DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS, LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FURTHER PARTICULARS
FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF ONE PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS (Ref: EU-0096-14)
We are seeking to make a senior appointment in International Relations to boost our research profile, add to our teaching portfolio, and provide academic leadership within the Department. The person appointed will take up the post on 1 September
2014 or as soon as possible thereafter.
For further information about the Department of Politics, Languages, and
International Studies, see http://www.bath.ac.uk/polis/
Informal and confidential enquiries about the post may be made to Professor
Charles Lees, Head of Department . Email: c.s.j.lees@bath.ac.uk
.
Research
The Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies (PoLIS) is located within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and has over 30 active research staff. The quality and global reach of our scholarship is evidenced through inter alia our staff’s Visiting Fellowships and professorships at institutions such as the
University of Sydney, Australian National University, UC San Diego, University of
Florida, Madrid Complutense, Paris Diderot (Paris 7), Naples Federico II and Lyon
VII, as well as prizes for conference papers or published articles, placements, keynote speeches, and ongoing consultancy and comment for a variety of international audiences and end-users. The Department was highly placed in the
2008 Research Assessment Exercise.
The Department’s research activities are structured around three Research Clusters:
(1) Conflict Security and International Order: examines the whole of the conflict cycle, from the origins of violent conflict to the development of peaceful cooperation. The cluster takes a broad approach to contemporary security and embraces a variety of theoretical approaches and methodologies.
(2) Governance, Citizenship, and Policy: examines the interface between the state and the citizen, including the notion of ‘politics beyond the mainstream’, as well as emphasizing how political systems around the world, and the international community, approach the governance and ethical issues associated with key policy areas such as environmental and sustainability policy; economic policy, and migration and minority policy.

(3) Memory, History, and Identity: is focused on critical analysis of practices of commemoration, reparation and reconciliation after conflict and dictatorship; cultural diplomacy; discourses of local/ national/ transnational identity, and of gender and ethnic identity; and comparison of narratives of social and environmental change around the world.
The three Clusters’ missions map out a set of strategic research priorities designed to cultivate a distinct approach to Politics and IR research at Bath, combining ‘deep’ area expertise, informed by the substantial pool of cultural and linguistic expertise to be found amongst Unit members, with the use of ‘broad’ methodological tools, drawn from the Social Sciences. We cover key geo-political areas such as Europe
(including France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, the Western Balkans, and the UK),
Latin America (including Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay), and Asia-Pacific (including
Afghanistan, Australia, China, Pakistan, and New Zealand) and engage important cultural, political, and socio-economic issues.
The successful candidate will take on a leadership role within the Conflict Security and International Order cluster and already have a research profile and extensive publications that will further strengthen the international profile of the cluster.
Evidence of the ability to help foster a culture of bidding for collective and/or large grants will also be essential for applicants. The candidate appointed will be expected to provide senior academic leadership in all aspects of the Department’s research activities.
Teaching
PoLIS has increased its recruitment to its Politics and IR programs, further contributing to an already sound financial position. This year we exceeded our anticipated intake of 50 Home students for Politics with Economics and 80 Home students for Politics with IR (compared with a combined total of 70 Home students in
2011). Our standard offer for all of our Politics and IR programs is AAA.
The Department offers a variety of programs in Politics and IR:
1. Undergraduate Programs

BSc (Hons.) Politics with International Relations

BSc (Hons) Politics with Economics (major-minor program)

BA (Hons.) Language and Politics (joint program)

BA (Hons.) Modern Languages and European Studies (joint program)
2. MA programs in Politics and International Relations:

MA in Contemporary European Studies (Euromasters), a multi-site program, linking Bath with: Carlos III (Madrid), Charles University (Prague), Frei Universität and Humboldt Universität (Berlin), Sciences Po (Paris), University of Siena, and the University of Washington (Seattle).

MA in Contemporary European Politics, a Bath-site only degree based on
Euromasters.

MA in International Relations.

MA in International Relations and European Politics.

MA in International Security.

MRes in Politics and International Studies.
The successful candidate will carry the normal teaching load for a Professor. The successful candidate will focus on developing postgraduate teaching both for taught

programs and by helping to boost our research post-graduate student population.
However, we also seek to expand our undergraduate units to make our degrees even more attractive to applicants as we review our degree portfolio for the future.
Research Clusters/Wider Departmental Links
The Department is part of the South West ESRC Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) operated jointly with the Universities of Bristol and Exeter. In addition, the
Department is committed to an ambitious internationalization strategy, aligned with that of the University, and has a number of preferred research partners, both regionally through the GW4 partnership (with the Universities of Bristol, Cardiff, and
Exeter) and internationally with the University of São Paulo (Brazil), Stellenbosch
University (South Africa), Zhejiang University and Tsinghua University (China),
Yenisei University (South Korea), and Ohio State (USA). The Department has also been host to many conferences, and in 2007 hosted the Political Studies
Associa tion’s annual conference.
The Department’s research is linked with other cognate disciplines within the
University, including International Development, Management and Social and Policy
Sciences. Further political scientists, including IR specialists and others working on public policy, are situated elsewhere within the Faculty. The successful candidate will be encouraged to build links with the new University of Bath Institute for Policy
Research ( http://www.bath.ac.uk/ipr/ ).