Current MPhil/PhD students
John Abraham obtained an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, where his research focused on identity politics and communalism in India. His doctoral thesis, supervised by Dr. Yasmin Khan, looks at the political economy of nationalism under the NDA coalition government in India (1998-2004), examining how such influences as ideology, coalition building, external pressures and transnational networks influenced the formation of economic policy. John has taught courses in International Development and South Asian Studies at the University of Calgary and has served as a teaching assistant for modules in international political economy and quantitative methods at Royal Holloway.
He is a Researsh Associate with the Leverhulme Trust funded project 'Global Development: the role of Translocal Afro-Eurasian Elites', Project Administrator for the EU funded 'Community Owned Best practice for sustainable Resource Adaptive management in the Guiana Shield' project and the webmaster for the Royal Holloway Diplomatic Society.
Selected Publications
Abraham. J, 'Archeology and Politics: A Case Study of the Ayodhya Issue', Material Religion, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2005.
Abraham. J and Armstrong. W, 'Consumer Representatives: Linking them to Consumers', Consumers’ Association of Alberta Report 2003
Selected Presentations
'Strange Bedfellows: Ideologies of Development in India from Gandhian Socialism to Hindutva Nationalism', All Souls College, Oxford 2011
'The Political Economy of Hindutva Nationalism in India: 1998-2004', annual International Studies Association conference, Montreal 2011
Conference Co-convener: 'Nationalism Migration and the Global Economy in the Twenty First Century', Royal Holloway 2011
Conference Co-convener: 'Welcoming Strangers', Royal Holloway 2012
Email: John.Abraham.2009@live.rhul.ac.uk
LAWRENCE AMPOFO
Lawrence is a PhD candidate in the department of Politics and International Relations. He holds an MSc in International Security and Global Governance from Birkbeck College, University of London (2007). His thesis is concerned with the emergence of new Internet technologies and how these will impact upon French Terrorist organisations in particular.
Email: lampofo@gmail.com
Adrian Baboi-Stroe's thesis, titled 'Anti-corruption policies in post-communist Romania', is supervised by Professor Gavin Drewry.
Email: Adrian.BaboiStroe.2005@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/AdrianBaboiStroe
Billur is a PhD candidate in the department of Politics and International Relations, supervised by Professor Ben O'Loughlin. She holds an MSc in International Relations from Royal Holloway and a BA in Communication from Galatasaray University. Between the years 2010-2011, she worked as a producer in Turkish media. Billur's thesis is titled, 'Interactional Dynamics Among Political Institutions: How Actors Adapt to the Internet in Democratic and Non-Democratic Regimes'.
Email: billur.aslan.2009@rhul.ac.uk
Zara holds a BA in Philosophy from Heythrop College, University of London and an MA in Applied Moral and Political Philosophy ('Human Values and Contemporary Global Ethics') from King’s College, London. She joined the department in 2011 to pursue her PhD, facilitated by the RHUL and Bedford College Excellence Award. Her research primarily focuses on political theory, international relations theory and moral philosophy, especially with reference to poverty and environmental damage. Zara has extensive teaching experience at undergraduate and sixth-form level, including her most recent post as Head of Department of Philosophy and Critical Thinking at an Independent school in South London. She is currently a departmental teaching assistant on 'Classic and Contemporary Readings in Politics and IR'.
Email: zara.bain.2011@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/ZaraBain
CHRISTOPHER WAYNE FRAZIER-CRAWFORD BOERL
Christopher Wayne Frazier-Crawford Boerl is a third year Ph.D. candidate exploring the impact of internet technologies on emerging political trends among Christian Evangelicals in the United States. His primary research interests are media communication and politics, religion and politics, social capital, civic engagement and theology. At present, Christopher resides in Egham, England with his beautiful wife, the Lovely Lavina and their two dogs. When he is not knee deep in research, Christopher enjoys spending time outdoors and shooting clay pigeons.
Email: Christopher.Boerl.2007@rhul.ac.uk
YAJAI BUNNAG
Yajai Bunnag has a BA in Modern History and Politics from Royal Holloway, University of London, and an MPhil in International Relations from Cambridge University. Her thesis, 'Regionalism and Community Building in Southeast Asia', is supervised by Dr. Evelyn Goh. Given the proliferation of regional frameworks for cooperation within the region, this thesis evaluates how the density of regional frameworks, or the concentration of regionalism, affects community building efforts and seeks to determine whether it really is a case of the more the better, as governments apparently assume, or whether overlapping frameworks are actually counterproductive and whether regions can reach a saturation level with regionalism.
