Dr. Francesca Parente
Dr. Francesca Parente is an assistant professor of political science. Her research and teaching interests include the role of institutions and law in the aftermath of violence and human rights abuses, particularly in newly transitioned democracies. Her doctoral dissertation, "Past Regret, Future Fear: Compliance with International Law," received the Best Dissertation Award from the American Political Science Association Human Rights Section in 2020. Parente earned her BA from the University of Virginia and her PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to joining the Christopher Newport faculty, she held postdoctoral fellowships at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at Princeton University and Perry World House, the global policy hub of the University of Pennsylvania.
Research Fellows
Kate Bennett '24
Majors
- International Affairs
- Philosophy
Minors
- Leadership Studies
- Philosophy of Law
Kate D'Amato '25
Major
- Mathematical Economics
Minors
- Business Administration
- International Culture and Business
Callie Davidson '24
Major
- Spanish
Minors
- U.S. National Security Studies
- Middle East/North Africa Studies
- Latin American Studies
Nicole Farrace '26
Majors
- International Affairs
- American Studies
Minor
- Human Rights and Conflict Resolution
Allie Fiul '24
Majors
- English
- Political Science
Minors
- Human Rights and Conflict Resolution
- Leadership Studies
Maggie Flanagan '24
Majors
- English
- Political Science
Minors
- Human Rights and Conflict Resolution
- Writing
Interns
Sam Ellyson '26
Major
- History
Minor
- Human Rights and Conflict Resolution
- Political Science
Cole Lepler '24
Majors
- Political Science
- Leadership Studies
Sharayah McDonald '25
Major
- Environmental Studies
Minor
- Leadership Studies
- Geography
Sydney Ryan '25
Major
- Political Science
Minors
- History
- U.S. National Security Studies
Reiff Center Advisory Board
Tina Kempin Reuter, Ph.D.
Chair
- Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration and Department of Anthropology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham
- Director, Institute for Human Rights and UAB Social Science and Justice Research
- Inaugural director, Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution
- Latest book: Making Disability Rights Real in Southeast Asia: Implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in ASEAN (Lexington Books, 2018; co-editor)
Courtney Hillebrecht, Ph.D.
Vice-Chair
- Professor and Department Chair of Political Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- Hitchcock Family Chair in Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
- Director, Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
- Latest book: Saving the International Justice Regimes: Beyond Backlash against International Courts (Cambridge University Press, 2021)
Rebekah Klein-Pejšová, Ph.D.
- Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Purdue University
- Co-Director, Human Rights Program at Purdue University
- Latest book: Mapping Jewish Loyalties in Interwar Slovakia (Indiana University Press, 2015)
Devin Pendas, Ph.D.
- Professor of History, Boston College
- Affiliated Faculty, Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Boston College
- Latest book: Nazi Trials and Transitional Justice in Germany, 1945-1950 (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Eric Reiff, DMA
- Conductor, York River Symphony Orchestra
- Music Librarian, Hampton University
Ted Reiff, M.D.
- Doctor of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine (retired)
- Founding President, The National Genocide Education Project
- Former Scholar in Residence, Christopher Newport University
- Expert on war crimes committed by Nazi physicians during the Third Reich
Victoria Sanford, Ph.D.
- Lehman Professor of Excellence, Anthropology, Lehman College and Anthropology Doctoral Faculty, Graduate Center, City University of New York
- Founding Director, Center for Human Rights and Peace Studies, Lehman College
- Advisory Board member, Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity, City University of New York
- Latest book: Textures of Terror: The Murder of Claudina Isabel Velasquez and her Father’s Quest for Justice (University of California Press, 2023)
Joachim Savelsberg, Ph.D.
- Professor of Sociology and Law (by courtesy), University of Minnesota
- Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair
- Latest book: Knowing about Genocide: Armenian Suffering and Epistemic Struggles (University of California Press, 2021)
William Paul Simmons, Ph.D.
- Professor of Gender & Women's Studies, University of Arizona
- Director, online Human Rights Practice Program at the University of Arizona
- Consultant on social justice and human rights issues in ten different countries over 25 years
- Latest book: Joyful Human Rights (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019)