta, GA, April 6, 2000.

"The Taliban and International Policy Dilemmas in Afghanistan: The Example of Taliban-NGO Interaction."

  • Paper presented at the 2nd Annual Southeastern Conference on Central Asiathe Middle East. ArmstrongAtlanticStateUniversity, Savannah, GA, March 5, 1999.

"Afghanistan under the Taliban."

  • Paper presented at the Conference on South Asia,Fifty Years After Independence, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, March 3, 1999.

"State Identity and Civil Society in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan."

  • Paper presented at the 26th AnnualConference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, October 16-19, 1998.

"The Taliban: Origins and Regional Implications."

  • Paper presented at the Institute of Policy Studies Seminar on the Taliban, Islamabad, Pakistan June 24, 1997.

"The South Asian Community in Britain: Ethnic Identity Formation in a'Multi-Cultural' Society."

  • Paper presented at the National Conference for UndergraduateResearch, University of North Carolina at Asheville, April 20, 1996.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Technical Consultant, The Asia Foundation (TAF), and Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), Islamabad, Pakistan(January – February 2004; December 2007- February 2008)

Drafted survey instrument for nation-wide pre-registration voter education planning survey and

designed survey form in collaboration with TAF staff and its partners. Createdenumerator training manual. Analyzed survey data using complex sampling analysis techniques in Stata and authored survey report.

Supervise election violence monitoring, including design of monitoring formand election violence incident database based on dissertation project. Manage five research assistants in collection of violence data.

ManagedFree and Fair Elections Network (FAFEN) statistical and qualitative analysis and mapping of world’s largest ever Parallel Vote Tabulation based on a sample of 7,778 polling stations in 256 constituencies. See

Dissertation Fieldwork, Algeria and Pakistan(May – August, 2007; November 2007, and May-July 15 2008, Algiers; December 2007 – April 30, 2008, Pakistan)

Archival research in national, parliamentary, and newspaper archives on colonial and post-independence elections, emphasizing electoral results, election fraud, boycotts, and electoral violence and intimidation for comparison of local and national-level elections. Interviews and case studies in urban and rural locations in both countries.

Accredited International Election Observer, Maluku, Indonesia, The CarterCenter, July and September 2004

As member of delegation, identified and interviewed key actors in two violence-prone areas. Observed first round of presidential election in Ternate, North Maluku, and second round in Ambon, South Maluku. Conducted exploratory interviews on election fraud and violence with domestic monitoring organizations, NGOs, and scholars in Jakarta.

Co-Instructor,University of Algiers, Algiers, Algeria,University of Michigan-University of Algiers Exchange Program Supported by Department of State Citizens Exchanges Grant, May - June 2004. With Mark Tessler, Principal Investigator, and Lindsay Benstead.

Taught survey research methods, including study design, questionnaire design, sampling, interviewer training, data collection, and multivariate analysis (using SPSS) to faculty and graduate students in economics, who conducted a survey of 800 undergraduatesabout consumption, including clothing women’s choices to wear hijab (headscarf), cigarettes, and American products.

Assistant Program Director: Building Capacity for Survey Research, Muscat, Oman, Jan. 1-10, 2003 With Mark Tessler, Principal Investigator.

Assisted in coordination of program for 12 Ministry of Government Officials from Oman, funded by U.S. State Department Citizen Exchanges Grant. Created pre- and post-monitoring and evaluation surveys. Assisted in instruction of research design, questionnaire design and pre-testing, interviewer training, measurement, data analysis in SPSS,sampling, and univariate and bivariate statistical analysis.

Fulbright Scholar, Islamabad, Pakistan, October 1996 – July 1997

Studied Pakistan's foreign policy and the origins of the Taliban movement as well as interaction of the UN and NGOs with the Taliban. Interviewed members of the Taliban inner council and high-ranking leaders of the other Afghan factions in March 1997 (Kabul, Kandahar, and Northern Alliance-controlled Mazar-i-Sharif) and July 1997 (Kabul), including President Burhanuddin Rabbani and Taliban Foreign Minister Mullah Muhammad Ghaus. Interviewed UN and Pakistani officials, humanitarian aid personnel, women, seminary students, and Afghan ministry bureaucrats in Afghanistan, Peshawar, Islamabad, and Lahore.

Independent Bureau for Humanitarian Issues, Islamabad, Pakistan, October 1996–July 1997

Worked withformer Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Abdul Sattar in assisting UN-affiliated organization. Attended board meetings on strategic planning and program design. Provided analysis and advice related to women in development and military humanitarianism. Provided technical assistance (training staff and information management, recruitment, proposal writing, and funding research). Wrote paper on military humanitarianism.

Independent Research on Women, Islam, and NGOS in Pakistan, Lahore, Quetta, and Islamabad, July-August 1995

Interviewed officials in government, the judiciary, NGOs, and political parties in Quetta, Lahore, and Islamabad. Interviewed female university students, health workers, brick kiln workers. Created syllabus and annotated bibliography on women in Islam. Wrote paper on women’s employment. Project supported with WakeForest grant.

Independent Researchon the South Asian Community inBritain, London, England, WakeForestUniversity Semester inLondon, Fall 1994

Interviewed representatives of NGOs, religious organizations (such as mosques, Tablighi-Jamaat), and South Asian community organizations). Presented paper at National Conference for Undergraduate Research; Received 2nd Place, NCPSA.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Research Assistant, Roy Pierce, UM Department of Political Science, Summer 2003

Conducted research on political geography in France. Analyzed data in Stata, GEODA, and ArcGIS for project on electoral volatility in France.

Research Assistant, Charles Kennedy, Professor of Political Science and Director, American Institute of Pakistan Studies, Wake Forest University, 1993-96

Quantitative research on minorities in India and Pakistan included coding data and running regression analysis. Assisted in AIPS administrative activities. Copy-edited manuscripts and AIPS publication directory. Assisted with international conference, "Law and Society in Pakistan."

TEACHING & mentoring EXPERIENCE

Research Assistant Team / Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) / Winter 2005 – present

Have trained and supervised the work of 26 research assistant positions over the course of three years: five research assistants as technical consultant at Free and Fair Election Network (Winter 2008); one graduate research assistant, one lead undergraduate RA, and eight UROP RAs (2007-2008); two graduating seniors (Summer 2007); five UROP research assistants plus two informal research assistants (2006-2007); and one UROP and two informal RAs (2005-2006) . Weekly trainings and coding session train assistants in the use of Epi-Info software and group coding sessions ensure inter-coder reliability in data collection. Work closely with RAs in developing their own independent research projects. One research assistant received summer research grant to conduct study on identity in Hong Kong under my supervision. Three research assistants accepted for paper presentation using the project data to the