This project addresses the relationship between vulnerability and climate change induced human population displacement. Anthropogenic climate change is increasingly altering the way people live. A significant consequence of the effects of climate change is human displacement due to climate effects such as hurricanes, sea level rise, and drought. People displaced by the effects of climate change suffer from a legal protection gap. Increasing global attention is being addressed at closing this gap. My research explores the relationship between vulnerability and climate change induced displacement by analyzing case studies of hurricane induced displacement in the U.S. Gulf Coast, cyclone induced displacement in Bangladesh, and drought induced displacement in Somalia. Analysis of these case studies demonstrates that there is a relationship between socioeconomically vulnerable populations and displaced populations. Both in developed and developing countries, environmental displacement affects vulnerable populations disproportionately. Policy aimed at closing the legal protection gap for environmentally displaced persons should address the socioeconomic inequalities that make marginalized groups more vulnerable to climate change.

I focus on the ongoing effects produced by the Dayton Peace Agreement in Bosnia-Herzegovina. I explore areas this agreement failed to address and how these failures have resulted in new discriminatory practices and prolonged the process of reconciliation. Through a provision in the Dayton Peace Agreement, the Bosnian government justifies the establishment of segregated schools, separating two of the most antagonist populations, Bosniak (Muslim) and Serb (Orthodox Christian) students. I analyze the conditions for ethnic discrimination produced by conflicting narratives in ninth grade history textbooks. Furthermore, with questionnaires that I sent out to individuals who have attended homogeneous schools, I examine whether history textbooks serve as a legitimate representation of collective memory. I elucidate how variation in the historical narrative may disparately affect Bosniaks and Serbs and the possibility of reconciliation through the assignment and internalization of “us” and “the other”. Through an analysis of ninth grade history textbooks, I argue that the lack of a consistent narrative alongside competing historical accounts hinder Bosnia- Herzegovina’s internal peace and reconciliation process.