Flagler Guest Professor Prof. Dr. Jordan Bos

We welcome Prof. Dr. Jordan Bos to Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg as the Flagler Guest Professor for Winter Term 2023/2024. An expert on terrorism and its intersections with gender as well as criminology, Professor Bos will be offering a course on "The US-American Punishment & Corrections System" within American Studies (course no. 04093150, group 2) as well co-teaching with Prof. Dr. Michael Becker in the Political Science Department.

Professional Biography

Jordan Bos is an Assistant Professor of Criminology in the Behavioral Science department at Flagler College, in St. Augustine, Florida. Professor Bos earned a Master of Arts in Political Science with a concentration on International and Comparative Politics from Georgia State University and a Doctorate in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Southern Illinois University.

Her primary areas of research and specialization include terrorism, violent behavior, and punishment, rehabilitation, and desistance from criminal and violent behavior. Her dissertation, Gender and the Enactment of Suicide Bombings by Boko Haram (2019) and two solo-authored publications focus on the female suicide bombers of Boko Haram: "Instruments of violence: Female suicide bombers of Boko Haram" (International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 2019), and "Gender and the Strategic and Tactical Logic of Boko Haram’s Suicide Bombers" (Women & Criminal Justice, 2023). She has also co-authored published research from a counterterror medical perspective "Suicide Bombing Terrorism" with the journal Prehospital and Disaster Medicine (2021) and has written expert opinion pieces for the Center for Progressive Security (2019) and The Conversation Africa (2019). Her current research is a qualitative project utilizing narrative life history interviews with an international sample of direct victims of terrorism.

Additionally, Professor Bos has extensive experience working with special populations in her community, such as homeless, youth, substance users, and criminally involved, including as a youth counselor for disadvantaged children and as a volunteer yoga instructor in a substance abuse clinic. She believes in hands-on learning experiences and enjoys taking students to local jails and prisons and teaches using academic and applied knowledge. 

You can read more about Professor Bos findings on the deployment of female suicide bombers by the terrorist group Boko Haram with further insights on  gender and terrorism connections here.