Email: yajai.bunnag.2007@rhul.ac.uk
Simon Collister is a PhD candidate researching the mediation of power within networked media environments. His thesis is being supervised by Professor Andrew Chadwick and explores the potential for Assemblage Theory and framing theory to enable a revised account of power and mediation within networked environments, focusing in particular on political communications. Simon has provided teaching assistance on the MA module, New Political Communication at Royal Holloway and acted as an associate lecturer at University of the Arts London. He is currently Consultancy Director at a leading global social media agency.
Email: simon.collister.2010@rhul.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/simoncollister
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/simoncollister
NATHAN COOMBS
Nathan Coombs is a doctoral candidate in Politics and Philosophy. Nathan’s work focuses on the following themes: the role of formal models in political thought, contemporary political theology, and the relationship between metaphysics and ideology. Nathan is the author of ‘The Political Theology of Red Toryism’, published in the Journal of Political Ideologies, 16(1), February 2011, as well as a number of other papers. He has published in The Guardian, Radical Philosophy, and The Monthly Review, amongst others. He is also an Editor of the Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies, an open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal.
Email: n.coombs@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/NathanCoombs
ANTHONY COOPER
Anthony is a currently a PhD candidate who previously obtained a BA at Westminster University, before joining the department in 2006 as an MA student. While his research falls within the broad areas of globalization studies, border studies, political geography and contemporary political theory, his specific PhD interest deals with the relationship between borders and identity construction, particularly in relation to ideas of difference and otherness. In other words, how are borders used to fix identities, and how is this fixity undermined? Using the combined works of Deleuze, Connolly, Bauman and Simmel, amongst others, he argues that borders should be better understood as markers of difference and mechanisms of transformation in order to understand how they manifest, function, shift and dissolve within space. Anthony has previously taught first year undergraduate courses at Royal Holloway including 'Introduction to Globalisation' and 'Classic and Contemporary Readings in Politics and International Relations'. He is also assistant researcher on a Nuffield Foundation funded project that examines the ability of citizens to participate in the making of borders (borderwork) led by Dr Chris Rumford, as well as co-editor of the Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies.
Email: Anthony.Cooper.2007@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/AnthonyCooper
James's PhD explores what effect routine use of social networking has on political engagement, with a specific focus on the rise of online "slacktivism". His working title is "It's Better to Light a Candle than to Fantasise About a Sun": Exploring Social Media and "Slacktivism." He is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council South East Doctoral Training Consortium and is co-supervised by Professor Andrew Chadwick and Professor Ben O'Loughlin. James holds a BA in Politics from The University of Warwick (2010) and an MSc in New Political Communication (2011) from Royal Holloway, University of London.
E-mail: jameswilliamdennis@gmail.com
Website: www.dennisdcfc.co.uk
Ismail Erdem holds a first-class honour’s BA degree in International Relations, and a master’s degree in European Politics. He has researched on diaspora politics with a focus on the interaction between the foreign policies of the hosting countries and the lobbying activities of ethno-national diasporas in the EU political system.
Ismail’s PhD project investigates the foreign relations of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region and the foreign policy of the Kurdistan Regional Government. His main areas of academic interest include federal studies, theorizing in international relations, and diplomatic studies. He is specifically interested in international relations of the Kurds and politics of Kurdistan.
Email: Ismail.Erdem.2011@live.rhul.ac.uk
AMIR FARR
Amir Farr has degrees in Economics & International Relations from Boston University, USA and University of London, SOAS. His working PhD thesis 'The Political Economy of Democratic Transition: the Case of Iran' is supervised by Professor Sandra Halperin and examines the role of economics in explaining the development of the Iranian political structure and possible future transformations. His main research interests are democratic transitions, political economy, development studies, Middle East politics & foreign policy analysis.
