Rate My Professor Outi Donovan

Dr Outi Donovan is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the School of Government and International Relations, Griffith Business School, Griffith University. She holds a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to joining Griffith University, Donovan was a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds, and held research affiliations including at the LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security. Her career has focused on advancing knowledge in international peace and security dynamics through rigorous empirical research.

Donovan's research specializations include conflict and peace studies, post-conflict peacebuilding, statebuilding, gender and security, and international norms such as the Responsibility to Protect. She authored the monograph The Contentious Politics of Statebuilding (Routledge, 2017), which examines the contentious processes in post-conflict environments. Key publications feature 'Promise or peril? Exploring the gender dimension of pragmatic peacebuilding' in International Affairs (2023), 'Gendering Zoom Diplomacy: Women's Participation in Digital Diplomacy' in International Studies Perspectives (2025), 'Conflict and Covid-19: exploring the effects on women' (2024), 'Trading Freedoms for Protection: Gender and Localised Protection in Libya' in Global Responsibility to Protect (2021), and chapters such as 'Women in conflict prevention' (2024). With over 160 citations on Google Scholar, her work influences debates on gender-inclusive peacebuilding and pragmatic protection strategies. Donovan serves as Editor of Global Responsibility to Protect, contributes to parliamentary inquiries on Responsibility to Protect and gender equality, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Studies Association's Peace Studies Section (2023-2025). At Griffith, she convenes courses including International Relations: Ideas and Issues and supervises doctoral research on normative change.