Forum: Gendered Dynamics of Academic Networks

This forum examines whether scholars' access to networks in the international studies profession is gendered and if so, the consequences of those networks for personal and professional success. Academic networks that encompass both professional and personal connections have been proposed as one solution to chilly climate issues because they provide a dual function of enhancing scholarly productivity and inclusion in the profession. The articles in the forum consider both professional (e.g. citation) and personal (e.g. mentorship, friendship) networks, as well as traditional (e.g. invited talks) and nontraditional (e.g. social media) networks. The authors show that biases that arise through the gendered nature of academic networks can be mitigated through social media, mentoring, and friendship networks. However, we must also be cognizant of other factors that create barriers for women in the profession (e.g. university prestige, parenthood, COVID-19). [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Studies Perspectives is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Pod Save IR: Podcasts as Effective Assignments in the International Relations Classroom

This paper discusses the development of a podcast assignment as an alternative to a literature review paper in the international studies classroom. A podcast assignment still enables students to read, evaluate, and synthesize research in a given field, but also allows them to meet other important educational objectives such as application of research to a real-world problem or setting, teamwork, problem-solving, feeling a part of an intellectual community, communication and digital media skills, engagement with the field and the material, and ability to communicate academic research to an interested nonexpert audience. The paper situates podcasts within the scholarship of active teaching and learning, and describes the rationale for the development of the assignment in a course on international political economy, in part to deal with issues arising from the COVID-19 disruption. It describes how the assignment was run and was evaluated, and provides the assignment task description and scoring rubric, as well as supporting materials and resources. Finally, the paper uses student postexperience surveys to gather indirect assessment data on the podcast assignment's effectiveness in achieving a range of educational objectives.

Teaching Trade during COVID: Conducting a WTO Simulation through Remote Delivery

In Fall 2020, all universities in Alberta went with remote delivery of classes due to COVID-19 restrictions. This provided not only teaching challenges, but also opportunities. Professors at three Canadian universities teaching similar undergraduate courses in international political economy decided to use the challenges/opportunities of COVID-19 restrictions to experiment with a World Trade Organization (WTO) simulation across three campuses through remote delivery. Simulations are frequently used for teaching in political science, but what was unusual was doing it through remote delivery. This paper assesses the effectiveness of the experiment. It traces the origins/evolution of the idea, learning objectives for the students, preparation by the professors to design the WTO simulation, and the experience of the actual simulation. It also addresses the challenges (technological, timing, assignments, grading, student anxiety, etc.). In addition, it identifies the steps that were taken to reduce and mitigate the challenges. It also acknowledges the mistakes that were made by the professors in designing and implementing the assignment. These observations and reflections are informed by the materials that the professors prepared, their thoughts on the experience, and the feedback from participating students (through official student evaluations as well as a special survey instrument). It provides lessons for future online simulations.

Lateral Relations in World Politics: Rethinking Interactions and Change among Fields, Systems, and Sectors

Scholarship drawing from a wide array of perspectives including field theoretical and functional differentiation approaches has shed increasing light on the sectoral dimensions of world politics. In contrast to dominant approaches emphasizing hierarchy and power in relations between global fields, this article offers a novel interpretive framework for understanding how diverse fields, systems, or sectors may interact and facilitate change in world politics beyond the operation of established hierarchies and power dynamics. Taking forward the previously underutilized concept of symbolically generalized media of communication, this article elucidates two processes of international political change by which different fields, systems, or sectors may transform world politics. The first process, lateral retreat, is illustrated with reference to the case study of the Protestant Reformation, in which internal changes in the religious field facilitated the development of an increasingly autonomous political domain. The second process, lateral penetration, is illustrated with reference to the international political response to the climate change and Covid-19 crises, in which the scientific sector contributed toward transformed political priorities and associated hierarchies, at least in the short term. These diverse cases are used to indicate the broad potential scope of application of the concept of symbolically generalized media of communication to enrich relational theorizing in the study of international relations, and to improve understanding of diverse dynamics of international political change missed in traditional power- (and anarchy-) centric accounts.

Forum: Gendered Dynamics of Academic Networks

This forum examines whether scholars' access to networks in the international studies profession is gendered and if so, the consequences of those networks for personal and professional success. Academic networks that encompass both professional and personal connections have been proposed as one solution to chilly climate issues because they provide a dual function of enhancing scholarly productivity and inclusion in the profession. The articles in the forum consider both professional (e.g., citation) and personal (e.g., mentorship, friendship) networks, as well as traditional (e.g., invited talks) and nontraditional (e.g., social media) networks. The authors show that biases that arise through the gendered nature of academic networks can be mitigated through social media, mentoring, and friendship networks. However, we must also be cognizant of other factors that create barriers for women in the profession (e.g., university prestige, parenthood, COVID-19).

Anxiety and the Onset of COVID-19: Examining Concerns of Historically Excluded Scholars

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic increased uncertainty, leading to questions about how it spread, how long it would last, and its long-term effects. In academia, many scholars worried about their positions and career advancement. Our research focuses on how different groups within academia coped during the initial period of the pandemic, with particular attention paid to the role of anxiety. We argue that vulnerable groups, such as historically excluded individuals, graduate students, and women, felt even higher levels of anxiety. We use original survey data collected from international relations and political science scholars during May 2020. We content analyze open-ended responses to illustrate the impacts of the pandemic on our participants' work life, including research productivity, the job market, promotion, and tenure. These analyses reveal not only what different groups of scholars are concerned about, but also the different ways in which they discuss the pandemic. Our research aims to highlight the social and mental health effects of the pandemic, with an eye toward addressing inequalities in academia. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Studies Perspectives is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Efficacy of a peer-based in-home education program in improving social-emotional outcomes of parents and children.

