Thomas E Hill

Dr. Thomas Hill is a clinical professor at the Center for Global Affairs, where he is director of the Peace Research and Education Program. He oversees the peacebuilding concentration within the Master of Science in Global Affairs (MSGA) program. Dr. Hill is a peacebuilding practitioner and researcher with more than 20 years of experience focusing on Iraq; since 2003, he has made more than 30 visits to Iraq and has overseen design, development and implementation of a series of inter-related research and educational projects focused on increasing levels of peacefulness in Iraq. He serves as principal investigator for “Municipal Leaders Building Peace: Understanding Locally-Led Impact in Conflict-Affected Countries,” based in Colombia and Libya and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Dr. Hill also has led "Strengthening Academic Institutions and Cultures at the University of Fallujah," with support from the International Research and Exchange Board. He has led a series of applied research projects, including“Developing Peace and Conflict Assessments in selected municipalities in Libya” (supported by GIZ) and “Supporting the Development of Al Salaam University in Kuwait” (supported by Al Salaam University Co.) as well as several projects in Iraq, including “Enhancing Possibilities for Youth Peacebuilding at the University of Anbar” (sponsored by IREX), “Joint Certificate in Peacebuilding at the Domiz Refugee Camp” (sponsored by the Catalyst Foundation for Universal Education) and “Building University Capacity in Peace Education in Duhok and Mosul” (sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme). He has served as principal investigator for several other projects in Iraq, including: “Supporting the University of Duhok in Becoming the Center of Excellence for Peacebuilding in Iraq” (sponsored by the US Department of State); “Improving Local Capacity to Build Peace and Improve Social Cohesion Among Host and Displaced Communities in Duhok and Nineveh Governorates)” (sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme) and “Iraq Re:Coded (also sponsored by the UN Development Programme). 

Dr. Hill has developed and teaches a variety of graduate-level courses, including: Peacemaking and Peacebuilding; the Workshop in Applied Peacebuilding; Conflict Assessment; Structures of Peace and the Joint Research Seminar in Peacebuilding and the Advanced Joint Research Seminar in Peacebuilding. He is a member of the Institute for Economics and Peace. A former journalist, his research interests include: the role of universities as actors and sites for peacebuilding; the importance of community-centered approaches to civil society-led peacebuilding; and the use of conflict analysis and assessment as tools for integrating development and peacebuilding. 

Dr. Hill earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Pennsylvania.