Ches-profileAreas of Interest/Research

Comparative politics, gender, development, feminist theory, climate change, food security, social impacts of HIV/AIDS, qualitative methods, ethnography

Background

I am a political science graduate student at the University of Florida, focusing thematicaly in comparative politics and regionally in Africa. My research interests include social capital building, women’s empowerment, and qualitative research methodology. I am particularly interested in how rural women in developing countries express agency and adaptive capacity to respond to external shocks. I have studied this in the context of disease (HIV/AIDS), nutrition, and climate change. I have done field research in Jordan, Morocco, and Kenya. My academic expertise lies in gender analysis, and I have used primarily qualitative and ethnographic methodology to explore these themes in several developing countries. My dissertation work is a culmination of these various research experiences, focusing on the political implications of the feminization of rural space due to climate change and disease in Kenya and Morocco.

In addition to this academic experience, I have worked with an NGO in Kenya working with AIDS orphans and the elderly women responsible for caring for them. Since returning from Kenya, I have continued to study the Swahili language and now have advanced competency of the language.

Contact Information

Email: cmcomber@ufl.edu
Phone:
Office:  AND

Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 3:00 – 3:50pm and by appointment

Mailing address:
Department Name
University of Florida
P.O. Box 000000
Gainesville, FL 32611-7320.