Dr Lewis is now at the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter having taught in Leeds for two years.
She received her MAs and PhD in Postcolonial Cultures, Post-war Recovery, and Politics from the University of York in 2007, 2008 and 2012. In 2013, she was a Research Fellow at the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit. Between 2010 and 2013, she also worked at Stability: International Journal of Security and Development.
Dr Lewis has been a researcher of the Middle East and North Africa for over five years, and has carried out field work in Jordan, Lebanon, Somalia/Somaliland and Yemen. She currently specialises on the Yemeni/Somali security conflagration.
Between 2009 and 2013, Dr Lewis has participated in a number of applied research projects, commissioned by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, the International Organisation for Migration, the United Nations Development Project and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, among others.
Research Interests:
Dr Lewis’ principle research interests lie in violence, state fragility, authoritarian governance processes and youth integration in society. She first addressed these issues from a literary and cultural background, and then from a political and criminological one, so that she is now interested in inter-disciplinary approaches to building research methodologies in international development. She has investigated and developed expertise in the use of key quantitative and qualitative research strategies in the political and social sciences.
Teaching:
Dr Lewis has taught at the University of York and the University of Leeds on: International Politics; Post-war Recovery; Making of the Modern World; Development and Social Change; Global Development Inequalities; Field Research in Difficult Contexts; and, North/South Linkages.
Publications:
Books
Security, Clans and Tribes Unstable Governance in Somaliland, Yemen and the Gulf of Aden, Palgrave Pivot, 2014.
Journal articles
Unpacking Terrorism, Revolution and Insurgency in Yemen: Real and Imagined Threats to Regional Security, Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol. 7, No. 5, (2013).
Violence in Yemen: Thinking About Violence in Fragile States Beyond the Confines of Conflict and Terrorism, Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, Vol. 2, No. 1, (2013), pp.1-22.
with Barakat S, Connolly D, Deely S, What Can Britain Do to Save Yemen from Itself?, Parliamentary Brief, (2011), pp.11-12.
Other
Yemen: Sustaining Humanitarian Aid
Violence and Fragility: A Study of Violent Young Offending in Yemen and Other Fragile States
Contested Sovereignty and Competing Identities in Nagorno-Karabakh
Changing Seasons: The Arab Spring’s Position Within The Political Evolution of The Yemeni State
Middle East Research Group 