Cecelia Lynch, political science professor, has been named a 2018-19 Fulbright Scholar to Finland. The honor funds Lynch’s scholar-in-residence at the University of Tampere from January-June 2019 as she conducts research on religious and secular ethics in global humanitarianism. Her work examines Christian and Muslim humanitarian ethics - specifically, whether or not non-governmental organizations connected to different faith traditions find common ground and work together on humanitarian and peacebuilding efforts, and if so, where and how, and with what implications for humanitarian principles and practices.

With previous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, she conducted in-depth interviews with 200 representatives of Christian, Muslim, and some secular and Jewish groups in Europe, the U.S., Africa and the Middle East through which she discovered factors that complicate religious ethics and societal health in the post-9/11 era.

With Fulbright funding, she is examining the Finnish role in the Nordic model of aid, whether it is subject to or transcends the critiques of North-South aid in general, and whether it is likely to be sustained in an era of budgetary cuts in the region.

In addition to the Fulbright and Mellon Foundations, Lynch’s work has been supported by the University of Notre Dame, Social Science Research Council/MacArthur Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, AAUW and Huntington Library. The American Political Science Association’s Women’s Caucus and the Society for Women in International Political Economy both have recognized Lynch for mentoring junior faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates. And in 2014, she received the Ann Tickner Award from the International Studies Association for pushing the boundaries of international studies scholarship, teaching and mentorship.

Lynch is the co-founder of Critical Investigations into Humanitarianism in Africa (www.cihablog.com), a blog that brings together a unique network of international scholars and students to bring critical and religious voices to bear on the way humanitarian aid in Africa is sought, delivered and perceived.