Other News

We are pleased to announce the absolutely fantastic news that Dr Chris Rossdale has won the 2013 British International Studies Association (BISA) Michael Nicholson Prize for best thesis in International Relations (IR).

The BISA prize is the keynote recognition of quality and originality in UK IR, and Chris is the first scholar from PAIS to win. BISA roundly commended the thesis:

“In Anarchism, Anti-Militarism, and the Politics of Security, Chris Rossdale sets out to challenge Critical Security Studies for being a part of the militarist agenda that it seeks to confront. Rossdale posits anarchistic thought and practice in order to substantiate a discernible emancipatory logic, to confront the broader problem of security and articulate creative forms of resistance. While heavily theoretical, the thesis engages with real-world anarchist interventions, relying on ethnographic fieldwork to inform the anti-militarist argument, anti-war movement and the larger security problématique. Superbly well written, exceptionally well researched, and delightfully mischievous, this thesis provides an excellent contribution to International Relations.”

Chris is currently a Teaching Fellow at City University and is now working on a book manuscript, as well as finalising an Edited Special Issue of Globalizations on ‘Resistance and Global Politics’.

On 4-6 June, the Department of Politics and International Studies (PaIS) hosted the 12^th annual Aberystwyth-Lancaster Graduate Colloquium (ALGC). Founded in 2002, ALGC has become the UK’s leading forum for young scholars working with critical approaches to international studies. The colloquium consisted of three intensive days of presentations, lectures, workshops and social events (see the full programme).

The event attracted presenters based in the UK, the US, France, Germany and the Netherlands. In a total of 9 panels, 27 young scholars presented their research on a broad range of topics from international political theory, security studies, international political economy, but also critical legal studies and cultural studies. The highlight of the programme consisted of two keynote addresses given by Dr Louiza Odysseos (University of Sussex) on “Human Rights and Counter-Conduct: Complexities and Possibilities for Resistance?” and by Prof Jef Huysmans (Open University) on “Security Unbound”.

Besides traditional formats, the colloquium offered a series of workshops on critical methodologies, which brought together ALGC participants and researchers gathered in the Warwick Social Sciences Doctoral Training Centre. These small-group activities explored the issues of the relation between critique and method, the use of narrative writing as a creative political practice, or the possibilities offered by corpus-assisted discourse studies. The workshops were convened by leading scholars in the field, Prof Gurminder Bhambra (Warwick), Prof Jenny Edkins (Aberystwyth), Prof Jef Huysmans (Open University) and Dr Malcolm Macdonald & Dr Sue Wharton (Warwick).

The colloquium was co-sponsored by the Department of Politics and International Studies and the Social Sciences Doctoral Training Centre and organised by PaIS PhD students Jakub Eberle and Rogan Collins. The organisers would like to express their gratitude to the sponsors, the conference team and the 14 members of staff who volunteered as chairpersons or speakers.

As part of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, Chatham House hosted a roundtable discussion analysing the experiences of women facing violence in the Middle East and North Africa and exploring the effectiveness of individual, community, and government level responses. Dr Nicola Pratt, one of the panellists, spoke about the challenges and opportunities surrounding these issues, with particular reference to the gendered implications of recent political developments in the region. The event, held at the ExCel Centre, was open to all those at the Summit, including Ministers, international media, experts, and the general public.

Foreign Secretary William Hague and Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, co-chaired the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict on 10-13 June 2014. It was the largest global meeting on this issue ever convened, with a view to creating irreversible momentum against sexual violence in conflict and practical action that impacts those on the ground.

Sponsored by the British Academy, The 'Getting Published' Masterclass is an event is aimed at providing useful, practical, information to PhD students and early career researchers on how to get their work published.

The event will feature presentations from leading publishers, eminent authors, literary agents and marketing specialists. At the close of the day there will a drinks reception where delegates will get the opportunity to ask specific questions with all of the speakers.

Professor Sir Ian Kershaw, Fellow of the British Academy, and the world's foremost authority on Hitler and Nazi Germany, will be the keynote speaker.

A three course lunch will be provided.

Registration is FREE. To register please email: R.Golding@warwick.ac.uk

Space is limited to 75 delegates, and will be filled on a first come, first serve basis.

Please see this webpage for more information

The University of Warwick’s contribution to Universities Week at the National History Museum is a research project from PAIS' Professor Richard Aldrich and Dr Chris Moran. The discussion is about the Future of Intelligence and Intelligence Agencies.

This is an opportunity to explore a hot topic in the news and understand the implications for our everyday lives. The project includes interaction with artifacts from the real and fictional world of intelligence, borrowed from the International Spy Museum in DC, as well as video and audio recordings with real spies, including Tony Mendez of ‘Argo’ fame. And an opportunity to explore important societal questions with two leading and well-published experts on British and American intelligence.

It will be one of 3 projects featured at the Natural History Museum (Darwin Centre) on the evening of Wednesday 11 June (6-10pm), during a Researchers’ Café – a drop-in café environment where visitors will be encouraged to have a drink and join university researchers to discuss some of the burning social issues of our time.

This event is part of a week of activity from 9–13 June at the Natural History Museum, and throughout the country from 9–15 June. Find out more information about Universities Week 2014 online.