(773) 442-4796
Cris E. Toffolo
Cris
E.
Toffolo
Ph.D.
Interim Director of International Programs
Office of International Programs
College of Arts and Sciences
(773) 442-5493
Expertise
• Modern and contemporary political theory, especially theories of justice and social movements • Human rights theory, practice and international law • Peace studies, conflict resolution and post-conflict peace building • Comparative politics and social change in the Global South, especially West and Southern Africa, Central American and South Asia.
Courses Taught
JUST 202 WIP: Justice and Inequality
JUST 301 Theories of Justice and Social Change
JUST 338 Introduction to Human Rights
Research Interests
• Human rights, humanitarian law and peace education • Theoretical models of global peace • Causes and responses to genocide in Africa
Education

• Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1995
• M.A., University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1988
• M.A., George Washington University, Washington, DC., 1986
• B.S., Alma College, Alma, Michigan, 1983, cum laude

Selected Publications

Books:
The Arab League. New York: Chelsea House, 2008.
Emancipating Cultural Pluralism, ed. Prescript by Crawford Young. SUNY Press, 2003.

Articles:
“The International Red Cross Educates the World about International Humanitarian Law,” Ch. 13 in Peace Education from the Grassroots, edited by Ian Harris. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Inc. Forthcoming in fall 2013.

“Unethical Alliance? The United States, Pakistan, and the ‘War on Terrorism,’” Ch. 13 in The Ethics and Efficacy of the Global War on Terrorism: Fighting Terror with Terror, edited by Charles Webel and John Arnaldi, New York: Palgrave-Macmillan. 2011.

“Moral Education and Peace Education” in Character and Moral Education: A Reader, with Ian Harris, edited by Joe Devitis and Tianlong Yu Peter Lang. 2011, 369-381.  

“Beyond Leviathan? The Historical Relationship Between Peace Plans, International Law and the Early Anglo-American Peace Movement,” Peace Movements Worldwide, Volume 3: Peace Efforts That Work and Why.  Edited by Marc Pilisuk and Michael N. Nagler. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2011, 46-60. 

“Education of the Heart: What Justice and Peace Studies can Learn from Moral Development Literature,” Ch. 6 in Building Cultures of Peace: Transdisciplinary Voices of Hope and Action. Edited by Elavie Ndura-Ouédraogo & Randall Amster. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010, 85-100.  

“Failed States,” The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace, Edited by Nigel Young, with a forward by The Dalai Lama. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

“Law, International: History and Definition,” The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace, Edited by Nigel Young, Forward by The Dalai Lama. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

“Nobel Peace Prize, Appeal of” The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace, Edited by Nigel Young, Forward by The Dalai Lama. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

"Pakistan," with Charles Amjad-Ali. World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties. 3rd and 4th editions, Oakland Park, Florida: Schlager Publishing Group, 2005 and 2006.

Background

I came to NEIU in 2008 to take up the position of Professor and Chair of Justice Studies. Prior to that, I was the Director of the Justice and Peace Studies program and an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. I love to travel and sometimes I take students to conferences here in the U.S. and to study in Guatemala, Bangladesh and South Africa. I had the opportunity to teach high school in Nigeria for a year when I was an undergraduate and so I know just how important study abroad can be. I have also done consulting and research in Guatemala, Ghana and Pakistan. While on sabbatical in South Africa in 2005-06 I worked as a researcher for a human rights NGO in Johannesburg. This is related to my work on human rights for Amnesty International which I have done since 1991, including providing court testimony in immigration cases. I currently serve on a subcommittee of AI (USA)’s board and as the advisor to NEIU’s AI Student Club. I also serve as co-chair of the board of the Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA), a group of peace studies scholars and activists in the U.S. and Canada. As the mother of a college sophomore I am currently getting to see college from several different perspectives, and I truly love working with NEIU students who are hungry to get an education.

LWH 4064
5500 North St. Louis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625-4699
United States

(773) 442-5493
Office Hours
Fall 2016: Tuesday 12-12:30 p.m. and 5-7 p.m., Wednesday 2-3 p.m., and by appointment.
Main Campus
Michael Nance
Michael
Nance
J-1 Coordinator, Coordinator of Partnerships and Student Exchanges
Office of International Programs
Education
  • M.A. University of California, Berkeley, 2020
  • M.A. University of Chicago, 2013
  • B.A. Tufts University, 2010
Background

A native Chicagoan, Michael has created a career from himself as a non-formal educator and tour guide in the tourism industry in the Middle East and Europe. He also has substantial experience in group facilitation for young adults addressing difficult topics such as conflict, generational trauma, and identity. Michael speaks fluent Hebrew and German, the latter of which he learned during international programs through the University of Vienna's Sommerhochschule and a semester at the University of Tuebingen in Germany.

Room LWH 0008B
Northeastern Illinois University
5500 North St. Louis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625-4699
United States

Office Hours
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday by appointment or walk-in.