We are delighted to announce that the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) at the University of Warwick has moved up to 3^rd place out of 80 UK Politics Departments in The Times/The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022. This prestigious league table also continues to place us 1st in the Russell Group for both ‘teaching quality’ and ‘student experience’. This departmental success was announced just days after the news that the University of Warwick has been recognised as the best university in the UK for teaching quality and as runner up University of the Year by The Good University Guide, the internationally respected British university rankings guide published by The Sunday Times.

Professor Matthew Clayton, Head of PAIS, commented: “It is always pleasing when the collaborative efforts of staff and students to sustain an inclusive and productive learning environment are recognised in national league tables, but particularly gratifying this year given the challenges posed by the pandemic. PAIS is a special department in which every member of the community is supported to find their own voice by engaging with the best scholarship in our discipline. I congratulate colleagues and students alike for their work and look forward to our building on this consistent success in the future.”

Dr Justin Greaves, Director of Student Experience and Progression, commented: “This is brilliant news for the PAIS Department and all our students, alumni, and staff. It follows our great success in the 2021 National Student Survey (NSS) where we were 1^st out of all Politics departments in the Russell Group in all categories, including 1st for overall student satisfaction. These consistent results are a testament to the hard work and brilliance of everyone who works and studies in PAIS, along with our ethos as viewing students as partners, producers, and collaborators, and valuing and acting on student feedback. We will continue to place a strong emphasis on academic support, including on study choices, and employability and skills. I look forward to working with our incoming and returning students to ensure that the PAIS Department continues to go from strength to strength. Congratulations everyone!”

Thank you to all our students and staff for PAIS' continued success.

The Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) at the University of Warwick is delighted to announce that Professor Shirin Rai, Professor of International Political Economy, has been elected to a Fellowship of the British Academy.

This prestigious award recognises outstanding research across the Humanities and Social Sciences. In 2021, the British Academy elected 52 UK Fellows; the University of Warwick's press release can be accessed here.

On receiving her award, Professor Rai said: “I am delighted to have been elected as a Fellow of the British Academy and look forward to working with colleagues in the Academy - particularly in the Politics and International Relations Section - through my research and impact work to address issues of international development, social (in)equalities and innovative methodologies. I thank colleagues in PAIS and the wider gender and politics community for supporting my work”.

Professor Nick Vaughan-Williams, Head of PAIS, commented: “Professor Rai’s election to a Fellowship of the British Academy reflects her long-standing status as a world-leading researcher in gender, political economy, and development. Her Directorship of the Warwick Interdisciplinary Research Centre for International Development (WICID) – hosted in PAIS – is a beacon of excellence across research, education, and impact in the Social Sciences at-large. Colleagues and I are proud of Professor Rai’s scholarly achievements, but PAIS is also very fortunate to benefit from her academic leadership and warm collegiality. Her tireless efforts to support early career scholars and embed principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion have been transformational in the Department. Very many congratulations, Shirin”.

The PAIS Department is home to two Fellows of the British Academy: Professor Shirin Rai and Professor Stuart Elden. 

The Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) is thrilled to announce that, for the second year in a row, we are placed 1^st for “overall student satisfaction” among Russell Group Politics Departments in the 2021 National Student Survey (NSS). This is a position that we are proud to have held for 4 out of the past 6 years.

In the NSS 2021, PAIS came top in every category among Russell Group Politics Departments:

• 1^st for Teaching
• 1^st for Learning Opportunities
• 1^st for Assessment and Feedback
• 1^st for Organisation and Management
• 1^st for Learning Resources
• 1^st for Learning Community
• 1^st for Student Voice
• 1^st for Academic Support

The 2021 results show that we are 1^st in the Russell Group on 20 of the 27 NSS questions and in 2^nd place on a further 5 questions.

