91福利

The Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) at the 91福利 is delighted to announce a rise in our ranking from 6^th to 4^th out of 83 Politics Departments nationally in the 2017 .

The CUG says of PAIS:

“At fourth place, the remains one of the most reliable choices of university, staying ahead of Durham in this year's due to their admirable scores for . There are five core BAs to choose from, including a joint honours degree with Sociology, and a combination degree with French, German, Hispanic or Italian Studies.

This news of course follows on from our recent ranking of 3^rd overall in the 2017 Times/Sunday Times University Guide and 1^st for overall student satisfaction in the 2016 NSS among Politics Departments in the Russell Group.

’s chapter entitled ‘'Civil Society and the UN Security Council: Advocacy on the Rwandan Genocide'’ has appeared in the book ‘Partnerships in International Policy-Making: Civil Society and Public Institutions in European and Global Affairs’ edited by Raffaele Marchetti:

The chapter demonstrates that Human Rights Watch, Oxfam and Médecins sans frontières were indispensable sources of information about the events in Rwanda during the first weeks of the 1994 genocide, especially for the non-permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Also, Kseniya has recently prepared a policy brief for the ‘Providing for Peacekeeping’ project of the International Peace Institute, the Elliott School and the Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. The brief examines Ukraine’'s contributions to peacekeeping operations by the UN and regional organisations. It can be accessed here:

Dr Trevor McCrisken Associate Professor of US Politics and International Studies, Dr Alexander Smith Assistant Professor in Sociology, Dr Ben Margulies Research Fellow in the Politics and International Studies and Dr Georg Lofflmann, Teaching Fellow in the Politics and International Studies give their expert insights into the marathon presidential campaigns culminating in today's vote.

, Associate Professor, US Politics and International Studies, is making a number of media appearances this week, covering the US Presidential Election.

Pre-election

Dr McCrisken was interviewed on Monday on the Trish and Jo Breakfast Show on BBC Coventry & 91福利shire Radio. You can listen at the following link: . The interview starts at the 1h19m mark.

Henry Riley of the RAW Speech Department interviewed Trevor McCrisken to get his academic view on the US Election:

On election day, Trevor appeared on , being interviewed by Shiulie Ghosh:

Post-election

Dr McCrisken appeared on Al Jazeera following Donald Trump's victory:

Another appearence on TRT World, followed:

PAIS Teaching Fellow has had an article published in Critical Studies on Terrorism. The paper is co-authored with Raquel da Silva, a colleague from the University of Birmingham, and it contributes to current debates about everyday narratives of security.

Specifically, the article explores how members of the public answer the question ‘Why do British citizens join the conflict in Syria’ on social media sites and in response to online news articles. The authors argue that online comments are important in producing the discursive environment for making sense of British foreign fighters and what should be done in response to them.

One of the major findings is that there is a tendency to view British foreign fighters as being purely motivated by religion, and there is also a belief that British foreign fighters should be responded to through exceptional measures.

The paper discusses the implications of such perceptions, and the authors highlight how problematic misconceptions about Islam and Muslims are not just disseminated through elite and media discourse, but through everyday narratives published by members of the public online.

The article can be viewed at