It’s no surprise that current events regularly lead us to update our syllabi. That doesn’t mean we can’t make “surprise” an important feature of our courses.
Our syllabi should be full of surprises
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Academia
Why are we so quick to dismiss the UAE-Israel peace treaty?
In September, the UAE and Israel signed "the Abraham Accords," normalizing relations between the UAE and Israel. The Trump Administration presented this as if it was equivalent to the Camp David...
On Publishing and Open Access
Recently, I was asked by an interdisciplinary journal to edit a special section on climate governance, and I inquired whether it was an open access journal where authors have to pay to publish. It...
Visualizing the Gender Publication Gap: 1999-2019
This is a guest post from Laura Breen, a PhD student with research interests in international law, global governance, and emerging technology; Gaea Morales, a PhD student with research interests in...
More Academia Posts
ISA Takes Strong Stand for Academic Freedom
In a letter released today, the International Studies Association has taken a strong stand against Trump's Executive Order closing US borders to nationals of several Muslim-majority states: As a scholarly organization, ISA has a professional obligation to promote and protect the values of academic freedom. As such, the ISA strongly condemns any action by any government which prevents the free movement of scholars engaged in research on international affairs, or any other scholarly discipline. Indeed, the charter of the Academic Freedom Committee of the ISA includes the following language:...
How Should the International Studies Association Protect Its International Members?
I have been waiting the for the past few days to see how the International Studies Association would respond to news of Trump's Executive order banning entry into the US has for many travelers, including those from a number of Muslim countries - since this ban obviously affects numerous of our colleagues who are, like many of us, slated to travel to the International Studies Association Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Would the ISA issue a condemnation of this policy? I wondered. Would they offer support and reassurance to colleagues trapped outside US borders? Would they announce...
The Value Alignment Problem’s Problem
Having recently attended a workshop and conference on beneficial artificial intelligence (AI), one of the overriding concerns is how to design beneficial AI. To do this, the AI needs to be aligned with human values, and as such is known, pace Stuart Russell, as the “Value Alignment Problem.” It is a “problem” in the sense that however one creates an AI, the AI may try to maximize a value to the detriment of other socially useful or even noninstrumental values given the way one has to specify a value function to a machine. As Russell explains: The primary concern is not spooky...
Luis Videgaray, Mexican foreign policy and the open contempt for expertise
For the past few months, I've been observing with horror all the cabinet appointments in the incoming Trump administration and the Theresa May government . As someone who originally did a PhD with the intent to become a career diplomat (and yes, I realize there's a foreign civil service pathway to achieve precisely that goal), to me expertise in top-level agencies was more than a mere technicality: it was a requirement. I wanted a PhD in international relations or political science because I wanted to be knowledgeable about the dynamics of global affairs, diplomacy and state-to-state...
ISA Conferences in Trump’s America
In conversations with friends, I quickly realized that the International Studies Association faces some significant problems ahead. The advent of the Trump administration is likely to lead to two kinds of complications: it may be hard for foreign scholars to get visas to attend the conference that scholars may want to boycott conferences that take place in the US if Trump follows through on a variety of things he promised/threatened/tweeted during the campaign. I have not yet gotten numbers from the ISA about the composition of the membership, although it is largely a North American...
Before you leave for the holiday season: Nominate your friends for The Duckies!
Grades are in, reviews submitted, and I'm headed out for the holiday season. I hope you are wrapping up the semester and/or enjoying a well-deserved break. Please remember to submit your nominations for the 2017 Duckies before the end of the year. And, please remember to attend the The Duckies at ISA: Thursday, February 23rd at 7:30 pm. The ISA Online Media Caucus (OMC) is very thankful to have the support of Sage in hosting the reception. Send your nominations to onlinemediacaucus@gmail.com. Duckies will be awarded in the following categories: Best Blog (Group) in International Studies...
Being a Doctoral Student in the Time of Trump: Six Challenges
This is a guest post from Ariya Hagh, Andrew Szarejko, and Laila Wahedi. All three authors are doctoral students in Georgetown University’s Department of Government. Author order is alphabetical by last name. As we consider the broader ramifications of a Trump presidency, it is important to take a moment to consider how we in the discipline are likely to be affected so that we can adequately prepare for the coming years. If past behavior and rhetoric is any indication, which we expect it to be, the incoming Trump administration will present a unique set of challenges to doctoral students in...
Kiss 2016 Goodbye: Call for Nominations for the Duckies
Thankfully, The Disaster that was 2016 will soon be behind us. I’m sure hoping 2017 will be better! With all the uncertainty of 2017, I am assured of one thing: ISA 2017 is right around the corner and will be AMAZING. My favorite part of ISA for the last several years is the Online Achievement in International Studies Reception and Awarding of the Duckies! This year, the event will be held on Thursday, February 23rd at 7:30 pm. I’m excited about our Ignite speaker lineup – more information will be released on this soon. The ISA Online Media Caucus (OMC) is very thankful to have the...