PIR at Royal Holloway
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rhulpir.bsky.social
PIR at Royal Holloway
@rhulpir.bsky.social
320 followers 160 following 150 posts
Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London
https://linktr.ee/rhulpirp
https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and-education/departments-and-schools/politics-and-international-relations/
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rhulpir.bsky.social
Congratulations to Dr Daniela Lai @danielalai.bsky.social, who has been elected as President of the European International Studies Association @europeanisa.bsky.social for 2025-2027!
Dr Lai speaking in front of a microphone, with a screen in the background stating that she is the new EISA president
September 9, 2025 at 10:55 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
🚨 Launching: A Roadmap to Votes at 16 🚨

Kaat Smets and @jamessloam.bsky.social contributed to A Roadmap to Votes at 16 🗳️ - a report co-created with organisations, teachers, youth workers and young people to make Votes at 16 a success.

👉 Read the full report: docsend.com/view/9nnhamt...
A square image with a pink background. The logo for Democracy Classroom is in the bottom right-hand corner. In the bottom left is the title "A roadmap to votes at 16". From the title is a snaking path which has groups of cartoon people clustered along it. Some groups are holding discussions; one is in a classroom; one is on a protest; and the final is queuing at a polling booth. Another pink square with the democracy classroom logo. There is a large block of text which says "Launching the roadmap to votes at 16, a shared vision to support young people to engage in democracy". There is a smaller cartoon image of two women helping each other carry a large object up a flight of stairs.
July 16, 2025 at 10:03 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
Kaat Smets, @jamessloam.bsky.social and @ainebennett.bsky.social are today launching their report "Pathways to Participation for Marginalised Young People" in collaboration with Partnership for Young London and the Pan-London CiCC
hollodec.github.io/images/ssia_...
The front page of the report. The background is navy blue. The Royal Holloway and Partnership for Young London logos are in the top left hand corner. Underneath this is the title "Pathways to Participation for Marginalised Young People". In the centre of the page is an image of three young people talking intently. Under the image is the text "Kaat Smets, James Sloam and Aine Bennett in collaboration with Matthew Walsham and Nora Zia from Partnership for Young London and Louisa Foyle from Pan-London CiCC".
July 11, 2025 at 9:39 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
Five of our 2nd-year undergraduates have recently completed a week's work experience in the House of Commons🧑‍⚖️
Each worked with a different select committee, they met MPs and the speaker of the house, and attended PMQs and OPQs
Well done all!
Five young women stand arm-in-arm in a low-lit wood-paneled room lined with oil paintings. The same five young women sit in a panel in front of a dramatic red painting. Their hands are clasped in front of them and they have name signs on their desks. The same five young women stand in front of the houses of parliament.
July 1, 2025 at 2:41 PM
rhulpir.bsky.social
Students of Law and Social Science are taking part in a week-long workshop on social justice journalism led by @trillingual.bsky.social and PIRP’s @yoavgalai.bsky.social
Watch this space for student work!
visualwriting.org/sj/
A classroom with 10 young people watching a presentation from a white man in a grey shirt. The man is stood in front of a slide that says "Types of news writing: 1. News story" and has a screenshot from the BBV news. Some students are watching intently, while others take notes by hand or on their laptops.
June 3, 2025 at 2:15 PM
rhulpir.bsky.social
The Visual Writing module is a research-led course on Political Visual Literacy designed and taught by @yoavgalai.bsky.social whose eye for design can be seen in the website!
Yoav's work on Political Visual Literacy is published open-access here: academic.oup.com/ips/article/...
May 31, 2025 at 10:14 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
The in-person exhibition of student work from the Visual Writing module was a huge success and you can now see the students' work exhibited online: visualwriting.org/exhibition/ 🧑‍🎨🖼️
A group of young people stand in a brightly lit room deep in conversation. Some people in the background are looking at or gesturing to artwork hung densely on the wall. Another angle of the same room. Two of the groups in the foreground feature a young black woman appearing to explain something to an older white woman. Behind them, two people are seated, looking at the art. In the background a small group of white men are listening intently, with another work of art on a screen behind them. Two young women stand at the other end of the brightly lit room while the exhibition is being installed. One looks at her phone while the other looks thoughtfully at the work on the wall. In the foreground we can see one of the art pieces: a collage of a mythological scene with an american flag and photographic faces.
