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Ms. Alexandra Budabin

Leon Milman Memorial Fellow
"Citizens’ Army for Darfur: The Impact of a Domestic Social Movement on International Conflict Resolution"

Professional Background

Alexandra Budabin is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the New School for Social Research in New York. She received an M.A. in social thought and humanities at New York University, and a B.A. in history and the history of art and architecture at Harvard University. For her Leon Milman Memorial Fellowship, Ms. Budabin conducted research for her project, “Citizens’ Army for Darfur: The Impact of a Domestic Social Movement on International Conflict Resolution.”

Ms. Budabin is the recipient of the Brecht Dissertation Fellowship as well as the Elinor Goldmark Black Fellowship for Advanced Studies in the Dynamics of Social Change from the New School for Social Research in New York. She received the magna cum laude Award for Thesis from Harvard University. Ms. Budabin has served as a Moderator for the ABD Group in the Department of Political Science at the New School for Social Research as well as an Outreach Consultant for NOW on PBS in New York. In the fall of 2009, Ms. Budabin was a Guest Ph.D. Researcher at the Graduate School of International Development Studies at Roskilde University in Denmark.

Fellowship Research

During her tenure at the Center, Ms. Budabin researched the American response to the Darfur conflict by focusing on the Save Darfur Coalition (SDC) and its impact on international conflict resolution. The SDC is an umbrella organization that encapsulates the American social movement and has successfully pushed the United States to support its international targeting. Through the organization’s domestic and international work, American citizens and organizations have embarked on a multi-front campaign of claim-making on behalf of Darfur against Sudan. The SDC and its member organizations identified and targeted additional actors for leveraging Sudan and supported civilian protection from the African Union. At the Museum, Ms. Budabin utilized the Library’s materials on the Sudan and Darfur. She also studied the Museum’s early role in leading the institutional response to the Darfur conflict. Ms. Budabin reviewed Darfuri witness testimony, and engaged in dialogue with the leadership of the Museum’s Committee on Conscience who were responsible for issuing the first genocide warnings about Darfur. Ms. Budabin’s work brings a new perspective on a contemporary example of genocide and the expanding political opportunities for public influence.

Ms. Budabin was in residence at the Mandel Center from January 4 to April 30, 2010.