Meet Dr. Anne de Graaf

Dr. Anne de Graaf is a senior lecturer and tutor at Amsterdam University College (AUC). She is an award-winning author and peace activist who teaches, researches and writes about how young people build peace in deeply divided societies. She has written over 80 books which have sold more than 5 million copies. Her most recent project, Peace by Peace, is an online, free-access, youth peacebuilding manual, researched by her students, amplifying the voices of youth peacebuilders from around the world. Anne is formerly the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer of the University of Amsterdam. She has taught a variety of courses and now teaches Human Rights and Human Security; and Peace Lab Kosovo; and Peace Lab Rwanda at AUC. Anne holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

Her research focuses on marginalized groups, as well as peace and conflict studies, and explores the role of voice—specifically young people’s—as a means of claiming agency in peace-building and conflict. Her teen and adult novels (fiction based on fact) explore themes such as former youth combatants and AIDS survival. She has travelled extensively to post-conflict areas throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Europe, interviewing for her books and articles. She has also lectured and guest taught at universities in the Netherlands, South Africa and the U.S., including West Point Military Academy and her alma mater, Stanford University.