May 30, 2025 at 10:05 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
Our students on the final-year visual writing module will be exhibiting a selection of their work Thursday 29th May at 5pm in the Chris Rumford Library in the McCrea Building
Come along to meet the markers and enjoy their excellent work 🖼️🎨
Poster advertising the event. Across the top is the text "Visual/Writing Exhibition of student work. Chris Rumford Library, Royal Holloway (Egham) 29 May 2025, 17:00" Taking up most of the page is a collage piece by Phoebe Solomon. Most of the image is a black and white shot of a white family. The child in the centre is watching a TV which has a colour union jack on it. The child's face has been collaged over with black features. Out of the window behind the family is a colour photo of Grenfell tower burning and in the top right hand corner is an England flag. The right hand side of the poster is a quote from Stuart hall about racialised forms of looking.
May 23, 2025 at 9:09 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
Join @jbeisermcgrath.bsky.social and @jamessloam.bsky.social next Wednesday 21st May at 4pm BST/11am EDT for an online open event to learn more about the masters programmes at Royal Holloway 🖥️📚
All prospective students welcome, we will particularly be talking about coming to the UK from abroad 🌍🌎
A poster advertising the event. There is a dark grey banner across the top, with the Royal Holloway logo on the right and a title that says "Discover Masters Opportunities at Royal Holloway, University of London - Open Event Online". There is a photo of Founders' Quad with the sun rising over the building in the bottom right hand corner. The main paragraph of text says "All are welcome to join us for a discussion of Masters opportunities in Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London. We will explain the different programmes we offer, where we are, fees and finances, and what kind of careers our students go into. We will also be joined by a current MSc Media, Power & Public Affairs student who can give first-hand experience of life at Royal Holloway and in the UK. We will take all your questions and you can ask whatever you like. We would love for you to consider joining us next September!" At the bottom of the poster is text saying "Dr Janina Beiser-McGrath and Prof James Sloam Time: 16:00 BST / 11:00 EDT Date: 21 May"
May 16, 2025 at 9:28 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
@cvtrc.bsky.social are setting up a new, interdisciplinary PGR network and invite any interested PGRs to join them on 2nd June for lunch! 🥪🍏
Email @katosborne5.bsky.social to register your interest
A poster advertising the event. The Royal Holloway logo and the banner for the Conflict, Violence & Terrorism Research Centre are at the top of the page and an arial view of Founders' Building is at the bottom. The centre is plain text saying "PGR Network Meet and Greet Lunch. PGRs researching conflict, war, violence and terrorism please join us for our first event as a network! Monday 2nd June at 12-1:30 Room TBC. Please email kat.osborne.2023@rhul.ac.uk by the 19th of May to register your interest and dietary requirements."
May 9, 2025 at 9:54 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
Join us and @genderrhul.bsky.social next Tuesday from 4:30 in McCrea 0-02 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Gender Institute with a talk from founder and former PIRP Head of Department Laura Sjoberg - all staff and students welcome to the talk and refreshments afterwards!
A poster with the text: "The Gender Institute presents a May Celebration for all students and staff. Tuesday 6th Mat 4:30-7:00pm. 4:30 McCrea 0-02 "Dynastic Marriages, Sex Acts and the Making of the Modern State" presented by Professor Laura Sjoberg, founder of the Gender Institute and now Kloppenburg Official Fellow and Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Exeter College, Oxford. 5:30 Networking and general get together with refreshments in the Chris Rumford Library to celebrate 4 cohorts of Go Run Lead and 5 years of the Gender Institute. 6th May fun facts: 1954 Roger Bannister first sub 4-minute mile 1998 First Apple iMac PC 2020 Royal Holloway Gender Institute founded 2023 King Charles III coronation"
April 28, 2025 at 9:35 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
First year PIRP student Amelie Abass won Young Campaigner of the Year this weekend at the 2025 Inspirational Youth Awards! A huge congratulations to Amelie 🥳🎉
#IYA25
Two young black women in formal wear stand together in front of a large screen saying "young campaigner of the year winner" Amelie is on the right in a pink dress and with her hair in braids - she is holding her award. Both women are smiling.
April 14, 2025 at 2:31 PM
rhulpir.bsky.social
We had a fantastic turnout from current and former students and PIRP staff at the Law and Social Sciences Alumni Symposium last week!
