Femke E. Bakker, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in Political Science at the Institute of Political Science of Leiden University, where she teaches courses in political psychology and research methods. As a researcher, Femke is well known for thinking ‘out of the box’, which might be due to her creative background in the performing arts. After a career of almost two decades as a professional actor, Femke decided to study political science and received her Ph.D. in 2018. She won several awards for her master thesis, and her dissertation “Hawks and Doves. Democratic peace theory revisited” received the ECPR Jean Blondel PhD prize, the most prestigious PhD award within European political science. She published in several international peer reviewed journals, serves as book reviews editor of Acta Politica, and is associate member of the Laboratory for Comparative Social Research. Femke’s research focusses on the role individuals play within political processes. She studies elite decision making, political leadership, and political behavior. She uses the PEACE grant to conduct a pilot study about the impact of meditation on political tolerance. Femke also teaches meditation, and offers guided meditations and courses through the free international meditation platform Insight Timer.
