Dr. Cigdem Sirin (pronounced Cheedém Shirin) is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). She received her doctoral degree from Texas A&M University in 2009 and her BA degree from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey in 2003.

Dr. Sirin's main areas of interest are international relations and political psychology. Her research centers centers on the micro-foundations of preference formation and choices in international and intra-national conflict behavior. She incorporates elements of political psychology (e.g., the cognitive and affective underpinnings of decision making) to explore how domestic parameters (at the individual and aggregate levels) influence conflict processes and outcomes. In conducting her research, she embraces multiple methodologies, including large-N quantitative analyses, experimentation, field research, and case studies. Her publications include peer-reviewed articles in The Journal of Politics, Political Psychology, International Studies Quarterly, International Political Science Review, and numerous other venues. Her book, co-authored with Nicholas Valentino and José Villalobos, entitled Seeing Us in Them: Social Divisions and the Politics of Group Empathy (Cambridge University Press 2021) received the 2022 APSA Best Book Award, the 2022 APSA Best Book in Experimental Research, the 2022 Robert E. Lane Award for Best Book in Political Psychology, and the 2022 ISPP David O. Sears Best Book on Mass Politics Award.

Dr. Sirin is a recipient of the University of Texas System Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award. She also holds the title of UTEP Distinguished Teaching Professor.

Dr. Sirin served UTEP as the Director of the Center for Faculty Leadership and Development (CFLD) from 2020 to 2022 and coordinated UTEP’s Support for Online Learning (Sol) initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also served as the Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Political Science and Public Administration from 2018 to 2021.