Thank you to the alumni for sharing their advice on how to succeed in different industries with our students 💼🎓
A classroom full of students listening to a panel discussion from 5 alumni chaired by Professor James Sloam A panel of 7 alumni listening to a young woman speaking. She is gesturing emphatically. The panel is chaired by Dr Kat Gupta. A panel of 5 alumni listen as the person in the centre speaks, gesturing with their hand. Professor James Sloam is leaning in intently. An arial view of the networking reception. Students and alumni are mingling with plates of food. There is a long table with more food and drinks behind them.
April 9, 2025 at 8:43 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
The reviews are in and the launch of Marco Guglielmo's book The Left and Digital Politics last night was a hit! One attendee said "I've never seen someone so full of energy presenting at 7pm"
Thank you Marco for returning to RHUL 😊
Read the book here: www.fulcrum.org/concern/mono...
Marco, a white man in a checked shirt, dark trousers and trainers, stands gesturing in front of a screen showing the cover of his book. He appears to be posing a question to the audience and has a clicker in his hand. Marco looks animated talking about another slide which says "The Puzzle: Subjects (potentially) resisting the Big Techs are a vast progressive majority. How, then, do we end up with the digital far right?"
March 12, 2025 at 10:27 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
Join us next Tuesday 11th March 5-7pm in the Moore Annex Lecture Theatre for the return of Dr Marco Guglielmo to launch his new book "The Left and Digital Politics: Imagining progressive alternatives in the age of digital monsters" 📚🖥️
Marco will be joined by @benoloughlin.bsky.social
A poster advertising the event. In the top right corner are the Royal Holloway and New Pol Com logos In the bottom right corner is a QR code for the e-book download link. On the left is the cover of the book, which has a pink background, has "critical, digital and social media studies" in a speech bubble at the top, then has the author and title. Underneath is a cartoon of three pink fists raised towards three blue servers. The text on the right of the poster says "Book Launch Seminar. The Left and Digital Politics: Imagining Progressive Alternatives in the Age of Digital Monsters. Marco Guglielmo, University of Valencia (Spain), Ben O'Loughlin, Royal Holloway University of London", the date, time and location and a promotional quote "Transforming Gramsci's project of the Modern Prince into a Digital Princess+" may not happen overnight, but Guglielmo's book provides great inspiration" from Professor Phoebe Moore, University of Essex
March 4, 2025 at 9:53 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
This time last week was PhD day on campus!
PhD students @irenearahal.bsky.social and Justin Moll gave excellent presentations at our research seminar, before the opening of the new LSS PhD office later in the afternoon which was also well attended by department staff 🥳🍕
Irene Arahal, a white woman with dark hair and glasses, wearing a light grey shirt over a dark green t shirt and black trousers. She is stood at the front of a classroom in front of a screen showing a slide entitled "Modelling the political belief networks" and is in the middle of speaking, using her hand to highlight a point. Justin Moll, a white man with dark blonde hair and a moustache. He is wearing a grey suit with a blue shirt. He is stood at the front of a classroom next to a screen showing a slide with the title "Political implications of cognition as disclosure". He is gesturing with his hands as he speaks. The photograph is taken from behind two people's heads. Karia Hartung, Aine Bennett, Lucia Frigo and Kat Osborne, four white women in casual clothes, stand together in an office in front of the windows. They are smiling and have their arms around each other. Aine is holding and gesturing to a small blue plaque. Somebody holds a cardboard sign behind them that says "happy office warming" A group of approximately 20 people stood chatting, drinking soft drinks and eating pizza in a brightly lit office space. There are boxes of pizzas open on the tables and a cardboard sign reading "happy office warming"
February 26, 2025 at 10:31 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
The Gender Institute's Scholar of the Month for March is Jill Marshall from the law department who will be speaking at 1pm on Friday 7th March on Teams about "Feminist Jurisprudence and the Human Rights of Women" 👩‍⚖️
A poster advertising the talk in orange text over a grey background, with a photograph of Jill Marshall, a blonde white woman, stood in a chapel in the top right corner.
February 25, 2025 at 10:47 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
TedX Royal Holloway are hosting a speaker event "Employability and Value Creation" 2pm-5pm (with a networking hour from 1pm) on the 1st March in the SU Hall. They have a fantastic range of alumni speakers who will be sharing their career journeys 💼🧑‍💼
www.su.rhul.ac.uk/societies/a-...