Significant disparities in education and social-emotional outcomes exist between racial/ethnic groups, particularly impacting children growing up in impoverished environments. Home visitation intervention programs, such as the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), have been used for decades to improve academic readiness in these vulnerable preschool-aged children. Although the benefits of HIPPY on academic readiness and performance are well-documented, there has been no examination of social-emotional benefits to participating parent-child dyads. This study followed a HIPPY cohort over the course of 1 year to evaluate change in maternal and child social-emotional and behavioral functioning. Program participants demonstrated reduced parental stress and depression and increased parental social connection as well as reduced child externalizing behaviors and improved child adaptive functioning over the course of the program, even in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown. These data highlight the additional benefits of early home-based academic intervention programs.

Las significativas disparidades en educación y resultados socioemocionales existen entre grupos raciales/étnicos, ejerciendo particularmente un impacto en los niños que crecen en ambientes empobrecidos. Los programas de intervención de visitas a casa, tales como la Instrucción en el Hogar para Padres y Niños Pequeños en Edad Prescolar (HIPPY), han sido utilizados por décadas para mejorar la preparación académica en estos niños de edad prescolar vulnerables. A pesar de que los beneficios de HIPPY en cuanto a preparación y rendimiento académicos están bien documentados, no se ha dado una revisión de los beneficios socioemocionales para las díadas progenitor-niño que participan. Este estudio le dio seguimiento a un grupo de HIPPY a lo largo del curso de un año para evaluar el cambio en el funcionamiento socioemocional y de comportamiento materno y en el niño. Los participantes en el programa demostraron un reducido nivel de estrés y depresión en progenitores y un aumento en la conexión social de progenitores, así como niveles reducidos de comportamiento externalizantes en el niño y un incremento en el funcionamiento de adaptación del niño a lo largo del curso del programa, aun dentro del contexto de la pandemia del COVID-19 y el aislamiento que con ella se asocia. Estos datos subrayan los beneficios adicionales de programas tempranos de intervención académica en casa.

Des inégalités importantes dans l'éducation et les résultats socio-émotionnels existent entre les groupes raciaux/ethniques, ce qui impacte particulièrement les enfants grandissant dans des milieux appauvris. Des programmes d'intervention de visite à domicile, comme le programme d'Instruction à Domicile de Parents de Jeunes Enfants d'Age Préscolaire (abrégé HIPPY en anglais), ont été utilisés depuis des dizaines d'années afin d'améliorer la préparation académique de ces enfants vulnérables d'âge préscolaire. Bien que les bénéfices du programme HIPPY sur la préparation académique et la performance académique soit bien documentée, les bénéfices socio-émotionnels de la participation des dyades parent-enfant n'ont jamais été examinés. Cette étude a donc suivi une cohorte HIPPY au cours d'une année afin d'évaluer le changement dans le fonctionnement émotionnel et comportemental maternel et de l'enfant. Les participantes ou participants au programme ont fait preuve d'une réduction du stress parental et de la dépression et de plus de lien social parental ainsi qu'une réduction de comportements d'externalisation de l'enfant et d'un fonctionnement adaptatif de l'enfant amélioré au cours du programme, même dans le contexte de la pandémie du covid-19 et du confinement. Ces données mettent en évidence les bénéfices supplémentaires des programmes d'intervention académique précoce à domicile.

Subversive Knowledge in Times of Global Political Crisis: A Manifesto for Ethnography in the Study of International Relations

This paper explores the promises and pitfalls of using ethnographic methods to analyze global politics in turbulent times. Ethnography has not gone unnoticed by international relations (IR) scholars, but the method remains at the fringes of the discipline. While acknowledging more recent feminist and practice theorist contributions to ethnographic research in IR, this paper brings together contemporary research across diverse issue areas, ranging from humanitarian intervention to transnational migration, to ask about ethnography's larger contribution to understanding global politics: What kinds of knowledge does ethnography produce about IR? In what ways might ethnography, informed by local perspectives, challenge top-down approaches to the study of IR? We identify three primary justifications for ethnographic methods based on different, though overlapping, forms of knowledge that they can uncover: tacit knowledge, marginalized knowledge, and subversive knowledge. We acknowledge issues that complicate access, and we warn that ethnographers are far from immune to the imperialist arrogance of mainstream methodologies. Ultimately, we call for reflexive scholarship to navigate the international politics of a "post-truth" and post-Covid world.

Contesting Legitimacy of Global Governance Institutions: The Case of the World Health Organization During the Coronavirus Pandemic

This article examines the (de)legitimation of a global governance institution (GGI) in the throes of a full-blown legitimacy crisis: the World Health Organization (WHO) during the coronavirus pandemic. Substantively, it fleshes out systematically the discursive (de)legitimating practices of six (types of) actors: the Trump administration, US allies, US quality press, global health-scientific community, the WHO, and the Chinese government. To that end, it synthesizes elements from the rich literature on legitimacy and elaborates a conceptual apparatus bolstered by operational sources of legitimacy. Empirically, it is grounded in a qualitative content analysis of a purpose-built data corpus of 458 texts that contain justifications for (de)legitimation. In so doing, this study not only presents a holistic and yet granular view of discursive (de)legitimation by some pivotal actors surrounding the WHO and its pandemic response, but offers general insights on legitimacy and (de)legitimation of GGIs during times of crisis. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Studies Review is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)