Email: amir.farr.2006@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/amirfarr
Christian is a PhD candidate in political philosophy. He holds a first-class honors in Politics from the University of Surrey, where he won an award for his undergraduate dissertation, 'Postmodernism and Fascism'. In addition to his PhD research, he conducts policy research for the Labour Party and is a Borough Councillor in Guildford (further details can be found here). Christian's research project is entitled 'Post-existentialism: of the three metamorphoses', and explores the potential avenues for dialogue between post-structuralism and existentialism, while utilising a post-phenomenological methodology that incorporates insights from both neuroscience and complexity theory.
Email: Christian.Gilliam.2011@rhul.ac.uk
SECKIN BARIS GULMEZ
Baris joined the department in 2008. He holds BSc and MSc degrees in International Relations at Middle East Technical University. He has also been granted Post Graduate Certificate in Contemporary European Studies at University of Birmingham and MSc in International Relations at Royal Holloway University of London. He is the holder of FCO scholarship (2008), Chevening Scholarship (2008-2009) and Thomas Holloway Scholarship (2009-2012). Besides, he worked as a political advisor in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (2003-2006). Baris has been working as a teaching assistant at RHUL since 2009. His PHD dissertation, ‘Understanding the EU-scepticism in Turkey', is supervised by Dr. James Sloam. He is also the founding co-editor of the scholarly web site www.changingturkey.com.
Selected publication:
Gulmez, S.B. (2008) 'The EU Policy of the Republican People's Party: An inquiry on the opposition party and Euro-skepticism in Turkey', Turkish Studies, Vol. 9, Number 3, pp. 423-436. (SSCI)
Email: baris.gulmez.2009@live.rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/barisgulmez
DIDEM BUHARI GULMEZ
Didem Buhari-Gulmez has a BSc from Middle East Technical University (Turkey) and a Masters by Research degree from the University of Edinburgh (UK). Her PhD research in Royal Holloway, 'Turkey-European Union Relations from a World Polity Perspective', is supervised by Professor Chris Rumford and is expected to be submitted in 2012. She has been a Teaching Assistant for the courses ‘Introduction to International Relations’, ‘Introduction to Politics and Government’, and ‘Introduction to Research Methods in PIR’. Didem is founding co-leader of the research group ‘Changing Turkey in a Changing World’ and co-organized several workshops and conferences on themes related to Turkey-EU relations and globalization (for details, see http://ChangingTurkey.com). Her publications include:
(2009), “A Selective Survey of Globalization Studies: The Cultural Deficit”, New Global Studies vol.3, no.2, p.1-13. (http://www.bepress.com/ngs/vol3/iss2/art5/)
2010, “Stanford School on Sociological Institutionalism: a Global Cultural Approach”, International Political Sociology, vol.4, no.3, pp. 253-270. (SSCI)
(2011), (with Chris Rumford), “Contradictions in European Integration: A Global Perspective”, in Nikolai Genov (ed.) Global Trends and Regional Development, Routledge.
(forthcoming 2012), “Ombudsmanship and Turkey’s Europeanization in ‘World Society’”, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, special issue ‘New perspectives on Turkey-EU relations.’
Email: Didem.Buhari.2008@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/DidemBuhariGulmez
Noman Hanif holds an MA in International Relations and European Studies from London Centre of International Relations, University of Kent, a PG Diploma in International Studies and LLB from the University of Westminster. His thesis is on the politics of Hizb al-Tahrir and his research interests include political Islam and Energy security. He has taught Middle East politics at Royal Holloway and political Islam and energy security at Birkbeck, University of London.
Email: N.Hanif@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/nomanhanif
Isabelle Hertner joined the department in 2007. She has a Master’s degree in European political and administrative studies from the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium) and a Magister Artium (M.A.) from Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany). Isabelle's PhD focuses on the Europeanisation of social democratic parties and explores the parties' European networks. Her fieldwork has been funded by UACES (the University Association for Contemporary European Studies) and The Central Research Fund of the University of London. Isabelle has also been a teaching and research assistant at the department and a co-editor of the departmental working paper series. She is currently a Lecturer in German and European Politics and Society at Birmingham University.
