Assistant Professor
University Hall (UH) 3133
(205) 975-3199
Research and Teaching Interests: Anthropology of Peace and Human Rights; Experimental Philosophy; Political and Legal Anthropology; Propaganda, Misinformation, and Hate Speech; Religion and Cooperation; Transitional Justice; Violence
Office Hours: By appointment
Education:
- BA, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Anthropology, Art History, Philosophy
- MA, Colorado State University, Philosophy
- MA, University of Connecticut, Anthropology (Graduate Certificates in Cognitive Science & Human Rights)
- PhD, University of Connecticut, Anthropology
I am a cultural and cognitive anthropologist whose research examines how communities justify, prevent, and recover from violence. Specifically, my work integrates anthropology, cognitive science, philosophy, and human rights to understand how culture in the form of shared knowledge influences and is influenced by processes of cooperation and conflict within and between groups.
My research began with long-term fieldwork in the Balkans, where I investigated the role of propaganda and various discourses and rituals during the Yugoslav Wars, and how survivors and former combatants later pursued reconciliation. Ethnographic fieldwork continues to inform my broader goal of understanding how people construct social realities in ways that interact dynamically with cognitive processes, systems of communication, and political structures.
Today my work has expanded into three areas:
- Propaganda: With colleagues in law and human rights, I study how speech, misinformation, and online hate campaigns influence local cultures of human rights, collective memory, and democratic resilience.
- Peacebuilding: Through ethnography and collaborative field research, I examine how individuals and communities (re)build cooperative relationships after injustices or armed conflicts.
- Religion and cooperation: With colleagues in the cognitive and evolutionary sciences of religion (CESR), I explore how religious and quasi-religious systems promote trust and prosocial behavior, and at times legitimize exclusion and violence.
To study these issues, I combine ethnographic fieldwork, lab and field experiments, and cognitive modeling. I have conducted long-term research in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia, with recent preliminary work in Northern Ireland. I have also collaborated on global research, such as the Geography of Philosophy Project, that involves the comparative study of numerous cultures worldwide.
Beyond academia, I have collaborated with veterans of the Vietnam, Bosnian, and Kosovo wars in reconciliation initiatives, served as the United States Ambassador for the Human Rights Measurement Initiative, and advised the Nuremberg Principles Academy on speech crimes and transitional justice.
Through these projects, my central goal is to contribute to a comparative science of peace: one that explains why peace emerges in some contexts, falters in others, and changes over time.
Graduate Applicants: If you share any of these interests and are considering graduate school, please contact me (
Scholars @ UAB Profile Opens an external link. Visit Dr. Kiper's website Opens an external link. Google Scholar Opens an external link.
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Recent Courses
- ANTH 101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
- ANTH 120: Language and Culture
- ANTH 320/628: Comparative Religion
- ANTH 404/505: Peace and Human Rights
- ANTH 419/519: Religion, Reconciliation, and Forgiveness
- ANTH 424/524: Transitional Justice and Human Rights
- ANTH 431/531: Memory and Memorialization
- ANTH 443/543: Propaganda, Misinformation, and Hate Speech
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Select Publications
- Kiper, J. (2025). The anthropology of propaganda: Threats, priorities, and limits. General Anthropology, 32(1): 28-33.
- Kiper, J. (2024). Moral injury as a precondition for reconciliation: An Anthropology of veterans’ lives and peacemaking. Religions, 15(9): 1-16.
- Rudnev, M., Buckwalter, W., Barr, K., Bencharifa, A., Clancy, R., Crone, D, Deguchi, Y., Fabiano, E., Fordeman, D., Guennoun, B., Halamova, J., Hashimoto, T., Homan, J., Kanovský, M., Karasawa, H., Kiper, J., Lee, M., Liu, X., Mitova, V., Nair, R., Pantovic, L., Porter, B., Quintanilla, P., Reijer, J., Romero, P., Singh, P., Tber, S., Wilkenfeld, D., Yi, L, Stitch, S., Barrett, H.C., Machery, E., & Grossman, I. Dimensions of wisdom perceptions across five continents. (2024). Nature Communications, 15(6375): 1-13.
- Porter, B., Barr, K., Bencharifa, A., Buckwalter, W., Deguchi, Y., Fabiano, E., Hashimoto, T., Halamova, J., Homan, J., Karasawa, K., Kanovský, M., Kim, H., Kiper, J., Lee, M., Liu, X., Mitova, V., Nair, R., Pantovic, L., Quintanilla, P., Reijer, J., Romero, P., Singh, P, Tber, S., Wilkenfeld, D., Stich, S., Barrett, C., & Machery, E. (2024). A puzzle about knowledge ascriptions. Nous, 1-17.
- Kiper, J., & Sosis, R. (2024). The role of religion in the evolution of peace. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 47, e15. DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X23002480. PMID: 38224081.
- Kiper, J., Lillie, C., Wilson, R., Knapp, B., Gwen, Y., & Harris, L. (2023). Dangerous speech: A cross-cultural study of dehumanization and revenge. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 23, 170-200.
- Kiper, J. (2023). Religious hate propaganda: Dangerous accusations and the meaning of religious persecution in light of the cognitive science of religion. Religions, 14(2), 1-19.
- Kiper, J. (2022). Belief in human rights: An opportunity for cross-cultural cognitive science (pp. 515-535). In J. Musolino (Ed.), The Cognitive Science of Belief. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
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Academic Distinctions & Professional Societies
- American Anthropological Association
- American Psychology Law Society
- Association for Political and Legal Anthropology
- Cognitive Science Society
- International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion
- Law and Society Association
- Society for the Anthropology of Religion
- Anthropology of Consciousness
- Interest Group on NGOs and Nonprofits (IGNN)