School of Social and Political Science

Description

Many questions around real-world foreign policy making have forcefully entered our daily lives over the past few months: Should European countries get militarily involved in the fight over Ukraine? Should NATO welcome new members? How can we beat the virus while keeping value chains intact? The list goes on.

Academics dedicated to Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) have been researching related questions from different angles. They analyse individuals from a psychological perspective, employ historical analysis to find long-term patterns, or engage in ethnographic studies to understand how cultures influence public opinion.

Despite the benefits of drawing from different disciplines, academics stick to their research pigeonholes. Interdisciplinary collaboration is still facing challenges. As students we need to ask ourselves what our area of interest is. How do I identify as an academic? What do I need to be aware of when choosing a dissertation topic? Later on, we wonder, does interdisciplinarity help or curb success in attracting funding? How does it affect decisions on our careers?

This conference is dedicated to discussing those questions and more, showing best practices in research, and highlighting new avenues for collaboration in FPA and beyond.

You are cordially invited to join us on Friday, 1 July 2022, at our annual Foreign Policy Conference with researchers from across the UK and Europe, here in Edinburgh! This is an openly accessible event. All students, university staff, and the public are most welcome to attend in person. The venue is suitable for social distancing.

Conference Agenda

10:00 - 11:45 Research showcase with Q&A

12:00 - 13:00 Roundtable discussion

14:00 - 16:00 Panels on Asia-Pacific and Latin America

16:15 - 18:15 Panels on the Middle East & North Africa and Eastern Europe & Central Asia

Details and confirmed speakers:

The showcase will consist of a conference panel where invited guests will present their latest research followed by a Q&A session with the audience. The objective of this session is to show the often neglected link between foreign policy analysis and other disciplines.

• Dr Benjamin Martill, University of Edinburgh
• Dr Julia Calvert, University of Edinburgh
• Dr Chris Ogden, University of St Andrews

The roundtable will consist of a discussion between experts from different fields on the challenges and benefits of interdisciplinary approaches to foreign policy research.

• Professor Juliet Kaarbo, University of Edinburgh
• Dr Chris Ogden, University of St Andrews
• Dr May Darwich, University of Birmingham
• Dr Isabel Fletcher, University of Edinburgh
• Dr Hsinyen Lai, University of St Andrews
• Dr Oliver Turner, University of Edinburgh
• Chaired by Dr Ryan Beasley, University of St Andrews

The afternoon panels will consist of presentations dedicated to four different regions of the world (East Asia, Middle East, Latin America, Eastern Europe & Central Asia) to highlight the connections between foreign policy analysis and area studies.

• David Guo Xiong Han, LSE
• Ruolan Gan, University of Edinburgh
• Betul Dogan-Akkas, Durham University
• Dr Kevin Zapata Celestino, University of Vienna
• Christobal Bywaters, University of Warwick
• Abdullah Kesvelioglu, University of Edinburgh
• Siheon Choi, University of St Andrews

Contact

If you have any questions or inquiries please get in touch with one of our conveners:

• Kim Vender
• Alexander Schotthöfer
• Yusuf Topaloglu 

Organised by: Foreign Policy Research Group, The University of Edinburgh