The Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) is thrilled to announce that, for the third consecutive year, we are placed 1^st or 2^nd in ALL categories, among Russell Group Politics Departments, in the National Student Survey (NSS).

In the NSS 2023, PAIS came top in the following categories, among Russell Group Politics Departments:

• 1^st for Assessment and Feedback
• 1^st for Organisation and Management
• 1^st for Learning Resources
• 1^st for Student Voice

In addition, amongst Russell Group peers, we were:

• 1^st on communicating information about mental wellbeing support services
• 2^nd for Teaching
• 2^nd for Learning Opportunities
• 2^nd for Academic Support

For seven years in a row, PAIS has ranked 1^st for student voice. This is every year since questions on the student voice were first introduced to the NSS in 2017. These outcomes reflect an impressive 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.

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 few years for all concerned. We will continue to learn from student feedback to further enhance the student experience in 2023/24.

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 skills, and academic support. We will 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 22 Russell Group institutions which met the publications threshold for Politics.

We are delighted to announce that the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) at the University of Warwick has moved up to joint 2^nd place out of 79 UK Politics Departments in The Times/The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023. This prestigious league table continues to place us 1st in the Russell Group for both ‘teaching quality’ and ‘student experience’.

Professor Matthew Clayton, Head of PAIS, commented: “It is always really pleasing when the collaborative efforts of staff and students to sustain an inclusive and productive learning environment are recognised in national league tables. 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 2022 National Student Survey (NSS) where we were once again 1st 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 Latin America at Warwick Network (LAWN) is hosting Sergio Caballero, an Erasmus+ scholar from the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. Dr. Caballero is associate professor of international relations and the UNESCO Chair for Latin America. His research has focused on EU-Latin American relations, Brazilian foreign policy, and Latin American regionalism. During his visit, he will present one paper and host an informal discussion of Brazilian foreign policy today (details below). He is also keen on meeting colleagues and students, with shared interests.

For more information, please contact Tom Long (T.Long.1@warwick.ac.uk).

Spanish foreign policy towards Latin America: time for redefinition?
Presentation and discussion; paper available on request
Tue, 26 Sep 2023, 15:30-17:00, S1.50

Brazil--From Latin American regionalism to "Global South"?
An Informal discussion of Brazilian foreign policy in South America and the world
Wed, 27 Sep 2023, 10:30-12:00, E2.02

You are invited to submit your abstracts for our workshop titled, 'Vernacular Security Studies: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow?' which will be held at the University of Warwick on 27 November 2023. The deadline for submission is 2 October & please feel free to contact the team (see flier) for further details.

Call for Papers - Vernacular Security Workshop (pdf)

Date: Thursday 24th August
Time: 12:30 - 14:00
Venue: FAB2.48, Faculty of Arts Building

Professor Hatakeyama is in the UK to connect with UK-based academics and experts to gain insights about the UK's Indo-Pacific policy in the context of 'China's rise', i.e., its assertive irredentist claims in the Indo-Pacific region supported by increased military spending and activity. This is in relation to her current research project that examines the Indo-Pacific policies of the UK, Australia and Japan. Fortunately, she has agreed to give a talk for the EASG on her research in this area which will act as a launching-off point for a broader discussion about the UK's Indo-Pacific policy and the security situation in the region more generally. The paper she is presenting is entitled 'Japan's and Australia's approaches to China: The nature of threat perception and proximity'.

Kyoko Hatakeyama earned her PhD in Politics at Macquarie University in 2008. She has worked at several prestigious universities in Japan and has been a professor at the Department and Graduate School of International Studies and Regional Development at the University of Niigata Prefecture since 2020. She has been a Visiting Research Fellow at Leiden University and is a Japan Fellow at the Asia Society Australia. Her research covers Japan's security policy, peacekeeping, security in Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. Her previous book, Japan's Evolving Security Policy: Militarisation with a Pacifist Tradition, examined Japan's post-Cold War security policy shift.