Eric Lepp

About:

Eric Lepp is a peace scholar whose current research explores spaces of contact and the construction of a community that includes the ‘other’ in conflict-affected societies. He is particularly interested in counter-cultural, resistant, and unexpected spaces where peace is being enacted and imagined against a backdrop of division. His research is  broadly interdisciplinary and is published in Journal of Intercultural Studies, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, Third World Quarterly Qualitative Research, and the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development among others.
  

Selected Publications:

Journal Articles

• Lepp, E. (2023). “Side-by-Sidedness: A conceptual rethinking of post-peace agreement encounter in everyday Belfast” Journal of Intercultural Studies 44:4 DOI:  10.1080/07256868.2023.2166027

• Haworth, B.T., Arthur, C., Vogel, B., and Lepp, E. (2022). “‘Your wall cannot divide us’: Graffiti in Cyprus and insights into post-conflict landscapes” SAUC – Street Art and Urban Creativity DOI: https://doi.org/10.25765/sauc.v8i2.584 

• Lepp, E. (2022). “Civil Sanctuary: clearly marked spaces of civility in divided urban settings” Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding. DOI: 10.1080/17502977.2022.2079341
• Lepp, E. (2022). “A Side-by-Side Methodological Approach: shared experience, informality, and adaptation” Qualitative Research. DOI: 10.1177/14687941221096604 (open access)
• Vogel, B., Arthur. C., Lepp, E. O’Driscoll, D. and Haworth, B.T. (2020).“Reading social-political and spatial experiences through street art in conflict-affected societies”. Third World Quarterly 41 (12): 2148-2168. DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2020.1810009
• Lepp, E. (2018). “Division on Ice: Shared Space and Civility in Modern Belfast” Journal of Peacebuilding and Development 13 (1): 32-45. DOI: 10.1080/15423166.2018.1427135

Book chapters

• Lepp, E. (2021) “Read the Room: Side-by-Side Methodology in a Belfast Ice Hockey Arena”. In R. Mac Ginty, R. Brett and B. Vogel (eds.), Companion to peace and conflict fieldwork. London: Palgrave Macmillan: pp. 321-337. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-46433-2_22

Media/Professional

• Lepp, E. (2020). “Opinion: Are we really all in this together?” Kitchener-Waterloo Record, April 16, 2021.
• Haworth, B.T., Arthur, C. and Lepp, E. (2019). “Graffiti in Cyprus paints a rich and complex picture of this divided society.”  The Independent – UK, July 13, 2021. 
• Haworth, B.T., Arthur, C. and Lepp, E. (2019). “Graffiti in Cyprus paints a rich and complex picture of this divided society.”  The Conversation – UK, July 10, 2021. 

Audiovisual Media and Exhibitions

• “Patrick and Davy’s Story: Faith, scars and friendship" (2020). Directed by David Bewick. Boca Films: Manchester, UK. A short documentary film developed from my PhD research in collaboration with Boca Films.
• Haworth, B.T., Vogel, B., Lepp, E., Arthur, C. and O’Driscoll, D. (2020). Your wall can(not) divide us. An online exhibition by the International Consortium for Conflict Graffiti.

Selected Activities:

Scholarly Presentations

• “Civil Sanctuaries: Framing spaces of indifference in divided urban settings” Paper Presentation. ‘How soft power brings people together in intergroup conflicts’ Panel. International Studies Association, March 29, 2022 (Virtual).
• “When the walls calls out: protest graffiti as a global tool of civil resistance” Paper Presentation. ‘Reading spaces of peace and conflict through public visual arts’ Panel. International Studies Association, March 28, 2022. (Virtual)
• “Puck Luck: Encounter and Sanctuary in a Northern Irish (Ice) Hockey Arena” Paper Presentation. ‘The Role of the Everyday in Repairing Societies after Conflict’ Panel. Canadian Peace Research Association, June 3, 2021. (Virtual)
• “Subdued Reconciliation: Side-by-Side in a Belfast Ice Hockey Arena”,  Paper Presentation. ‘Reconciliation and Peace’ Panel. International Studies Association, April 7, 2021. (Virtual)
• “Reading socio-political and spatial dynamics through street art in conflict-affected societies”, Paper Presentation. ‘Popular Culture and Dynamics of Peace and Conflict’ Panel.  International Studies Association, April 6, 2021. (Virtual)
• “Indiana Jones and the temple if scholarly doom/eternal light: Navigating peace and conflict fieldwork”, Round Table Participant. Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Working Group. British International Studies Association, November 3, 2020. (Virtual)
• “Side-by-Sidedness: A conceptual rethinking of post-peace agreement encounter in everyday Belfast”, Paper Presentation. Building Sustainable Peace Conference. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies – South Bend, Indiana, USA, November 8, 2019.

