Sociology professor awarded prestigious grant to conduct research in Norway

From New Mexico to Norway! Sharon Erickson Nepstad, a distinguished professor in the Department of Sociology & Criminology at The University of New Mexico, is heading overseas next spring for research after being awarded a prestigious grant at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway.

While she originally applied for a Fulbright Scholar Fellowship Program in September 2024 at Norway's Nobel Institute for Advanced International Studies and was later approved by several expert panels and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, the U.S. State Department terminated the fellowship for allegedly violating one of President Donald Trump's executive orders. However, the Norwegian office and the European Fulbright Commissions offered her and other recipients a 'Plan B' scholarship, a U.S.-Norwegian Fulbright Foundation grant, which will allow Nepstad to do research at the Nobel Institute in the spring of 2026.

"While I was deeply disappointed that my fellowship had been terminated, I am thrilled to be able to do my research, nonetheless. I'm elated that Fulbright Norway is choosing to resist this violation of academic freedom and support us so we can continue our work," Nepstad said.

Nepstad's research area is in peace studies and social movements. While in Norway, she will work on her new project titled: The Price of Peace: Relinquishing the Social Benefits of Enemies, and in the archives at the Nobel Institute, the organization that grants the Nobel Peace Prize. "I am working on a book that explores the allure of enemy dynamics and the social benefits that groups derive from being in conflict. To successfully move past a conflict and establish peace, groups have to relinquish these enemy dynamics," she said.

Nepstad will be conducting case studies to explore:

• How do groups resist the pull to perpetuate enemy dynamics during a conflict?
• How do groups dismantle enemy dynamics in the aftermath of a conflict to make sustainable peace possible?
• What challenges or obstacles do they face in transforming enmity?
• How do groups substitute the social benefits that enemies previously provided?

The 100,000 Norwegian Kroner ($10,000) grant will provide funding to cover Nepstad's airfare and living expenses while staying in Oslo.

"I chose my academic path when I was living in West Germany and working for an international peace organization. During that time, the Berlin Wall fell to everyone's astonishment. I decided that I wanted to attend graduate school to study how people living in authoritarian conditions could nonviolently transform their political systems. That is what I've been doing since I finished my Ph.D. in 1996," said Nepstad. "To study at the Nobel Institute is an honor and the culmination of my career goal of contributing to a deeper understanding of nonviolent social movements. In addition, as the granddaughter of a Norwegian immigrant, I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn more about my own cultural heritage."

Nepstad, who also serves as the associate dean for Reserach and Graduate Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences, has published seven books and dozens of articles. She's been with UNM since 2009 after holding faculty positions at several other universities.

"As interim associate dean for research and graduate studies, Sharon has spent many early mornings and countless hours on the OVPR's Rapid Response Team and helping colleagues navigate the difficult process of losing federal funding, only to experience the same challenge herself," said College of Arts & Sciences Dean Jennifer Malat. "I am happy that the Norwegian Fulbright Commission will make it possible for her work to continue, and I wish that more researchers whose funding was cut would find that a new funder had stepped in. The College is proud of Sharon's contributions to understanding how nonviolent movements function and succeed."