Michael J. Schumacher, PhD

About

Dr. Michael J. Schumacher’s teaching and research lies at the intersection of Criminal Justice and Global Studies. His research analyzes why individuals become involved in politically contentious, especially violent, forms of criminal behavior, and he relies on a variety of techniques to demonstrate the individual, social, and structural logics behind such violent action. His research has been published in several academic journals, several of which are listed below, and his current book project seeks to understand why individuals make the extraordinary decision to become foreign fighters (individuals who leave their homes to fight in a conflict in a foreign country). His findings are based on years of research on two comparative case studies: the U.S. citizens who fought for the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and the Tunisian citizens who fought for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Syrian Civil War (2011-Present). Research for this project has taken him to field sites and archives relevant to understanding the Spanish Civil War in both the United States (New York City, New York and Boston, Massachusetts) and Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, and Salamanca) and he has completed years of ethnographic interviews in Tunisia (his “home-away-from-home”) including with foreign fighter returnees, their families, and friends and colleagues who knew them.

Aside from his research, Dr. Schumacher is also a College of Arts and Sciences “Master Teacher” who teaches classes across the fields of Criminal Justice and Global Studies including Terrorism, Political Violence, International Criminal Justice, and Social and Political Justice. In 2024, Dr. Schumacher received the Edwin T. & Vivijeanne F. Sujack Award for Teaching Excellence, the highest teaching honor in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is willing to work with both undergraduate and graduate students on research projects and independent/capstone study courses when possible.

Degrees

Ph.D., Political Science, 草莓社区, Chicago, IL, 2021

M.S., Politics & Government, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, 2014

B.S., Politics & Government and History (double major), Illinois State University, Normal, IL, 2012

Research Interests

Foreign Fighter Phenomenon

Causes and Consequences of Terrorism and Political Violence

Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding

Impact of Violent Non-State Actors on Policymaking

Democracy, Authoritarianism, and the Rule of Law

Courses Taught

CJC 101 Criminal Justice in a Global Context

CJC 336 Political Violence 

CJC 337 Terrorism

CJC 345 Social Justice and Crime

CJC 353 White Collar Crime

CJC 372 Race, Ethnicity, and Criminal Justice

CJC 378/416 International Criminal Justice

Selected Publications

Schumacher, Michael J. 2024. “Critical Reflections on State Terrorism: Terrorist Stereotypes, Vietnam, and the Legacy of American Cold War Cinema.” In Terrorism and Youth Popular Culture: Teaching the Next Generation from the Cold War to Present, edited by Martin Claar and Clint Jones. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Emig, Addison K. (graduate student), and Michael J. Schumacher. 2024. “Politicizing Terror: The (Ab)use of Counterterrorism Law for Authoritarian Ends in Tunisia.” Democratization. Accepted. Forthcoming in Print.

Schumacher, Michael J., and Addison K. Emig (undergraduate student). 2024. “Deadly Consequences: Lessons from the Evolution of Terrorist Attacks Against United States Diplomats.” Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. Accepted. Forthcoming in Print.

Emig, Addison K. (undergraduate student), and Michael J. Schumacher. 2024. “The Rhetoric of Radicalism: The Anti-Colonial Inspiration behind Osama bin Laden’s Ideology.” Terrorism and Political Violence. Accepted. Forthcoming in Print.

Schumacher, Michael J. 2023. “From Partition to Peace? A Retrospective on Religion and Reconciliation in Palestine/Israel.” Peace Review 35(1) (April): 62-71.

Schumacher, Michael J. 2023. “A Holy Peace: Sacred Values, Collective Identity, and the Future of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.” Peace & Change 48 (1) (January): 21-38.

Schumacher, Michael J. 2021. “Critical Junctures in Terrorism Studies: The Arab Spring and the New Twenty-First Century Security Environment.” Critical Studies on Terrorism 14 (4) (December): 470-473.

Schumacher, Michael J., and Peter J. Schraeder. 2021. “Does Domestic Political Instability Foster Terrorism? Global Evidence from the Arab Spring Era (2011-14).” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 44 (3) (February): 198-222.

Schraeder, Peter J., and Michael J. Schumacher. 2020. “Collective Action, Foreign Fighting, and the Global Struggle for the Islamic State.” Democracy and Security 16 (3) (August): 234-259.

Schumacher, Michael J., and Peter J. Schraeder. 2020. “A ‘Tale of Two Jihadis?’ Improperly Conflating Terrorists and Foreign Fighters in the Arab Spring.” Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression 12 (2) (April): 118-139.

Schumacher, Michael J., and Peter J. Schraeder. 2019. “The Evolving Impact of Violent Non-state Actors on North African Foreign Polices during the Arab Spring: Insurgent Groups, Terrorists, and Foreign Fighters.” Journal of North African Studies 24 (4) (July): 682-703.