• “Repairing Societies after Conflict”, Paper Presentation. Canadian Peace Research Association Annual Conference. Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, June 3, 2021. (Virtual)

• “Subdued Reconciliation: Side-by-Side in a Belfast Ice Hockey Arena”,  Paper Presentation. ‘Reconciliation and Peace’ Panel. International Studies Association, April 7, 2021. (Virtual)

• “Reading socio-political and spatial dynamics through street art in conflict-affected societies”, Paper Presentation. ‘Popular Culture and Dynamics of Peace and Conflict’ Panel.  International Studies Association, April 6, 2021. (Virtual)

• “Indiana Jones and the temple if scholarly doom/eternal light: Navigating peace and conflict fieldwork”, Round Table Participant. Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Working Group. British International Studies Association, November 3, 2020. (Virtual)

• “Side-by-Sidedness: A conceptual rethinking of post-peace agreement encounter in everyday Belfast”, Paper Presentation. Building Sustainable Peace Conference. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies – South Bend, Indiana, USA, November 8, 2019.

Invited Lectures and Roles

• “Graffiti Politics, Contested Spaces”, Invited Guest Lecturer.Department of Global Studies Wilfrid Laurier University – Waterloo, Ontario, 26 January 2022 (Virtual)
• “Peacebuilding 101”, Invited Workshop Facilitator. Peace Innovators Program, The Ripple Effect Education (TREE) – Waterloo, Ontario, Canada,  Summer 2020/2021.
• “Practical Approaches to Studying Conflict Affected Societies”, Invited Guest Lecturer.Department of Politics, University of Manchester – Manchester, England, April 22, 2021. (Virtual)
• “Bombing Walls: Graffiti and Street Art in Conflict-Affected Spaces”, Invited Speaker. HCRI Speaker Series.University of Manchester – Manchester, England, March 4, 2021. (Virtual)
• “Side-by-Sidedness: A conceptual rethinking of post-peace agreement encounter in everyday Belfast”, Invited Speaker. Faculty Forum – Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo – Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, October 23, 2020. (Virtual)
• “Side-by-Sidedness: A conceptual rethinking of post-peace agreement encounter”, Invited Speaker. SIPRI Speaker Series, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Stockholm, Sweden, June 24, 2019.
• “Peace is Everybody’s Business”, Invited Guest Lecturer. Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Waterloo – Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, October 1, 2019.
  Fellowships and Awards

Fellowships

• Curriculum Fellow, International Center for Nonviolent Conflict, Washington DC, 2020-2021.
• Honorary Research Fellow, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, University of Manchester, 2019-2022.

Teaching Awards

• Outstanding Supervisor Award Nominee, Nominated by students for the Faculty of Humanities Outstanding Supervisor Award. Faculty of Humanities, University of Manchester, 2019.
• Teaching Advancement Award, Funding awarded by School of Arts, Languages, and Cultures to conduct pedagogical research focused on “Teaching peace in a time of growing nationalism” – University of Manchester, 2019.      
• Teaching Excellence Commendation - Course: Conflict Analysis, Global Development Institute, School of Environment, Education and Development – University of Manchester, 2017 & 2018.

Academic Awards

• Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute Ph.D. Studentship – University of Manchester
• Full Ph.D. Scholarship, 2014-2018
• Joan B. Kroc Peace Studies Academic Scholarship – University of Notre Dame. Full MA funding, 2005-2006

Active Memberships

• International Studies Association – Peace Studies Section
• Peace and Justice Studies Association
• Peace and Conflict Studies Association of Canada