About Austin
Austin Knuppe is an assistant professor of political science at Utah State University. For AY 2024-25 he is also a Newbigin Fellow through a joint initiative of the Carver Project and InterFaith America. Prior to Utah State, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College. He received his Ph.D. in political science from The Ohio State University in 2019. His research interests include civilian survival during wartime, Middle East politics, and the role of religion in international politics.
His first book, Surviving the Islamic State: Contention, Cooperation, and Neutrality in Wartime Iraq (Columbia University Press, 2024), explores how ordinary Iraqis survived Islamic State control of their communities between 2014 and 2018. He argues that individuals survive conflict by drawing on repertoires—consisting of practices, tools, organized routines, symbols, and rhetorical strategies—to navigate violent situations. He finds that Iraqis across conflict-affected communities relied on heuristics—or cognitive shortcuts—to detect and respond to insurgent threats. Local residents considered the identity and behavior of insurgents, as well as the relative risks of accommodating Islamic State governance.
Austin is also on the faculty board for USU’s Heravi Peace Institute (HPI). The HPI exists to equip students to apply their character, knowledge, and skills to transform conflict into peace. It pursues its mission through classes, public events, internships, and study abroad opportunities that help students, faculty, and staff become better peacebuilders.