Dr. Yolande Bouka

Biography

Yolande Bouka (Ph.D. American University) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University. Her research focuses on gender, African politics, security, and political violence, with a particular emphasis on ethics in field research within conflict-affected societies. Bouka's current research involves a multi-sited historical political analysis of female combatants in Southern Africa. She is authoring a research book manuscript titled 'In Shadow Prison: Power, Identity, Transitional Justice Post-Genocide Rwanda,' which examines the socio-political impacts of the power-laden nature of Rwanda's transitional justice program. Bouka received research support from the Fulbright Scholar Program and the American Association of University Women. Before joining Queen’s University, she served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Denver. Bouka has extensive experience in security research for development agencies, including USAID and the United Nations. Between 2014 and 2016, she worked as a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Nairobi, leading research on peace and security in Africa's Great Lakes Region. Currently, she serves on the Research Advisory Council for the RESOLVE Network, a global consortium focused on empirically driven research on violent extremism.

Research Interests