Martha Crenshaw in Europe

Martha Crenshaw joined the Stanford faculty in 2007. She is a senior fellow emerita in Stanford’s prestigious international-focused institution: the Center for International Security and Cooperation, part of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. She is also a professor emerita of political science by courtesy in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford and a professor emerita at Wesleyan University, where she taught from 1974 to 2007 and was the Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor of Global Issues and Democratic Thought. Much sought after to speak at universities, governmental agencies, and political forums on her primary areas of research—international conflict and political violence, particularly terrorism—Dr. Crenshaw is an affiliate of NCITE, a Center of Excellence of the Department of Homeland Security, and the Director of the Mapping Militants Project. Previously, she was a lead investigator with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism. In her earlier years, she studied at Sciences Po in Paris and was a lecturer at the University of Poitiers. Her 1978 book on terrorism during the Algerian war was translated and published in France in 2026.

Dr. Crenshaw has led previous Stanford trips to Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia, as well as the Mediterranean coast. On this trip, Dr. Crenshaw will lecture on topics related to Europe’s role in international politics, including both historical and contemporary subjects. Topics could include the importance of the ports that were centers of commerce and naval expansion during the Age of Exploration (15th–17th centuries), when Portugal and Spain were major powers; the remarkable story of the formation of the European Union after WWII; and the uncertain future of European security today. Visiting Guernsey suggests a discussion of the German occupation of the island during WWII (cf. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society).

• Coauthor of Countering Terrorism; author of Revolutionary Terrorism: The FLN in Algeria, 1954–1962, and Explaining Terrorism: Causes, Processes and Consequences

• Professor of political science by courtesy, Stanford University, and Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute of International Studies, 2007–2019

• Professor of government, Wesleyan University: 1987–2007

• Wesleyan University Award for Teaching Excellence, 1995

• Guggenheim Fellow, 2005

• International Studies Association Distinguished Scholar Award, 2016

• Corresponding fellow, British Academy

• BA, political science, Newcomb College of Tulane University

• PhD, University of Virginia