Dr. KRISTINA BENSON 

Curriculum Vitae

doctorkristinab@gmail.com

EDUCATION

University of California, Los Angeles DPhil

University of California, Irvine, Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Analysis and Design, Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, National Hispanic Honor Society

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS AND SELECTED EXAMPLES OF TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Independent - 2021 - present

Relayer Group Consultant- 2021-present

AR Academics - AP instruction, general college prep, college essay prep 2015-2021

Visiting Lecturer, Pitzer College, International and Intercultural Studies 2013-2014

Teaching Associate, UCLA Near Eastern Languages and Culture Department 2013-2014

Teaching Associate, UCLA Communications Department 2009-2014

Teaching Assistant, UCLA International Studies Department 2007-2008

Graduate Student Council

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Graduate Student Research Assistant to UCLA Center for Oral History 

Graduate Student Research Assistant to Professor Abou el Fadl 

Graduate Student Research Assistant for the Heritage Speakers Project 

Graduate Student Research at UCLA Department of Oral History

Graduate Student Research Assistant to Professor Andrea Goldman

SELECT EXAMPLES OF GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Dissertation Year Fellowship, awarded through the Graduate Division of the University of California 2014

Will Rogers Fellowship, awarded through the University of California, Los Angeles Office for Students with Disabilities 2014

Excellence Stimulus Grant, awarded through the Graduate Division of the University of California, Los Angeles 2013

Paula Stone Grant for the Study of Women and Law, awarded through the Center for the Study of Women at UCLA 2013

Summer Mentorship Fellowship, awarded through the Graduate Division of the 2010 University of California, Los Angeles

Tinker Fellowship, awarded through the Tinker Foundation 2009 Palevski Fellow, awarded through the Joan Pavelsky Center for the Future of Los Angeles 2008

Alumni Fellow, awarded through the University of California, Los Angeles Alumni Association 2008

PUBLICATIONS

“To Kill A Cleric: The Chaplaincy Exception, Laws of War, and the War on Terror,” Buffalo Journal of Human Rights Law Review Vol. 20

Freedom to Believe: Hijab and Title VII Protections in the American Workplace,” UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law Vol. 13, No. 1

“A Tale of Two Fatawa: American Muslim Women, Access, and Agency in Cyberspace,” in Feminism and Religion in the 21st Century: Utilizing Technology to Expand Borders. eds. Gina Messina-Dysert and Rosemary Radford Reuther (New York, Routledge, 2014)

“Kill ‘em All and Sort ‘em Out Later:” Drone Strike Protocol and Direct Participation Under the Laws of War, Pacific McGeorge Journal of International Law, Vol. 27 No. 1pp 17 - 48

“Ḥadīth: Women and Gender in,” Oxford Encyclopedia of Women and Islam, edited by 2014 John Esposito (Oxford: Oxford Publications, 2014).

Moroccan Personal Status Law: Women, Family, and the State in Post-Colonial Morocco,” UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law Vol. 12, No.2 pp 1 - 12

"Transnational Influences in Afghanistan's 1964 Constitution.” Transnationalism: A Reader. Ed. Brian Behnken and Simon Wendt. (New York: Lexington, 2013) pp 241 -260

“The Palestinian Liberation Organization.” Encyclopedia of Religion and Politics in America, edited by Phillip di Mare. (New York: Praeger Publications, 2013).

“Taliban.” Encyclopedia of Islam, edited by Cenap Cakmak. (New York: Praeger Publications, 2013)

"Islam." Encyclopedia of Religion and Politics in America, edited by Phillip Di Mare. 2013 (New York: Praeger Publications, 2013)

“Review: The Fragility of Manhood: Hawthorne, Freud, and the Politics of Gender by 2013 David Greven,” Journal of American Studies of Turkey, Vol. 1, No. 23 (2013)

“Shar’ia Law and the Accommodation of Difference: Explaining the Emergence and 2012 Continued Importance of Britain’s Shar’ia Councils,” UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law Vol. 11, No. 2 pp 21-36 

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Phi Beta Kappa Society 

MESA (2010-2015)

American Anthropological Society (2010-2015)

SERVICE TO PROFESSION 

Chief Articles Editor, Journal of Near Eastern and Islamic Law 2011-2013

UCLA graduate student council 2010

INVITED TALKS

“Islam and Public Health,” University of California, Irvine (January 30, 2013)

“Drone Strikes and the War on Terror,” Pitzer College (May 1, 2014)

“A Discussion of the Status Muslim Women in the Middle East,” presented by Amnesty International and the Olive Tree Initiative (March 8, 2013) 

SELECTED RELEVANT NON-ACADEMIC WORK

Publisher, L.A. RECORD 2010-2019 

Staff writer, Page Six Team LA Weekly 2010-2011

Freelance writer, OC Weekly, LA Weekly, Vice magazine 

HOBBIES, INTERESTS, AND OTHER AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE

Sewing and garment construction

Equestrianism

Music and music theory

Spanish

Film and film history