Dear students,
Welcome to the fifth issue of the new Politics Student Newsletter, whereby the Politics department will keep you posted about timely education announcements and tips, learning community events, news from Politics academics as well as student and student society activities. Please don’t hesitate to get back to us with any feedback or news items you would like to circulate in the forthcoming newsletters.
With the intriguing state of the current European security environment, the MA Applied Security Strategy (MStrat) cohort 8 enjoyed an in-person fieldtrip to Brussels.
Day 1 consisted of a European Union focus with visits first to the European External Action Service (EEAS) and then to the European Parliament in the afternoon, before an evening discussion with a collection of think tankers, chaired by Professor Jamie Shea. Key themes throughout the day included exploring the challenging and changing European security environment and the intricacies of European policy.
A trip to NATO Headquarters then followed on day 2, with the highlights being briefings on cyber defence and NATO’s nuclear policy due to their immediate relevance. The students’ time in Brussels concluded with an engaging working supper centred around health, looking at the challenges that Covid-19 posed as well as the mass of challenges that must be faced in the future.
We are pleased to share details of a free End of Year Politics Quiz Night for Politics students that will take place on Tuesday 31st May. Click here for more details!
After a 50-year distinguished career at the University of Exeter, our friend and colleague Professor Iain Hampsher-Monk retired last academic year. In his honour, the Centre for Political Thought organised a two-day event on 6th-7th May with the support of the Department of Politics, the SSIS Graduate School and Imprint Academic. The event ‘Academic Life and Interdisciplinarity: Learning from Experience’ reflected and celebrated Iain’s contribution to the life of our University both as a scholar of political thought, and as a professional academic. It gathered together academics, non-academics and postgraduate students who have a connection with Iain and Politics at Exeter.
Our MA Conflict, Security and Development student Anna Banks, who is currently on placement as a research assistant working with Professor Mick Dumper, has produced two outstanding reports as part of the ‘UNRWA in Focus’ project which can be found on this website. Her role in this project involves writing evaluative briefing papers on the current and future situation of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). The research covers issues of demographic change, regional power balance, funding crisis and the climate emergency to analyse the projected situation of the organisation by 2035.