Ernesto Verdeja
Keough School of Global Affairs
Associate Professor of Peace Studies and Global Politics
- Ways disinformation and fake news can be predictors of violence (physical, structural, hate speech, etc.) and mass atrocities
- Political violence
- Transitional justice
- Forgiveness and reconciliation
Video
Verdeja’s Latest News
Verdeja in the News
The Sociology of Everything Podcast
The Gaza Genocide in Five Crises
October 08, 2025
In the second part of their series on Gaza, Genocide and Social Theory, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss welcome Ernesto Verdeja onto their podcast to talk around an article Ernesto has written in the Journal of Genocide Research, titled ‘The Gaza Genocide in Five Crises.’ In this wide-ranging discussion, Ernesto makes some very powerful points about why it is meaningful and apt to categorise the recent major loss of life in Gaza as a genocide, while also unpacking what the broader ramifications of the Gaza case are to international governance.
Governing Magazine
Local Policing’s Critical Check on Executive Power
September 03, 2025
OPINION: Joel Day is managing director of the University of Notre Dame Democracy Initiative. Ernesto Verdeja is associate professor of peace studies and global politics at Notre Dame.
Chicago Tribune
OPINION | Joel Day and Ernesto Verdeja: Local control over police is a check on executive power
August 27, 2025
By Joel Day, managing director of the University of Notre Dame Democracy Initiative, and Ernesto Verdeja, associate professor of peace studies and global politics at the University of Notre Dame.
The Conversation
Memes and conflict: Study shows surge of imagery and fakes can precede international and political violence
April 24, 2025
By Tim Weninger Collegiate Proessor of Engineering, and Ernesto Verdeja Associate Professor of Peace Studies and Global Politics at the University of Notre Dame.
Just Security
If the UN and Member States Are Serious About Preventing Atrocities, It’s Time to Reboot a Key Office
January 24, 2025
By Ernesto Verdeja, Associate Professor of Peace Studies and Global Politics at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame.
The Christian Science Monitor
Reframing a dictatorship: Argentine human rights museum under fire
October 10, 2024
Argentina is facing “intense debate over what has been a widely accepted depiction of a painful historical period,” says Ernesto Verdeja, an associate professor of peace studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He says that is reopening “what seemed settled questions about who was right and who was wrong ... and how society should view its past” and try to build its future.
Vox
How to think through allegations of genocide in Gaza
December 04, 2023
“I don’t think it’s genocidal yet. I think it can easily be,” said Ernesto Verdeja, an associate professor of political science and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame. “At this point, it’s a little hard to put all the pieces together.”
CHCH NEWS (CANADA)
Israel air strike kills and wounds dozens at Gaza refugee camp
Video Audio
November 16, 2023
Israeli airstrikes have hit apartment buildings in a refugee camp near Gaza City for a second day in a row, causing many deaths and injuries, while accusations of war crimes from the international community grow. We’re joined by Ernesto Verdeja, Associate Professor of Peace Studies and Global Politics at the University of Notre Dame.
Time
Is What’s Happening in Gaza a Genocide? Experts Weigh In
November 14, 2023
“One has to prove that the perpetrator not only committed the actions, but they committed the actions with a very specific intention of destroying the group,” says Ernesto Verdeja, a professor at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in genocide.
The Christian Science Monitor
When does atrocity rise to the level of genocide?
May 25, 2022
“The question is, do the Russians intend to destroy Ukrainian identity as a national group, which would qualify under genocide law?” says Ernesto Verdeja, who teaches political science and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
Catholic News Service
Accountability for alleged war crimes in Ukraine likely a long way off
April 21, 2022
"(Investigations) take a long time because the evidentiary and judicial requirements are very, very high and they are extremely complex cases," said Ernesto Verdeja, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Genocide and associate professor of law at the University of Notre Dame.
Univision News
"Murderer dictator": Biden raises the tone against Putin and other US officials join the voices of condemnation
Video
March 17, 2022
Associate Professor of Political Science and Peace Studies Ernesto Verdeja is interviewed re: Ukraine and war crimes.
Business Insider
Experts say there's clear cut evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, but building a case against Putin will take years and it's unlikely he'll ever face justice
March 09, 2022
Hannah Garry, the director of the University of Southern California's International Human Rights Clinic, and Ernesto Verdeja, an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame, said the International Criminal Court is the most likely venue to prosecute Putin for war crimes.
France 24
US sees genocides against Uyghurs and Armenians but consistency elusive
April 28, 2021
Ernesto Verdeja, an expert on genocide at the University of Notre Dame, said that general conceptions of genocide remained firmly tied to the specifics of the Holocaust, even though the legal definition is more universal.