Born in post-Soviet Georgia during a time of civil wars and economic collapse, Jane’s early experiences with societal turmoil inspired her commitment to understanding how violence shapes political behavior and democratic governance.

Jane Kitaevich is a PhD candidate in political science at the University of Michigan, where she is completing a dissertation that examines the impact of militarized violence on individual support for democracy, with a focus on Armenia as a case study. Born in post-Soviet Georgia during a time of civil wars and economic collapse, Jane’s early experiences with societal turmoil inspired her commitment to understanding how violence shapes political behavior and democratic governance. At age 15, she moved to the United States on a full scholarship, which allowed her to complete high school and later earn her bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations from Yeshiva University and a master’s degree from Harvard University, where she specialized in regional studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.

Her research, which integrates original data collection from fieldwork, surveys, and the analysis of 50,000 newspaper articles, finds that exposure to violence can increase support for democracy under certain conditions – an assertion that challenges existing assumptions about the relationship between conflict and democratic resilience. One of her advisers noted that Jane’s research is “ambitious and timely” and praised her for the “unusually impressive and large-scale” empirical strategy she developed, which included mentoring 24 undergraduate students as part of her research team​.

Jane has received numerous accolades including the Rackham Dissertation Fellowship, US Department of Education FLAS Fellowship, USC Dornsife Institute for Armenian Studies Research Grant, Weiser Center for the Study of Emerging Democracies Fellowship, and the John Kingdom Award for Outstanding Teaching, and the Rackham Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award.

In addition to her academic achievements, Jane is a primary caregiver for her two young children and supports her elderly parents. Balancing these responsibilities with her doctoral studies, she has demonstrated exceptional resilience. 

CEW+ applauds Jane’s efforts toward a more peaceful world and names her a Mary Malcomson Raphael Scholar.