Global Thinkers of the International Awarded The John Fell OUP Fund

Sharinee Jagtiani (L), Dr Marina Pérez de Arcos (R) with Professor Judith Brown

Global Thinkers of the International, which aims for interdisciplinary discussion of global thinkers in international relations, has been awarded a grant from the prestigious John Fell OUP Fund. This project was initiated at St Cross by St Cross DPhil candidate in International Relations, Sharinee Jagtiani, and recent St Cross alumna in International Relations, Dr Marina Pérez de Arcos.

Begun in Michaelmas 2017, Global Thinkers of the International seeks to go beyond geographical binaries to gain an appreciation of the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity in historic and

contemporary IR thought. It focuses on individuals who have played a significant role in influencing foreign policy but who have been overlooked by the discipline of International Relations.

Throughout 2017 and 2018, several successful termly themed discussions have been held. Sessions brought in scholars from across disciplines (International Relations, History, Area Studies, Comparative Politics, and Political Theory). Speakers include Judith Brown, the first political biographer of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Rana Mitter, Fellow of St Cross College and a world-known scholar on China. The sessions were extremely well attended and attracted a wide and cross-disciplinary audience ranging from undergraduate students to senior professors.

The project has competed with projects put forward by all the other departments across the Social Sciences Division to win this grant from the John Fell OUP Fund.  It will allow Global Thinkers of the International to grow and invite speakers beyond the Oxford-London area, giving it an international reach. It will also allow the Global Thinkers to host further rounds of workshops and put together an edited book tentatively titled Global Thinkers of the International.

This project came about thanks to the mentoring programme at St Cross that pairs up older DPhils with incoming DPhils. It is a credit to the interdisciplinary conversations that take place at St Cross College as well as the support and vision of Master Carole Souter.

Rachael Lindsay

Tuesday 2 April 2019