Email: Isabelle.Hertner.2007@rhul.ac.uk
Webpage: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/government-society/hertner-isabelle.aspx
Pepijn van Houwelingen holds a BSc in Public Administration, an MSc in International Relations and an MA in Philosophy, all from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam (the Netherlands). His MSc dissertation investigated the Palestinian refugee problem in the Middle East, with a particular focus on the tension between international and regional actors and their inability to come to a solution. Pepijn undertook fieldwork for his dissertation in Israel, Palestine and Jordan. His MA dissertation focused on a similar topic – international law vs. power politics – in the light of the political theories of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Pepijn has a wide range of research interests, most importantly European and global politics, international security and conditions of war and peace. His PhD thesis will examine the results of the European Union’s policy towards the Middle East and North Africa. Pepijn is also co-editor and book review editor of the Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies.
Selected Publications:
“Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa” (book review), Journal of Religion, Conflict and Peace, vol. 2, no. 1, fall 2008.
“Euros do not buy the Palestinians political rights”, The Electronic Intifada, 23 March 2009.
Email: Pepijn.VanHouwelingen.2008@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/PepijnvanHouwelingen
Gulay Icoz joined the department in 2007. She holds a BA in Politics from Goldsmiths College, University of London, and Master of Research in European Politics from Birkbeck College. Currently, she is writing her PhD on the role of the National Security Council in Turkey’s unsettled relationship with the European Union. Icoz taught 'Introduction to Politics and Government' to undergraduates over the last academic year and completed the INSTILL teaching training programme. HerJean Monnet Summer School Project, titled 'The Unknown future of Britain’s path-dependent support for Turkey’s accession to the European Union', published in Governance and Decision-Making in Turkey and the European Union: Prospects for Intercultural Dialogue in Turkey (2009). Icoz also presented at the UACES Student forum 9th/10th Annual Conferences at the University of Kent (2008) and University of Salford (2009).
Email: Gulay.Icoz.2007@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/gulayicoz
Mohammadreza Kalantari is currently a Doctorate Research Fellow at Department of Politics and International Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London. His research addresses the interaction of doctrines, elite ideologies, and regional politics, with a particular focus on how political association in different factions of Twelver Shia Islam has shaped the status quo of the Middle East and may impact on future of the region. He has had her work published in several journals and is a researcher on Shiite communities of Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon by monitoring the interactions of the elite authorities.
Email: Mohammadreza.Kalantari.2011@rhul.ac.uk
Shyamal joined the department in September 2009. He holds a Masters degree (Asian Politics) from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has a particular interest in South Asian studies, and his thesis, under the supervision of Dr Yasmin Khan, attempts to place the trajectory of a well-known Indian separatist movement within adequate historical context.
Email: Shyamal.Kataria.2009@live.rhul.ac.uk
Mert Kayhan's thesis, titled 'Mentality and the "military mindset" in Turkey', is supervised by Professor Chris Rumford.
Email: Mert.Kayhan.2007@rhul.ac.uk
Genevieve holds a MS in political science from Florida State University and two BA’s in international studies and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests are concentrated in environmental politics along with the changing nature of states interests and motivations in a post-Cold War world.
Email: Genevieve.Kruse.2009@live.rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/GenevieveKruse
ALBENA KUYUMDZHIEVA
Albena Kuyumdzhieva joined the department in September 2008. She is writing her PhD on the Anticorruption policies of the European Union. Her aim is to identify the impact of the fifth enlargement on the anticorruption policies of the Union and to examine the drivers behind their adoption and implementation. Albena has served as a Chief of Unit for Combating Corruption in the Bulgarian Anticorruption Commission, Council of Ministers and as a Head of Offices of a Member of the European Parliament. Currently Albena is Adviser to the Prime Minister of Armenia on reforms of Public Administration and fighting corruption as a member of EU Advisory Group to Armenia deployed by the European Commission. She is also a lecturer in the Bulgarian Institute of Public Administration providing training in anticorruption and good governance to civil servants and magistrates. Albena holds Masters degrees in Law and Finance and has been a visiting student at the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her publications include:
A.Kuyumdzhieva (2009) European Legal Framework on Lobbying. Involving Citizens in the policy-making procedure. Citizen Monitoring on the Public Administration Activities - Skills Handbook, Centre for Social Practices, Sofia.
A.Kuyumdzhieva & Minkova (2009),How to participate in public procurement procedures-Guidelines for the Business, European Governance Centre, Sofia.
A.Kyuumdzhieva, (2006), Why the Anticorruption Models don’t work the Same Way? The UK, the ‘Mainland’ and the CEE Countries-Defining the Differences, dgCommunities portal.
