This is part II of a series on bridging the gap between policy and academia. In my last post, I laid out some principles for thinking policy engagement as an academic. In this post, I'll talk about one such strategy -- short-form writing for the public -- which includes blogging, Twitter, and other social media. In subsequent posts, I'll review some others. I’ve been blogging on and off since the mid-2000s and since 2011 here on the Duck of...
Just returning from an invigorating #ISA2017 where I was inspired by colleagues and new ideas and processing all the stimulating interactions and conversations I had. Last night at the fabulous Global Health Studies section (you should join!) business meeting, one topic of discussion was whether the section should take further action on the U.S. travel ban given that the ISA conferences are to be held in the U.S. or Canada through 2023 and the...
At the recent ISA meeting, I had the good fortune to participate in a roundtable on bridging the policy-academic divide organized by Jim Goldgeier, the Dean of the School of International Service at American University. Fellow panelists included Bruce Jentleson and a powerhouse trio from American University, including Susanna Campbell, Nora Bensahel, and Jordan Tama. All of us in some capacity have participated in the Bridging the Gap project...
This is an open letter signed by US international affairs scholars to their fellow citizens. If you hold a PhD in international relations or an extant field and wish to add your name to the list, please tweet #StudytheWorld with your name and institutional affiliation or send this information in an email to ir.scholars.openletter@gmail.com. Dear Fellow Americans, Recently, President Trump tweeted that people should “Study the world!” to...
Trump told us we should study the world. IR scholars had something to say about that. Earlier I promised to turn some of these quips into a special blog post, which also happens to be my Ignite talk at this year's Duckies' Awards in Baltimore. Happy #ISA2017.
Hi all, Today's the day! The ISA Online Media Caucus (OMC) Online Achievement in International Studies Awards Reception is TONIGHT. It's the best party in town with the best people. Food and drink will be tremendous. If you miss it, SAD. Seriously, 7:30 pm in Holiday 1. Come to see your friends win prizes, watch some AMAZING ignite-style speakers, and hobnob with a whole host of people who use social media to tell the world about their work....
Many of us are Baltimore bound for ISA, and other than the Duckies this Thursday night, what are you looking forward to? What panels, receptions, events, new books have caught your attention? Mike Horowitz winning the Karl Deutsch prize? PRIO folks, Ida Rudolfsen and runner-up Jonas Nordkvell, winning the Jacek Kugler paper award on demography and geography for work on food price shocks and unrest and rainfall and conflict? Exciting stuff. (I...
This is a guest post by Paul Beaumont, PhD Candidate at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). Previously, he worked as an academic writing advisor at NMBU and as a Junior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). Some time ago, back when Duckpods still happened, Nicholas Onuf talked to Dan Nexon about the impact of World of Our Making (WOOM). Onuf’s masterpiece is rightly credited with founding...
What's wrong with the current use of metrics in academia? This is the best summary that I've ever seen. Here's the horrifying key table from the paper Siddhartha Roy co-authored on perverse incentives in academia. #AAASmtg pic.twitter.com/sdrUlPmXs7 — Mike 48% Tⓐylor (@MikeTaylor) February 18, 2017 I will be discussing the publishing part of the equation on my Saturday panel at ISA.
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017 President Trump tweeted this on Friday. Even before he issued this egregious tweet, I had prepared a thread on Twitter of my observations from a recent trip to DC. This builds on my post from earlier in the week on how to defend democracy from the perch of the Ivory...
Abe Newman and I have a piece in Vox on Trump's attempt to pressure allies into spending more on defense. You should ignore the title. The gist of the argument is that, first, there are upsides to having wealthy and technologically advanced allies dependent on the US for their security needs; second, while it would be great to get NATO allies to spend more on defense, this is a very dangerous way to go about doing it; and, third, the benefits...
Ah, the spring semester: When the thoughts of many turn to the promise of summer, while the thoughts of panicked ABDs turn to the question of what they’re going to be doing beyond the end of this academic year. Right on schedule, the jobs boards are filling up with this year’s crop of “visiting” professor positions--inviting young (and not-so-young) ABDs and early-career faculty to gamble on a choice that will uproot their lives without...