Teaching & Supervision

At King’s College London, I lead two seminars for the MA in Conflict, Security, and Development (CSD). I am part of the lecturing teams for the core course in Conflict, Security, and Development and also for the Changing Character of War course (both at the MA level). I am also part of the team that lectures for the CSD core course and for a course on the Changing Character of War. Finally, I teach an option on State Failure and Statebuilding (Winter 2013). (King’s students, you can link to the online reading list here. It is fully linked, but you’ll need to sign in.)

PhD Supervision

If you are interested in becoming a PhD student at King’s, I believe we have the largest concentration of scholars in the world working on war. King’s also has one of the largest concentrations of politics scholars in the UK, perhaps even in Europe (War Studies, Political Economy, Defence Studies, European and International Studies, Brazil Institute, India Institute, China Institute). And of course, we are located on the Strand, in the very heart of London. Just across the street is another body of politics scholars, at the LSE. In short, there is a serious critical mass of sharp minds sharing a couple of blocks in downtown London. (Did I mention that I am a one-minute walk from Covent Garden?)

Potential PhD students should apply through the King’s application system. The deadline for those who need funding is usually in January, and for those don’t require funding, the deadline is in July. For those who are looking for supervisors, I am interested in supervising research on West African politics, war, the political economy of war, corruption, organized crime, peacekeeping, the UN Security Council, natural resources, humanitarian aid, and women in politics.

But here is a caveat: I am not prepared to supervise part-time students. This may change in a few years, but for now, I will only consider those who are willing to do the program full-time in London. You must be willing to spend at least two years here with me, ideally three. The reason for this is that I will insist that you do research methods training and also that you attend the weekly departmental seminar (which I expect to be co-convening with Thomas Rid) while in London. Both of these components, in addition to having a supportive academic environment, will be critical to your success and are a fundamental part of the PhD experience in my view.

For new PhD students, I’ve created a very simple guideline on how to think about and present your research prospectus/outline.

For my MA thesis students, please read this page on Choosing a Research Question for your MA thesis.

Here is further information on the teaching that I did at Oxford- an altogether different style of teaching!