Email: Albena.Kuyumdzhieva.2008@rhul.ac.uk
Claudia is a PhD candidate in the department of Politics and International Relations, supervised by Professor Chris Rumford. The PhD thesis is titled, ‘National Identity in the United Kingdom - A case study on Britpop music and its influence on people’s construction of national identity in the United Kingdom’. Claudia holds a Master degree in Politics and Sociology from the Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany. The Master thesis was focused on the concept of hegemony and its application to the United States of America following the end of the cold war. During her studies she was a member of the organisation team of the Magdeburger Model United Nations (MadMUN). She gained some practical research experience during her internships at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium and at a Social Research Institute in Portland, USA and Vancouver, Canada.
Email: Claudia.Lueders.2011@rhul.ac.uk
Julia Osborn holds an MSc in Public Sector Studies from Royal Holloway, University of London. She has also worked for the European Framework Five Programme 'Employment in the Public Sector: A Transnational Analysis'. Her thesis considers the influence of the British New Labour government in pursuing 'progressive' social democratic policies at the European level. In particular, the thesis focuses on the Lisbon Agenda, and the role for EU Research and Development policy as key components of New Labours progressive policies, for increasing growth and competitiveness. In June 2008 Julia co-chaired the CEP postgraduate workshop, and has edited the departmental working paper 'The Lisbon Treaty - a New Era?'
Email: Julia.Osborn.2007@rhul.ac.uk
Aaron Peters is currently doing a P.hD investigating the impact of ICT on issues of collective action within social movements under the supervision of Andrew Chadwick. He is a contributing editor at OurKingdom on Open Democracy and was in the editorial 'kettle' for Fightback! (2011). He also blogs at Through Europe and Partita Imaginaria as well as hosting a weekly show on Resonance FM 104.4 fm 'Novara'.
Email: aaron.peters.2010@rhul.ac.uk
Mark has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with International Studies from the University of Birmingham and an MA in International Communications and Human Rights from City University. He has researched human rights situations for the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and taught human rights and English language in Further Education. He started his PhD project at Royal Holloway in 2010. It applies a critical discourse analysis to UK press coverage of human rights and assesses the cosmopolitan frames used in these texts.
Email: mark.pope.2010@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/MarkPope
ANA-IULIANA POSTU
Ana-Iuliana Postu joined the department in September 2008. She is writing her PhD on the Interactions between MEPs and national parties in the European Parliament (EP). The focus of her research is on the existing exchanges and lines of influence between the national parties in the European Union and their representatives in the EP. Before coming to Royal Holloway, Ana-Iuliana worked for Europe Direct, an external service of the European Commission, and in the European Parliament on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee. Ana-Iuliana holds a Master's degree in European Studies from the Institute of European Studies in Brussels.
Email: Ana-Iuliana.Postu.2008@rhul.ac.uk
Alia holds a Master's degree in Development Studies from London School of Economics and an MSc in Economics from University of Peshawar. She joined the department in September 2010. Her current project is looking at the conflict in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan from a political economy and development aspect under the supervision of Dr.Yasmin Khan.
Email: alia.qaim.2010@live.rhul.ac.uk
Niklas holds a BA in Politics and Economics from the University of Aachen and an MSc in International Relations from Royal Holloway University of London. He has also gained some practical experience in the German Parliament and the German Consulate in Romania. Niklas received a college research scholarship in 2009 to begin work on his PhD thesis at Royal Holloway. His research project investigates the obstacles and opportunities for a world government. Thereby he focuses on the ideas of Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant and Hedley Bull. His research interests include International Relations Theory, Security Policy, International Political Economy, and US Foreign Policy.
Email: Niklas.Rolf.2009@rhul.ac.uk
Sana Shah holds two Master degrees (Mag.) in Political Science and International Development from the University of Vienna. She joined the Department of Politics and International Relations in September 2011. Sana has done research related to migrants and Muslims in Austria as well as research on Pakistan and on Pakistani identity. Currently she is pursuing her research on the Pakistani diaspora in London and New York City analyzing the dimension of their political participation as well as their economic and social engagement within their hosting societies.
Apart from her academic background Sana has interned for the United Nations and the Austrian Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs. Pursuing her interest in UN related topics Sana is also a member of ACUNS (Academic Council on the United Nations) and has been very active within the Austrian chapter of ACUNS.
