Elizabeth Menninga, associate professor of political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and CSSI researcher affiliate, used her year in residence at CSSI to take her research on government-rebel group cooperation from hypothesis to manuscript. She’s seeking to understand how armed non-state groups work together to achieve a common goal, such as aid to civilians or conflict resolution, important information that can be used to advance peace efforts and protect civilians. 

As CSSI’s inaugural Faculty Research Fellow, Menninga received dedicated time, office space, and staff support for her research project, “Rebel Group Similarity and Cooperation in Multi-Dyadic Civil Wars.” She completed her first manuscript stemming from this work this spring and hopes to develop it into a book proposal. 

Open to social scientists in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the fellowship supports high-impact research that aligns with CSSI’s mission, regardless of discipline, training, or methodological approach. Fellows spend up to one year in residence at CSSI. In addition, they are released from teaching one course in their home department, allowing them to focus on their selected research.

“Having dedicated writing space at CSSI was absolutely amazing,” she said. “It provided a physical space where the only tasks I needed to think about were related to understanding how rebel groups learn during civil wars. That space made it so much easier to focus and helped truly dedicate time to research without feeling pressure to answer emails, prep classes, etcetera.”

“If you’re wanting to launch a new research area, I cannot recommend this fellowship enough!”

Fellows also receive a $1,000 credit toward CSSI’s survey and multimethodology research services. These services include project management, survey development, transcription support, research design, and statistical consultation.

“Having thoughtful social scientists outside my area of expertise helped me explain concepts, think through assumptions, and make connections I wouldn’t have without their input,” Menninga said. “Talking through new ideas with Mark Berg and Ethan Rogers was amazing. They provided feedback on early drafts and really engaged with the questions I was seeking to answer.” 

Insights can be used to prevent escalation of violence

Menninga's research may lead to real-world impact, informing how states engage with rebel groups to prevent more violence. During her fellowship, she investigated how cooperation unfolds in civil wars involving rebel groups and governments around the world. 

First, she measured similarities between pairs of rebel groups across social, political, and military factors. Second, she examined how rebel groups learn from one another, finding that they adjust their behavior when they have similar abilities to inflict costs on the government and sustain the conflict. Likewise, she discovered that when one rebel group signs a ceasefire agreement with the government, a similar rebel group is more likely to follow suit.

What surprised Menninga, she said, was that rebel groups also adjust their behavior in response to dissimilar groups, but in a different way. When one rebel group signs a ceasefire agreement with the government, the dissimilar group tends to escalate the violence.

Now that she has completed her project, Menninga said she looks forward to seeing this area of research explored further through qualitative interviews and process tracing to better understand how rebel groups learn and adapt. 

In addition, she said scholars could investigate the role of the international community in this process. “Does the international community disrupt learning? Can it help overcome negative lessons and reset the rebel group-government relationship?” 

CSSI’s Next Faculty Research Fellowship

Brian Ekdale, professor of journalism and mass communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and CSSI researcher affiliate, was selected as the 2026-2027 Faculty Research Fellow. He will study how people and platform technologies drive political polarization.

Applications for the 2027-2028 Faculty Research Fellowship will open December 2026. Fellowships are funded by a partnership between CSSI and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Learn more about the CSSI Faculty Research Fellowship and other research incubation services.