Dr Alexandra Homolar - Academic Lead

Alexandra is Reader of International Security in the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS). Alex is the co-lead of the interdisciplinary Research in Global Governance Network (RiGG NetLink opens in a new window) as well as the organizer of the Annual Masterclass in CSS/IR. From 2013-2017, she was the Principal Investigator of the ESRC Future Research Leaders project (ES/K008684/1), and she previously held research positions at Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, and the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. She has published in journals such as the European Journal of International Relations, Journal of Strategic Studies, Review of International Political Economy, and Review of International Studies. Her monograph The Uncertainty DoctrineLink opens in a new window is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press.

Recent SISAW publication: Homolar, A. 2022. 'A Call to Arms: Hero-Villain Narratives in US Security Discourse', Security Dialogue 53(4): 324-341. [open access]

Dr Ronny Scholz - Researcher

Ronny is a Visiting Researcher in Centre for Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick and has published the edited collection Quantifying Approaches to Discourse for Social Scientists (London: Palgrave, 2019). Ronny lends his expertise in political discourse analysis and quantitative methods of contrastive corpus linguistics (lexicometry) to SISAW. He previously held the position of Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Communication and Mass Media at the British University in Egypt, Cairo, and he was also Researcher and Project Manager for the ERC DISCONEX research group at the University of Warwick [PI: Prof J. Angermuller; budget: €1.4m], a Research Fellow in the Department of German Studies and Linguistics at the University of Trier, Germany and a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.

SISAW Publication: Homolar A. and Scholz, R. 2019. 'The Power of Trump Speak: Populist Crisis Narratives and Ontological Security', Cambridge Review of International Affairs 32(3). [free download]

Dr Pablo A. Rodriguez-Merino - Researcher

Pablo is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Defence and International Affairs Department at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and previously held positions as Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck University of London, Associate Tutor at the University of Warwick, and Early Career Fellow in the Institute of Advance Studies at the University of Warwick. He lends his expertise in the terroristization and discursive representation of violence to SISAW. He has published in journal such as Critical Studies on Terrorism, Central Asian Survey, and the Journal of International Relations & Foreign Policy.

SISAW Publication: Homolar, A. and Rodriguez-Merino, P. (2019). 'Making Sense of Terrorism: A Narrative Approach to the Study of Violent Events' Critical Studies on Terrorism 12(4): 561-581. [free download]

PAST TEAM MEMBERS

Thomas Averre - Research Assistant

Thomas was a PAIS finalist. He spent much of his childhood living in the Middle East and became interested in politics and international relations whilst living there. Thomas has been involved in research throughout his degree, as a research assistant in his first year and undertaking a URSS project in year two. His interests are in international security, and encompass terrorism, security and foreign policy, and nuclear weapons and how security issues are framed and talked about.
 

Liam Simmonds - Research Assistant

Liam was a final year undergraduate in the Department of Politics and International Studies. Working from shifting critical perspectives, his current academic interests explore concepts such as biopolitics and governmentality, justice, agency, and non-places. In his undergraduate dissertation he is looking at how digital surveillance functions as a component of control for the neoliberal state and how forms of resistance manifest in opposition to this.
 

Heather Vernon - Project Administrator

Heather was the SISAW project administrator from 2013-15, in addition to what is now her primary role as Centre and Academic Services Manager in the Centre for Applied Linguistics (CAL). During the first phase of SISAW, her responsibilities included the management of expenses, participating in outreach and engagement activities, and the dissemination of information to academic and non-academic audiences.