Sana is also co-founder and chairman of a South Asia platform in Austria called Talaash-Young researchers and artists working on South Asia (www.talaash.at). Talaash hosts round tables, panel discussions and cultural activities on the region. Talaash’s aim is to raise awareness within the Austrian public regarding life, politics, culture and art in South Asia, as well as to strengthen young researchers’ role in society by giving them a platform to present their research to an interested audience.
Email: Sana.Shah.2011@live.rhul.ac.uk
Nora has a BSc (Hons) International Politics from Brunel University and an MA European Studies from King’s College London. Her research takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding European Union citizenship and demonstrates the effects of migration within an integrated regional market on citizenship practices and behaviours. It explores both conceptual and empirical accounts on the characteristics of ‘transnational market citizenship’ in the EU. Her comparative case study with mobile European citizens in Sweden and in the United Kingdom is complemented by quantitative analysis of Europe-wide surveys.
Nora is a member of the Hungarian Parliamentary Lobby and a teaching assistant for ‘European Integration Since 1945’, ‘Comparative Political Institutions’ and ‘Introduction to Politics and Government’ modules. She is invited as a visiting research student to the Department of Political Science in Stockholm University.
Email: nora.siklodi.2010@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/NoraSiklodi
Michelle Springfield has an BA in Politics and Social Policy and an MA in The Politics of Democracy, from Royal Holloway. Her PhD thesis is on 'Famine: A political and Philosophical analysis' under the supervision of Dr Jonathan Seglow. Her thesis challenges the simple approaches to the relationship between populations and food (demographic and liberal economic theories) and examines the more complex approaches that recognise the political and social context of famine. It is argued that a better understanding of the political, thus preventable, causes of famine, from both an historical and contemporary perspective, is crucial in any serious attempt to prevent their occurrence. An exploration of the ways in which those considered responsible for famine can be held accountable at both the national and the international level is a central feature of this thesis. Michelle is hoping to complete this year.
Email: Michelle.Springfield.2003@rhul.ac.uk
Robert is a PhD candidate who holds a BSc in IR and Law from
the University of Plymouth and an MSc in IR from Royal Holloway. He
received a research scholarship in 2010 to complete PhD at Royal
Holloway. His main research interests are IR theory, particularly the
English School of IR, and the international relations of the
Asia-Pacific. His previous work has looked at understanding interstate
society in Southeast Asia using an English School framework, and he is
currently working on expanding his research into the wider Asia-Pacifc
region under the supervision of Evelyn Goh. Other interests include
history and philosophy.
Email: robert.yates.2010@rhul.ac.uk
Academia.edu page: http://royalholloway.academia.edu/RobertYates
Ruth Yeoman holds a BSc in Physics from Imperial College, and an MA in Politics of Democracy from Royal Holloway. She is researching themes related to 'Justice, Democracy and the concept of Meaningful Work', under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Seglow. The thesis explores the constituent elements of meaningful work, the role of meaningful work in a life of human well-being, and institutional guarantees to support the distribution of meaningful work. Ruth’s general research interests include workplace democracy, recognition theory, and feminist economics.
- Paper presentations: ‘Structuring Meaningful Work as a Fundamental Human Need’ to Political Theory Workshops, 2007, Manchester University, and Work, Ethics and Emancipation Symposium, Queens University, Belfast; ‘Justice in Work: Towards Institutional Guarantees for Meaningful Work’, Political Theory Workshops, 2009.
- Joint editor, with Jonathan Seglow, of a special edition of the journal, Renewal: ‘Recognition, Work and the Market’.
Email: Ruth.Yeoman.2005@rhul.ac.uk
Recently Completed PhDs
Nick Anstead started his PhD in September 2005, following a degree in Modern History from Mansfield College, Oxford and an MA in The Politics of Democracy (with Distinction) at Royal Holloway. His thesis, 'A Comparative Study of Factors Influencing the Adoption and Impact of E-Campaigning in the United States and the United Kingdom', was concerned with how structural differences between the British and American party systems shape political uses of the Internet during election campaigns. It was supervised by Professor Andrew Chadwick. In September 2008 he was appointed a Lecturer in Politics at the University of East Anglia. In September 2010 he was appointed a Lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE.
