Profile

Julie Mertus

Professor
International Service, School

  • Additional Positions at AU

    Co-Director of the MA program in Ethics, Peace and Global Affairs
  • Professor Julie Mertus is an authority on the Balkans who has worked on gender and human rights issues for governmental, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, including UNHCR, USAID, the Norwegian government, the Open Society Institute, Women for Inclusive Security and the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children. Her book Bait and Switch: Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy (2004; second edition 2008), was named "human rights book of the year" by the American Political Science Association Human Rights Section. Her other books include Human Rights Matters: Local Politics and National Human Rights Institutions (2008); Human Rights and Conflict (2007); The United Nations and Human Rights (2005; second edition 2009); Kosovo: How Myths and Truths Started a War (1999) and Surviving Field Work(2009, contributor and co-editor). A graduate of Yale Law School, her prior appointments include: Senior Fellow, U.S. Institute of Peace; Human Rights Fellow, Harvard Law School; Writing Fellow, MacArthur Foundation, Fulbright Fellow (Romania 1995; Denmark 2006), and Counsel, Human Rights Watch.

  • Degrees

    J.D., Yale Law School; B.S. Cornell University

  • OFFICE

  • SIS - School of International Service
  • Clark - 203
  • Wednesdays, 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. and Thursdays, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

  • CONTACT INFO

  • (202) 885-2215
  • Send email Profile UserID

  • MEDIA RELATIONS

  • To request an interview
    please call AU Media Relations
    at 202-885-5950 or
    submit an interview request form.

Teaching

  • Fall 2009

    • SIS-419 Adv Topics in Int'l Relations: Human Rights & U.S.Foreign Pol
    • Description

  • Spring 2010

    • SIS-519 Special Studies in Int'l Pol: Human Rights and Conflict
    • Description

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Research Interests

Professor Mertus' work focuses on human rights, U.S. foreign policy, refugee and humanitarian law and policy, gender and conflict and post-war transitions. Her geographic expertise is in Central and Eastern Europe, with a specialty on the former Yugoslavia.

Selected Publications

  • Bait and Switch: Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy, Routledge, 2004, awarded "best human rights book of the year" prize of the year by the American Political Science Association, Human Rights Section)(under contract for second edition 2007).
  • Human Rights and Conflict, United States Institute of Peace, 2006, coeditor with Jeffrey Helsing and contributor
  •  "Is it true that a human rights culture, respectful of minorities, is impossible in Kosova?," TheCase for Kosova, Anna Di Lilleo, ed., Anthem Press, 2006.
  • United Nations and Human Rights: A Guide for a New Era, Taylor & Francis, 2005
  • War's Offensive on Women: The Humanitarian Challenge in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan, Kumarian Press, 2000
  • Kosovo: How Myths and Truths Started a War University of California Press, 1999
  • Local Action/Global Change: Learning About the Human Rights of Women and Girls (primary author, in collaboration with Mallika Dutt, Nancy Flowers, UNIFEM, 1999
  • Step-by-Step: Enforcing Women's Human Rights of Women and Girls (Julie Mertus, Dorothy Thomas (Human Rights Watch) and Marge Schuler (Women, Law and Development), Women, Law and Development and Human Rights Watch, 1997)
  • The Suitcase: Refugees' Voices from Bosnia and Croatia, University of California Press, 1997, co-editor with Jasmina Tesanovic, Habiba Metikos and Rada Boric and contributor
  • Open Wounds: Human Rights Abuses in Kosovo (with Vlatka Mihelic), Human Rights Watch, 1994

Media Appearances

  • Open Democracy
  • The Baltimore Sun
  • The Chicago Tribune
  • USA Today
  • The Washington Post
  • The Christian Science Monitor
  • The New York Times
  • The Philadelphia Inquirer
  • The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Honors, Awards, and Fellowships

  • Fulbright Association Senior Scholar, 2006
  • American University (AU) School of International Service (SIS) Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Professional Service, 2006
  • American Political Science Association Human Rights Book of the Year, Bait and Switch, 2005
  • AU Scholar/ Teacher of the Year, SIS, 2005
  • AU SIS Faculty Award for Outstanding Curriculum Development, 2003
  • AU SIS Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Professional Service, 2002
  • Dartmouth College, Rockefeller Visiting Faculty, Institute on Violence and Culture, 2002
  • U.S. Institute of Peace, Senior Fellow, Jennings Randolph Program for International Peace 2000-2001
  • Term Member, The Council on Foreign Relations, 1998 – present
  • Term Member, National Security Law Institute, 1998

Grants and Sponsored Research

  • SIS Summer Research Grant, 2006
  • SIS Summer Research Grant, 2004
  • SIS Summer Research Grant, 2003
  • AU Grant for Curriculum Development (Service Learning), 2006
  • AU Grant for Curriculum Development, 2002

AU Expert

Area of Expertise: Human rights, U.S. foreign policy, international law, gender and conflict, central and Eastern Europe, Kosovo, ethnic conflict, humanitarian intervention, refugees, transitional justice  

Additional Information: Julie Mertus is a frequent commentator on human rights and humanitarian issues, and serves as a consultant for several nongovernmental and governmental post-conflict reconstruction endeavors, including a project in Iraq. She is the author of more than 30 op-eds and general interest articles and 50 academic publications. Her book, Bait and Switch: Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy (Routledge, 2004), was named the 2005 Human Rights Book of the Year by the Human Rights Section of the American Political Science Association. She is also author of The United Nations and Human Rights (Routledge, 2005); and Kosovo: How Myths and Truths Started a War (University of California, 1999). She iscoeditor of Human Rights and Conflict (United States Institute of Peace, 2004). Her prior appointments include being a senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a human rights fellow at Harvard Law School, a writing fellow at the MacArthur Foundation, and Fulbright Fellow. A graduate of Yale Law School and the recipent of several research and teaching awards, Mertus was named the 2005 Teacher-Scholar of the Year by American University's School of International Service.

Media Relations
To request an interview please call AU Media Relations at 202-885-5950 or submit an interview request form.