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Oded Adomi Leshem

054-2926141

oleshem@gmu.edu

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Research Gate

​LinkedIn profile

Overview

I am a Senior Research Associate at the PICR Lab and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, both housed in the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. My research is located at the nexus of international relations, political science, and social psychology with a specialization in the beliefs and perceptions of people mired in protracted conflicts.

Research

Currently, I study the hopes and fears of people living in conflict zones and the impact of these future-oriented perceptions on political behavior. More broadly, I'm interested in the formation and transformation of political attitudes and ideologies during violent conflicts. Apart from my focus on advancing theories in conflict resolution and political psychology, a key aspect of my research agenda is to design and test psychological interventions aimed at conflict transformation.

Publications

  • Leshem & Halperin (2021) "Threatened by the Worst and Hoping for the Best: Unraveling the Relationship Between Threat, Hope, and Public Opinion during Conflict. Political Behavior. [pdf]

  • Leshem & Halperin (2020). Lay theories of peace and their influence on policy preference during violent conflict. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2005928117. [pdf]

  • Leshem (2020) "Threats of Escalation and Prospects for Peace in Israel-Palestine" in "Conflict Resolution after the Pandemic, Building Peace Pursuing Justice" R. Rubenstein & S. Simons (Eds.), Routledge. [pdf]

  • Leshem & Halperin (2020). Hope During Conflict. In S. C. van den Heuvel (Ed.), Historical and Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Hope (pp. 179–196). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46489-9_10 [pdf]

  • Leshem & Halperin (2020). Hoping for peace during protracted conflict: Citizens’ hope is based on inaccurate appraisals of their adversary’s hope for peace. Journal of Conflict Resolution. 64 (1), 3-225. [pdf]

  • Leshem (2019), “The Pivotal Role of the Enemy in Inducing Hope for Peace.” Political Studies. [pdf]

  • Leshem, Nooraddini, and Witte (2019), “Surveying Societies Mired in Conflict: Evidence of Social Desirability Bias in Palestine.”  International Journal of Public Opinion Research. [pdf]

  • Leshem (2017), “What You Wish for is Not What You Expect: Measuring Hope for Peace during Intractable Conflicts.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 60: pp. 60-66. [pdf]

  • Leshem, Klar, and Flores (2016), “Instilling Hope for Peace during Intractable Conflicts” Social Psychological and Personality Science. 7 (4): pp. 303-311. [pdf]

Academic Teaching Experience

  • 2020 | “Ethnic Conflicts,” The University of Malta, Sole responsibility for syllabus design and class instruction (M.A. level)

  • 2019-present | Co-adviser to Mr. Oliver Fink, Ph.D. student at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem & the University of Basel, Switzerland.

  • 2018 | “Global Conflicts,” George Mason University. Sole responsibility for syllabus design and class instruction (B.A. level)

  • 2016 | “Conflict and Our World - Introduction to Conflict Resolution,” George Mason University. Sole responsibility for syllabus design and class instruction (B.A. level) 

Conference Presentations

  • 2021 | Keynote Speaker, The International Conference for Bridge-building Leadership, Leuven, Belgium

  • 2021 | Keynote Speaker, The Israeli Association for School Psychology, Eilat, Israel

  • 2021 | "Unraveling the Link Between Threat and Support for Conciliatory Policies during Conflict," European Consortium for Political Research, Innsbruck, Austria (online)

  • 2020 | “What They Talk About When They Talk About Peace: Citizens’ Associations of Peace Predict the Solution They Seek,” European Consortium for Political Research, Innsbruck, Austria (online)

  • 2020 | “The Nuanced relationship between Conflict Intensity, Threat Perceptions, and Hope for Peace: Evidence from Cyprus and Israel-Palestine,” European Consortium for Political Research, Innsbruck, Austria (online) 

  • 2020 | “Threat and Hope During Conflict: Their Interaction and Consequences,” International Society of Political Psychology, Berlin, Germany (online)

  • 2019 | “Hoping for Peace during Protracted Conflict: Citizens’ Hope is Based on Appraised Hope of the Adversary,” International Society of Political Psychology, Lisbon, Portugal

  • 2019 | “The Nuanced Relationship Between Threat and Hope during Conflict: Evidence from the Palestinian Territories,” International Society of Political Psychology, Lisbon, Portugal

  • 2019 | “Failing to Seize Opportunities for Peace: Attribution Styles Drive Opposition to Negotiate During Conflict,” International Association for Conflict Management, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2019 | “Hope Amidst Conflict,” Conference of authors of the edited volume “Historical and Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Hope,” Leuven, Belgium

  • 2019 | “Measuring Hope for Peace during Conflict,” Eurasian Peace Science Conf. Jerusalem, Israel

  • 2018 | “The Pivotal Role of The Enemy in Inducing Hope for Peace,” Innovations in Conflict Resolution and Mediation, Tel-Aviv, Israel

  • 2018 | “The Hope Map Project: New Data from Israel-Palestine,” International Association of Conflict Management, Philadelphia, PA  

  • 2018 | “The Hope Map Project: New Data from Israel-Palestine,” International Studies Association, San Francisco, CA