Further details can be found on Nick's blog: http://www.nickanstead.com/blog/
MONIKA BARTHWAL-DATTA (completed 2009)
Monika Barthwal-Datta holds a Master's degree in International Journalism from Cardiff University and an MSc (Econ) in Critical Security Studies from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Her thesis, 'Analysinig Security in South Asia: Non-State Actors and the Securitisation Framework', investigated the utility of the securitisation theory in capturing security dynamics in developing socio-political contexts such as South Asia, with a particular focus on the role of non-state actors. Monika was previously a Teaching Fellow at the School of Public Policy, University College London where she lectured a postgraduate course on International Peace and Security, and was later a research assistant at Surrey University. She is currently pursuing postdoctoral research at the Centre for International Security Studies, University of Sydney. Her research focuses on Food Security in Asia, and is being funded by a two-year grant from the MacArthur Foundation’s Asian Security Initiative. Hercurrent profile can be found here.
COLIN FLEMING (completed 2009)
Colin Fleming holds M.Litt in War Studies (Distinction), MA (Hons) History and International Relations at the University of Aberdeen. Colin's principal research interests lie in the field of international relations, particularly the role and impact of war in the modern world. His thesis investigated the modern utility of the Clausewitzian 'Trinity' in the analysis of the nature and conduct of war. Using the Balkan wars of 1991-1994 as a case study, he assessed the contemporary relevance of Clausewitzian ideas against the challenges of the increasingly popular 'new war' thesis. His publications include "'New or Old Wars": Debating a Clausewitzian Future' in Journal of Strategic Studies, Volume 32, Number 2, April 2009 , pp. 213-241. Colin was awarded a one-year Postdoctoral Fellowship on the Max Weber Programme at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence for the 2009/10 academic year, and has since gone on to a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh.
Yeon-ok Lee's thesis, supervised by Professor Andrew Chadwick, focused on mobilisation and civic engagement on the Internet, on the basis of a case study of the Nosama movement in South Korea. She also holds an MA in Mass Communications from the University of Leicester (2000) and a DEA (Diplôme d'Études Approfondies) in Communication and Information Sciences at l'Université Stendhal Grenoble III, France.
TAM GIANG NGUYEN (completed 2008)
Tam Giang Nguyen received an MA with Distinction in Globalisation, Development and Transition at the University of Westminster, London, in 2001. He continued with a PhD in Political and Development Sociology at Royal Holloway from 2002 to 2007, under the supervision of Professor John Edwards. The doctoral thesis explored the advantages of the exclusion approach to examine the social deprivations of migrants to Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) in the period of globalisation. The study was not organised around dependency culture, as is done by some writers of social exclusion in the West, but around the role of the state and various institutions in terms of discrimination against migrants, and the unenforcement of their rights. Thus, it constituted a way of formulating a concept of social exclusion which is not Eurocentric, but rather able to achieve useful analytical and policy insights in a post-communist context. After completing his PhD, Tam has been working as a free-lance consultant with the World Bank, UNICEF, and UNDP in Vietnam.
Email: nguyentamgiang@hotmail.com
Guido's thesis, supervised by Professor Andrew Chadwick, investigated the policy-making process for
EU ICT policy, and focused in particular on the role played by business
organisations in defining the EU's Information Society project.
JOANNA KAMINSKA (completed 2011)
Joanna Kaminska holds an MA in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Warsaw and Certificat d’Etudes Politiques from l’Universite Paul Cezanne Aix-Marseille III (IEP). Joanna was also visiting scholar at the Centre of International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her PhD thesis focused on the role of new member countries in the development of Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU with particular reference to the role of Poland and the Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy. She has been particularly interested in the foreign policies of the Central and Eastern European states and the influence of the EU on those countries. She is a former British Chevening Scholar.
After finishing her PhD Joanna started work in the European Commission, where she is now responsible for analysing to what extent the EU's interventions in the area of external relations achieve its objectives and how their performance can be improved.
Selected publications:
Kaminska J, Mus J. (2008) 'The financial aspects of the regional cooperation with the EU neighbours', Polish Office of the Committee for the European Integration (UKIE) UKIE analizy no 21, December 2008.
Kaminska J. (2008) 'The Eastern Partnership: the EU goes east?' The CFSP Forum, Volume 6 no 6, November 2008.
