PSAI

Political Studies Association of Ireland

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International Relations and Area Studies Specialist Group

Convenors

Dr. Markus Pauli, Dublin City University. Email: markus.pauli@dcu.ie

Dr. Yoo Sun Jung, University College Dublin. Email: yoosun.jung@ucd.ie

Dr. Ruth Casey, TU Dublin. Email: ruth.casey@TUDublin.ie

Aims

The International Relations and Area Studies Specialist Group of the PSAI has a number of objectives.

  1. The first is to set up productive networks among scholars (from postgraduate students to established academics) in the field of International Relations and Area Studies across the island of Ireland. The International Relations and Area Studies SG should bring together those scholars working mainly at the theoretical level of international relations theory in all of its aspects (international political economy, critical theory, security studies and traditional IR theories) with those engaged in studying areas of the globe outside Europe. The SG is therefore intended to provide links for scholars in a very wide range of fields enabling them to better communicate with each other.
  2. The second aim is to construct links between the Irish academic community and the wider IR and Area Studies communities across the globe. This is particularly relevant at a time when international academic co-operation is growing.
  3. Finally, the SG intends to build links with relevant policy-makers in order to improve mutual understanding of the fundamental international issues facing Ireland.

Activities

The International Relations and Area Studies Group will be active in a number of realms.

  1. First of all it would bring together scholars prepared to propose specific panels at the annual PSAI conference, increasing the number of sessions dedicated to the discussion of international affairs in all its aspects. The SG will be also active in promoting panels for larger international conferences such as BISA, ECPR, PSA and a host of conferences dedicated to specific areas of the world such as the Middle East Studies Association annual conference.
  2. Secondly, the standing group will be active in promoting workshops and meetings with relevant policy-makers. Thirdly, the SG will organise an annual meeting for the postgraduate students involved in the study of international relations and international politics in order for them to develop their own scholarship and to learn about the academic profession in a more formal setting.
  3. Finally, the Specialist Group will facilitate the dissemination of work by its members and will activate itself to promote a range of collaborative publications, from edited volumes to special issues of refereed journals. To this end, it would be opportune to set up a website where working papers could be uploaded for dissemination. The website could also contain links to IR centres in Ireland and abroad and be a generally useful tool to encourage the sharing of relevant information.

Membership

The International Relations and Area Studies Specialist Group welcomes members from across disciplinary areas and specialist areas. To become a member of the Group you must be a member of the PSAI, which you can join here.

You do not have to belong to an Irish university to be a PSAI member or to join the Group.