Dr Alexandra Lewis is the Programme Leader for the MA in Education and International Development. She specialises on the connections between education, conflict, violence, identity and authoritarianism. She has carried out field work in a variety of complex contexts worldwide, including; Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Russia, Somalia/Somaliland and Yemen. 

Early on in her career, Dr Lewis worked mainly on Middle East and North African security, looking particularly at the connections between Somali and Yemeni conflict and peace. However, she has now turned her attention back to Russia, owing to her heritage and the changing nature of the educational challenges that have emerged there in recent years. 

Dr Lewis was awarded her PhD at the University of York from the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) in 2012, where she worked under the supervision of Professor Sultan Barakat. She has since carried out commissioned research for a range of media, academic, non-governmental and governmental organisations. Among the United Nations and associated agencies, she has worked with: the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, the International Organisation for Migration, the United Nations Development Project, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, and others. She has also contributed research to the Department for International Development and the World Bank.