Kaminska J. (2008) 'Europeizacja Polskiej Polityki Zagranicznej' (in Polish) Studia Europejskie, December Vol. 4/2008.
Kaminska J (2007) 'The new EU members and the CFSP: Polish foreign policy Europeanization', Political Perspectives, Vol. 2 (2) October special issue on EU new members pp.1-24.
Umar Khan's work focuses on the Afghan borderland, addressing the phenomenon of the Pashtun tribes of FATA and Afghanistan as sub-state drivers of borderland polity. He has also worked as a risk analyst since 2003 and is a graduate of the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London. He has presented aspects of his research at the IISS, and has published a number of articles in regional defence journals. Umar’s PhD thesis, 'Re-emergent Pre-state Substructures: The Case of the Pashtun Tribes', was co-supervised by Sandra Halperin and Yasmin Khan.
CHRIS PERKINS (completed 2011)
After living and working in Hong Kong for one year, Chris returned to the UK in 2000 to complete a BA (hons) in Japanese language and contemporary society with education studies at Oxford Brookes. One year of his degree was spent at Kita Kyushu University as a language student. On completion of his first degree in 2004 he returned to work in Japan as a teacher and translator, and passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 1. In 2006 he again returned to the UK to complete an Msc (distinction) in International Relations at Royal Holloway. He received a college scholarship in 2007 to begin work on his PhD thesis at Royal Holloway, supervised by Ben O'Loughlin, which focuses on maintenance and contestation of the nation in post-bubble Japan. Today Chris is a Lecturer in Japanese Studies at the University of Edinburgh. His profile can be found here.
Luis Simon holds an MA in European Studies from the IEP Paris/University of Bath (Euromasters) and a BA in International Relations from the London Metropolitan University. He was a Thomas Holloway scholar at Royal Holloway and a pre-doctoral fellow of the European Foreign and Security Policy Studies Programme of the Compagnia di San Paolo -Riksbankens Jubileumsfond - VolkswagenStiftung. He has also been a visting fellow at the European Policy Centre in Brussels, the Centre for Transatlantic Relations (SAIS/John Hopkins) in Washington DC and the EU Institute for Security Studies in Paris. His research interests include European Foreign, Security and Defence Policy, Geopolitics, Transatlantic Relations, International Relations Theory, and French, British and German Foreign and Security Policy. Luis's PhD dissertation, supervised by Alister Miskimmon, focussed on Franco-British-German views of the EU and NATO.
Luis joined the IES as postdoctoral researcher for European Foreign and Security Policy in October 2010. At the IES, he is a member of the research cluster 'EU foreign and security policy' and also coordinates the University of Southern California (USC) Brussels Program 'Contemporary Issues in European Foreign and Security Policy'. His current research projects include geopolitics, grand strategy and contemporary Europe; strategy and the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy; and the impact of the rise of Asia upon Europe. Other research interests include the role of the EU as a global actor, transatlantic relations and the security and defence policies of Britain, France and Germany. Luis directs the Group on Grand Strategy.
Hasan Turunc's thesis, 'The impact of the European Union on the process of democratisation in Turkey', was supervised by Professor Chris Rumford. In addition to his doctoral degree, he holds an MA in The Politics of Democracy and a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education from Royal Holloway, University of London. Hasan taught in the Department from 2004-2008, tutoring various courses including Introduction to IR and IR Theory. He has also held a Part-time Lecturer position at Richmond - The American International University in London. His publications include: 'Islamicist or Democratic? The AKP's search for Identity in Turkish Politics', Journal of Contemporary European Studies, Vol. 15, no. 1 (April 2007), pp. 79-91; (with Gul Berna Ozcan) 'The Politics of Administrative Decentralization in Turkey Since 1980' in Handbook of Administrative Reform: An International Perspective, eds Jerri Killian and Niklas Eklund (Auerbach Publications, 2008), pp. 177-196; and a book review of Kerim Yildiz's The Kurds in Turkey: EU accession and human rights (Pluto Press, 2006) in International Affairs, Vol 82, no. 6 (November 2006). His conference presentations include UACES Student forum 6th Annual Conference, Oxford University, 2005; First Global International Studies Conference, Istanbul 2005.
Academia.edu page: http://oxford.academia.edu/HasanTurunc
Tel/Fax : +44 (0)1784 443149/434375