  • 2017 | “Group Flourishing Benefits from Hope, Wisdom, Blame, and Social Roles.”, Symposium speaker, International Convention of Psychological Science, Vienna, Austria 

  • 2017 | “What You See is Not What You Expect: Measuring Hope for Peace in Intractable Conflicts.”, International Studies Association, Baltimore, MD  

  • 2016 | "Inducing Hope for Peace – An experimental Intervention.”, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2016 | "Citizens’ Appraisals of Future Peace in Israel.”, Association for Israel Studies, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2016 | "Messengers of Hope: Comparing the Capacity of Outgroups vs. In-groups to Instill Hope for Resolution.", International Society of Political Psychology, Warsaw, Poland

  • 2016 | “Hope and Constructive Attitudes Towards Conflict - New Findings Informing Conflict Intervention.”, International Association of Conflict Management, NYC, NY

  • 2016 | “Communicators of Peace: In-group and Outgroup Communicators Have Different Effects on Hope for Resolution.”, International Studies Association, Atlanta, GA  

  • 2016 | “The Conflict in Israel and Palestine: Effective and Ineffective Interventions.”, Conference on Middle East Dialogue, Washington DC

  • 2015 | “Hope-Instilling Strategies – Two Experimental Conflict Interventions.”, International Society of Political Psychology, San Diego, CA

  • 2015 | “Hope-Instilling Messages as Conflict Resolution Interventions.”, International Association of Conflict Management, Clearwater, FL

  • 2015 | “Hope in the Context of Intergroup Conflict.”, Conference on Middle East Dialogue, Wash. DC

  • 2014 | “Messages of Hope, Inducing Hope for Peace during Intractable Conflicts.”, International Peace Research Association Conference, Istanbul, Turkey

  • 2014 | “Messages of Hope, Inducing Hope for Peace during Intractable Conflicts: An Empirical Study in Israel.”, IACM, Leiden, Holland

Panel Chair & Discussant  

  • 2019 | Chair – “The Political Psychology of the Palestinian People,” International Society of Political Psychology, Lisbon, Portugal

  • 2018 | Discussant - “Emotions, Trauma, and Mindsets in Peace Studies,” International Studies Association, San Francisco, CA  

  • 2017 | Discussant - “Psychological Consequences of Civil War,” International Studies Association, Baltimore, MD

Invited talks

  • 2021 (Expected) | Guest Speaker – "The sociopsychological infrastructure of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" – Eliot School for International Affairs, George Washington University, DC

  • 2021 | Guest Speaker - "Hope and hopelessness in intergroup conflict" – Institute for Jewish and Israeli Law, Economy, and Society, UC Berkeley

  • 2020 | Panel Expert – "Hope in International Peace Negotiations," Mitvim Think Tank

  • 2020 | Panel Expert – "From Balfour St. to the Assi River – Debates on Struggle and Compromise" the Truman Institute Webinar Series on Current Events

  • 2020 | Keynote speaker – "What Role does Hope Play in Peace Processes?" Public Webinar Hosted by the American Friends of PCFF

  • 2020 | Guest Speaker – “The Sociopsychological Approach to Studying International Conflicts," Tulane University Program for the Study Conflicts

  • 2020 | Guest Speaker – “Hope for Peace, Its Measurement and Implications," Bar-Ilan U., Israel

  • 2019 | Guest Speaker – “Hope as a Sociopolitical Concept,” Social Psychology Seminar, The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel

  • 2018 | Keynote Speaker – “The Hope Map Project: New Data from Palestine-Israel,” The Annual Conference of Community Mediators, Tel-Aviv, Israel

  • 2018 | Guest Speaker – “Project Implicit: Implicit Biases and What We Can Do About Them.”, Conflict Resolution Summit, George Mason University, VA

  • 2018 | Guest Speaker – “The Hope Map Project: New Data from Palestine-Israel,” American University, Washington, DC

  • 2018 | Guest Speaker – “The Hope Map Project: New Data from Palestine-Israel,” Bar-Ilan University, Israel

  • 2017 | Guest Speaker – “Fresh Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” Speaker Series at the Program for Global Affairs and Human Security, University of Baltimore, Baltimore MD

  • 2016 | Presenter – “Understanding Societal Shifts in Israel through Experimental Research.”, Israeli Embassy to the United States, Washington DC  

  • 2016 | Panel Expert – “The Social Psychology of Political Persuasion.”, in “Could America Become Fascist?” - Unrest Magazine public event, Washington DC  

  • 2016 | Presenter – “Inducing Hope for Peace” – Workshop on Political Violence, School of International Service, American University, Washington DC

  • 2016 | Presenter – “Hope and Intractability.”, International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution, Columbia University, NYC, NY

  • 2016 | Panel Expert – “The Political Psychology of Class Inequality.”, U.N. Conference on Poverty, Inequality and Global Conflict – NYC, NY

  • 2015 | Panel Expert – “Experiments in Conflict Resolution.”, George Mason University, VA

  • 2015 | Panel Expert – The Disengagement from Gaza, Ten Years After, Polithon Policy Group, Washington DC 

  • 2014 | Key Lecturer – “Dual Narratives & Conflict.”, Columbia University Law School, NYC, NY

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