European International Studies Association appoints Cardiff lecturer as new President

A Senior Lecturer in International Relations has recently been appointed as President of the European International Studies Association (EISA).

Dr Victoria Basham begins her two year tenure in 2017; taking over at the helm of the fast growing professional association that aims to serve the International Relations community by promoting the research, study and teaching of international studies in Europe and beyond.

EISA was created in 2013 by the Standing Group on International Relations and has since become one of the largest scholarly international studies associations in the world.

Dr Basham’s research interests lie in the field of Critical Military Studies at the intersections of feminist international relations, critical geopolitics and international political sociology.

Dr Basham first became involved in the Association after attending their 8^th Pan European Conference in Warsaw. At the time she was in the process of setting up the journal Critical Military Studies and an existing EISA Board member suggested that she should propose a section of linked panels on the same theme for the conference.

Dr Basham explains, “The spaces that the EISA creates for discussion and intellectual engagement are richer than any others I’ve encountered. In 2015 the EISA asked its members to consider standing for election to its Governing Board and so, with the encouragement of others, I decided to put my name forward. I was elected and became a Board member in September 2015.”

Since then, Dr Basham has organised the Association’s symposiums and summer schools which brings junior scholars together to learn from some of the biggest names in International Relations.

Talking about becoming President Dr Basham said, “The constitution of the EISA stipulates that the President needs to be an existing or previous Board member. It's the role of the outgoing President to gauge who on the Board would be good candidates for this and propose two names to the Board who then vote. I had worked closely with my predecessor, Thomas Diez, on the Barcelona conference and was honoured when he nominated me on the basis of the work I'd done for that.”

“I am very proud to be the first woman in the role and the first scholar to not (yet!) hold a professorship. I also feel very proud to be so centrally involved in the EISA in the aftermath of the referendum on British membership of the European Union and to be able to signal that British academics are still and will remain active members of the vibrant European international studies community.”

Dr Basham’s role will see her chair the three annual Board meetings of the association and arbitrate the discussions there. She will also serve on the organising committees for the Pan-European Conferences in 2018 and 2019 in support of the Programme Chairs as well as being involved in a range of activities to promote the Association and European international studies such as maintaining and developing their relations with sister associations around the world.

Talking about her Presidency in relation to the School Dr Basham said, “I think that my taking on this role at a time when International Relations has expanded so much at Cardiff is a really happy coincidence. Both suggest that international studies is thriving in Wales and the wider UK and I hope that the visibility of my role as President will also make the School of Law and Politics even more visible to colleagues and students around the world as a great place for researching and learning about international studies!”