Welcome! I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology, housed in the School of Public Affairs at American University. I am also affiliated with the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) and the Center for Data Science at American as a graduate fellow. I study justice and quantitative methodology, with focuses on radicalization, extremist behavior, political violence, and Bayesian modeling.

My research focuses broadly on developing and applying quantitative and computational methods for studying individual and group radicalization, specifically violent behaviors among right-wing extremists in the United States. Methodologically, I am interested in improving the methods used for studying political violence, particularly in the areas of measurement and missing data. My planned dissertation project hopes to address several prominent pitfalls of studying violent behavior through the application of statistical and computational tools.

Bethany Leap


Welcome! I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology, housed in the School of Public Affairs at American University. I am also affiliated with the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) and the Center for Data Science at American as a graduate fellow. I study justice and quantitative methodology, with focuses on radicalization, extremist behavior, political violence, and Bayesian modeling.

My research focuses broadly on developing and applying quantitative and computational methods for studying individual and group radicalization, specifically violent behaviors among right-wing extremists in the United States. Methodologically, I am interested in improving the methods used for studying political violence, particularly in the areas of measurement and missing data. My planned dissertation project hopes to address several prominent pitfalls of studying violent behavior through the application of statistical and computational tools.