Korbel ranked 12th best place in the world to earn a master’s degree in international relations.
Korbel ranked 20th in the world for the best undergraduate degree in international studies.
Korbel ranked 12th best place in the world to earn a master’s degree in international relations.
Korbel ranked 20th in the world for the best undergraduate degree in international studies.
Associate Professor
Oliver Kaplan is an Associate Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. He is the author of the book, "Resisting War: How Communities Protect Themselves" (Cambridge University Press, 2017), which examines how civilian communities organize to protect themselves from wartime violence. He is a co-editor of and contributor to the book, "Speaking Science to Power: Responsible Researchers and Policymaking" (Oxford University Press, 2024). Kaplan has also published articles on the conflict-related effects of land reforms and ex-combatant reintegration and recidivism. As part of his research, Kaplan has conducted fieldwork in Colombia and the Philippines. Kaplan was a Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace and previously a postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University and at Stanford University. His research has been funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and other grants. His work has been published in The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Conflict Management and Peace Science, International Interactions, Stability, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, CNN, and National Interest. At the University of Denver, Kaplan is Director of the Korbel Asylum Project (KAP). He has taught M.A.-level courses on Human Rights and Foreign Policy, Peacebuilding in Civil Wars, Civilian Protection, and Human Rights Research Methods and PhD-level courses on Social Science Research Methods. Kaplan received his Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University and completed his B.A. at UC San Diego.
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International Security, International Human Rights
Epstein, Rachel A. and Oliver Kaplan (eds.). 2024. Speaking Science to Power: Responsible Researchers and Policymaking. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kaplan, Oliver, ed. 2021. Promoting Restraint in War. Special Issue/Symposium, International Interactions Volume 47, Issue 5: 795-954.
Avant, Deborah, Marie Berry, Erica Chenoweth, Rachel Epstein, Cullen Hendrix, Oliver Kaplan, and Timothy Sisk, eds. Civil Action and the Dynamics of Violence in Conflicts. 2019. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kaplan, Oliver. 2017. Resisting War: How Communities Protect Themselves. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kaplan, Oliver and Emily Paddon-Rhoads. (forthcoming). "How Insider-led Processes Lead to Localization: The Case of Digital Technology and Humanitarian Protection." Global Studies Quarterly.
Kaplan, Oliver, Michael Albertus, Diana Senior Angulo, Henrique Delgado, Gustavo Flores-Macías, Rafael R. Ioris, Melissa Martinez, and Amy Erica Smith. 2024 (forthcoming). "COVID-19"s Enduring Impacts on Democracy in Latin America," Journal of Democracy.
Meisel, Collin, Jonathan Moyer, Oliver Kaplan, et al. 2024. "Bearing Witness: Introducing the Perceived Mass Atrocities Dataset (PMAD)," Journal of Peace Research.
Kaplan, Oliver. 2021. "The International Committee of the Red Cross and Support for Civilian Self-Protection in 
Colombia." International Interactions 47(5): 898-927.
McQuinn, Brian, Fiona Terry, Oliver Kaplan, and Francisco Gutií©rrez Sanín. 2021. "Promoting Restraint in War." International Interactions 47(5): 795-824.
Kaplan, Oliver. 2021. "Balancing Rigor and Relationships in Collaborative Research." PS: Political Science & Politics 54(3): 544-548.
Kaplan, Oliver and Enzo Nussio. 2018. "Explaining Recidivism of Ex-combatants in Colombia." Journal of Conflict Resolution62(1): 64-93. * Top cited article in past 5 years in Journal of Conflict Resolution (2023)
Kaplan, Oliver and Enzo Nussio. 2018. "Community Counts: The Social Reintegration of Ex-combatants in Colombia." Conflict Management and Peace Science, 35(2): 132-153. * Top cited article in past 5 years in Conflict Management and Peace Science (2023)
Kaplan, Oliver. 2017. "The Art of Rhetorical Traps in Civilian Self-Protection." Journal of Peace and Development 12(3): 111-116.
Kaplan, Oliver. 2013. "Nudging Armed Groups: How Civilians Transmit Norms of Protection." Stability: International Journal of Security and Development 2(3): 62.
Kaplan, Oliver. 2013. "Protecting Civilians in Civil War: The Institution of the ATCC in Colombia." Journal of Peace Research 50(3): 351-367.
Albertus, Michael and Oliver Kaplan. 2013. "Land Reform as a Counterinsurgency Policy: Evidence from Colombia." Journal of Conflict Resolution 57(2): 198-231.
Kaplan, Oliver. 2022. "War Crimes, Atrocities, and Resistance in Colombia," in The Oxford Handbook on Atrocity Crimes, Barbora Hola, Hollie Nyseth Brehm, and Maartje Weerdesteijn, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kaplan, Oliver and Joseph Young. 2019. "From Counterinsurgency to Peacebuilding: Addressing Barriers to Lasting Peace in Colombia," in As War Ends: What Colombia Can Tell Us About the Sustainability of Peace and Transitional Justice, Meernik, James, Jacqueline DeMerritt, and Mauricio Uribe-Lopez, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kaplan, Oliver. 2024. "The DDR Program Dataset (DDRPD)." Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) Policy Brief, June 2024.
Kaplan, Oliver. 2022. "Superstitions and Civilian Displacement: Evidence from Colombia," World Bank/ UNHCR Working Paper, March 28, 2022.
Kaplan, Oliver and Natalie Southwick. 2015. Walls as a Nonviolent Strategy in Armed Conflict," Sie Center Policy Brief (Sie Center Carnegie "Bridging the Gap" series, Korbel School, University of Denver), October 2015. http://www.du.edu/korbel/sie/publications/policy_papers.html
Moyer, Jonathan D. and Oliver Kaplan. 2020. "Will the Coronavirus Fuel Conflict?" Foreign Policy, July 6, 2020.
"How to Keep the FARC Guerrillas Out of the Fight," with Enzo Nussio. The New York Times, August 3, 2017.
"Land for Peace in Colombia" (The Key to Ending Bogotí¡"s War With the FARC) with Michael Albertus. 2013. Foreign Affairs, April 15, 2013.
"Colombia"s Rebels and Land Reform" with Michael Albertus. The New York Times, October 9, 2012.
J. David Singer Book Award (ISA Midwest Region), 2019
ISA Human Rights Section's Best Book award (Finalist/ Runner-up), 2019
Conflict Research Society (CRS) Book of the Year Prize (Short list), 2018
Jennings Randolph Senior Fellowship, US Institute of Peace, 2016-17
Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Diskin Dissertation Award (honorable mention), 2012
Civilian Protection in Armed Conflict
Human Rights Research Methods
Civilian Protection Practicum
Colombia Field Course
Ph.D., Political Science, Stanford University, 2010
B.A., Political Science (Public Policy), University of California, San Diego, 2001
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