Cian Bear
PhD Candidate
Associate Tutor
Email (Research):
Email (Teaching):
Advice and Feedback Hours (term-time only)
Thursdays 12:30-13:30 (room E2.03)
Fridays 15:30-16:30 (online)
Profile
I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Politics and International Studies (2023-2027) and a recipient of the PAIS studentship. I hold an MA in International Politics and a BA in Politics and International Relations (University of Sheffield). My project is supervised by Charlotte Heath-Kelly and Mouzayian Khalil (PAIS).
Research
I use discourse and archival analysis to analyse the colonial production and practices of political violence in contemporary conflicts. I'm interested in showing how violence results from the convergence of epistemic, material, and symbolic forces in global politics, and explaining how these are related to structures of capitalist colonialism. Specifically, I look at how the construction of the idea of the "terrorist" within the War on Terror discourse obscures, rather than clarifies, some of the forces which underpin the ongoing production of violence around the world today.
Teaching
I am or have been a Senior Graduate Teaching Assistant on the following modules:
- PO203: Politics of International Development (2025/26)
- PO131: World Politics (2024/25)
- PO133: Foundations of Political Economy (2024/25)
- PH379: The Philosophy of Terrorism and Counterterrorism (2024/25)
Conference Presentations
'Delineating Logics and Practices of Violence in the Islamic State Conflict'. Presented at the Political Studies Association, Birmingham. 14 March 2025.
'Narrating Political Violence in the Islamic State Conflict'. Presented at the British International Studies Association, Belfast. 18 June 2025.