Julie Mertus

Julie Mertus is a professor at American University (AU) in the School of International Service and is Co-Director of the MA Program in Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs. Her work focuses on human rights, gender, conflict, U.S. foreign policy, and transitional justice. Drawing on 25 years of experience working with a host of governmental and nongovernmental human rights organizations, Professor Julie Mertus explains the many mistakes and the few successes in two decades of human rights advocacy. She is the author of Bait and Switch: Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy (Routledge, 2004), which was named "human rights book of the year" by the American Political Science Association. Most recently, she has published Human Rights Matters: Local Politics and National Human Rights Institutions (Stanford University Press, 2009). Other notable publications include Human Rights and Conflict (United States Institute of Peace, 2006); "Is it True That a Human Rights Culture, Respectful of Minorities, is Impossible in Kosova?" (Anthem Press, 2006); United Nations and Human Rights: A Guide for a New Era (Taylor and Francis, 2005); and War's Offensive on Women: The Humanitarian Challenge in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan (Kumarian Press, 2000). Professor Mertus received the AU School of International Service (SIS) Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Professional Service in 2006 and 2002, the AU Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award in 2005, and the AU SIS Faculty Award for Outstanding Curriculum Development in 2003. She has served as a human rights fellow at Harvard Law School, as a Fulbright Association Senior Scholar, and as a U.S. Institute of Peace Senior Fellow. She holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.S. from Cornell University.