My name is Shira Eini Pindyck, and I am a Postdoctoral Fellow in Technology and International Security at a joint program with the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation and the Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories based in Washington, D.C. I recently received my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. My research interests include international security, strategic studies, comparative inclusion regimes and networks, and gender analysis.

My dissertation research studied the relationship between military innovation and gender, including how tactical and technological changes can challenge existing hierarchies within military organizations. I am interested in answering questions such as: Why are some military innovations harder than others to successfully integrate and utilize? How do countries’ armed forces address such challenges? Do certain innovations make militaries more inclusive? My research extends from historical case studies of medical innovations, to the experiences of Israeli drone operators, to the counterinsurgency doctrines of the Australian Defense Force and Turkish Armed Forces.

Before entering the PhD program at Penn, I conducted research at the International Institute for Counterterrorism, the Herzl Center at Haifa University, and the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel. I hold an M.A. in Government from IDC Herzliya and a B.A. in English Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing and minor in History from Barnard College.

For more information about my research, teaching agenda, or datasets please contact me at spindyck@sas.upenn.edu. You can also find me on Twitter.