For six years in a row, PAIS has ranked either 1^st or 2^nd on overall student satisfaction amongst the Russell Group. The 2021 outcomes reflect our best ever performance across all categories in our peer group; they demonstrate our close and effective partnership with the student body and our sustained commitment to the student experience.

Across all programmes with which we are involved - both single and joint honours - we achieved 84% overall satisfaction. The Russell Group average for Politics was 72%.

These impressive outcomes are due to an outstanding team effort among our fantastic students, academics, and professional services colleagues, and demonstrate a partnership which we are extremely proud of. Thank you to everyone for all your hard work and support for our teaching and student experience during a very challenging year for all concerned. We are pleased that our approach to blended delivery during restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic was appreciated by our students and we will continue to learn from student feedback to further enhance the student experience in 2021/22.

We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with our amazing students and dedicated staff to sustain and build on these strong results, which reflect our deep commitment to research-led teaching excellence. At the start of the new academic year, we will feed back in greater detail to all students and we will discuss and take forward ideas for further enhancement of the PAIS student experience via our Student Staff Liaison Committees (SSLCs).

In particular, we will intensify our work on liberating and decolonising the curriculum, employability and building a sense of community and belonging. We will support and promote student wellbeing and work with partner Departments to ensure continued excellence across all programmes, in particular joint degrees.

*See the Office for Students website for more details and the full data. The results are based on the official Common Aggregation Hierarchy (CAH) subject breakdowns and the 20 Russell Group institutions which met the publications threshold for Politics.

Medact's upcoming report Racism, mental health and pre-crime policing: the ethics of Vulnerability Support Hubs is based on documents obtained through a series of long-running Freedom of Information requests. It exposes how a counterterrorism police-led project blurs the boundaries between security and care in disturbing and dangerous ways. We will hear from the three report co-authors and other experts in the field:

• Dr Hilary Aked – Medact’s Research and Policy Manager
• Dr Tarek Younis – Cultural and critical clinical psychologist and Lecturer in Psychology at Middlesex University
• Dr Charlotte Heath Kelly – Reader in Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick
• Vicki Nash ─ Head of Policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs at Mind

Please register for the event at Medact's website: https://www.medact.org/event/vsh-report-launch/

Join "Bridging the EU and Russia" Policy Conference of the EU Jean Monnet Network “Between the EU and Russia” on 4, 11, and 18 May, 2021 Online

This policy conference of the EU Jean Monnet Network "Between the EU and Russia" (BEAR) seeks to be a venue for knowledge exchange between academics and policy makers in EU institutions. The BEAR network connects 26 scholars from 11 universities from the EU, UK, US, Canada and Russia to explore the mobilization, influence, protection, and claim-making of regional minority groups on EU’s eastern borders, and to investigate how societal actors engage with these overlapping influences of the EU and Russia.

This policy conference brings together scholars from the network and EU officials from the European Commission and the European Parliament to discuss the following themes on 4, 11, and 18 May, 2021. Participation is free, registration is necessary.

On 4 May, 2021: introduction of the network, a panel on Eastern Partnership, policy commentary by Vassilis Maragos, Head of Unit, European Commission, DG NEAR, and academic keynote speech by Prof. Timothy Colton from Harvard University.

On 11 May, 2021: panels on Conflict Management in the European Neighbourhood; and EU, Russia and Regional Dynamics, with policy commentaries from Lawrence Meredith, Director, DG NEAR, Neighbourhood East, European Commission; and Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary-General for Policy Affairs, European Union External Action Service.

On 18 May, 2021: panels on Migration and Citizenship Politics; and EU, Russia and Minority Politics, and a keynote speech from a policy perspective by Mathieu Briens, Deputy Head of Cabinet of the High Representative of the European Commission. Policy commentaries: from Tom Snels, Deputy Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for Home Affairs, European Commission, and Marina Kaljurand, Member of the European Parliament, Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.

Open registrations through Eventbrite and more information about the events and the programme are available here: http://www.bearnetwork.ca/events/upcoming-events