A poster advertising the event. The background fades from white to red. The title at the top of the page says "TedX Royal Holloway, Speaker Event: Employability and value creation". Below this to the left are the list of speakers with their photographs. The speakers are: Joe Seddon, Chris MacNeil, Marie Hemingway, Sumayah Saadi, Farhoon Asim, Karina Mazur, Roxane Taku and Joana Rocha, and Ian Kenny. On the right is pricing information and ticket links in QR codes. The RHUL students/alumni price is £5 and the non-RHUL ticket price is £15. Doors open at 1 for networking (2-5). In the bottom right is the location: SU Hall and date: 01/03/25
February 24, 2025 at 11:04 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
We have two events next week for LGBTQ+ History Month 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
@jessicalynntalks.bsky.social will be discussing "what it means to be transgender" and presenting a piece called "Undeterred" on Wednesday 19th 2-4pm and Thursday 20th 11-1
Register here for location: forms.office.com/e/K1RavXWScU
A poster advertising the talks. There is a photograph of Jessica Lynn on the left, a blonde woman with a long side fringe in a burgundy top and black skirt, sat on a wooden bench. The text says: "LGBT+ History Month events with Transgender Activist and Kinsey Institute Global Ambassador Jessica Lynn School of Law and Social Sciences workshop: • Wednesday 19th February 2025, 2-4pm • Egham campus – follow QR code/link for location and sign-up All staff and students are invited… … to join Jessica Lynn who will discuss "What it means to be transgender", opening conversation and fostering a respectful atmosphere. Organisers and sponsors: RHUL EDI, LSS EDI, RHUL UCU, Gender Institute. Contact: suki.finn@rhul.ac.uk. Sign-up: https://forms.office.com/e/K1RavXWScU Royal Holloway University of London talk and Q&A: • Thursday 20th February 2025, 11am-1pm • Egham campus – follow QR code/link for location and sign-up"
February 12, 2025 at 10:13 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
Royal Holloway staff and students at any level can access free and confidential writing advice and support from our new Royal Literary Fund fellow @tonywhite.bsky.social
Scan the QR code in the poster to book a 1:1 session!
A poster advertising the work of the RLF fellows. The background of the poster is a warm yellowy-orange and in the centre of the poster is a cartoon of a man with a beard holding a book and a pen talking to a younger woman holding a book and typing on a laptop. They are surrounded by more books and thought bubbles containing cartoons about writing and academia. The text at the top of the poster says "get free help with your academic writing from a professional, published writer". The text underneath the image says "Free one-to-one 50-min sessions. In-person or online. Confidential. Available to students and Staff. Find out more and book a tutorial today www.rlf.org.uk" Below this is the RLF education logo and a QR code.
February 10, 2025 at 11:04 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
On 19th February at 6:30pm at Stewart House, @royalholloway.bsky.social will be hosting a lecture from Lord Woolley of Woolford, the founder of Operation Black Vote, which is sure to be of great interest to politics staff and students!

Register for free: www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/eve...
A photograph of Lord Woolley, a black man with grey hair, wearing a charcoal suit, delivering a talk. He is stood in front of a grandfather clock. On the left of the image is an orange overlay with the word "lecture" written on top in white
February 7, 2025 at 10:28 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
Former Labour leader and Vice President of the European Commission Neil Kinnock will be in conversation with students 5:10-6:30pm 18th February in the Moore Auditorium
Register for free here: www.su.rhul.ac.uk/ents/event/8...
A poster advertising the event. The logos of the Royal Holloway Labour, Liberal Democrats, and Conservative societies are at the top on a white background. The main body of the poster has a red background and a photo of Neil Kinnock, an older white man in a dark suit. The poster says that the event will be followed by a drinks reception and that it is co-funded by the European Union.
February 6, 2025 at 12:30 PM
rhulpir.bsky.social
At 3pm 12th February in EWD-1-04 and online, the Gender Institute will be welcoming Billy Holzberg as their scholar of the month
Dr Holzberg's presentation, "Transnational Anti-Gender Politics and the Advance of Reproductive Racism", is sure to be of interest to politics scholars!
A poster with a grey background advertising the talk. The title is at the top in orange, next to a colour photograph of Billy, a white man with short brown hair and blue eyes. The body of the text says: "Wednesday 12 th February, 3pm in Room EWD-1-04 and Microsoft Teams Dr Holzberg is a Lecturer in Social Justice at King’s College, London. His research focuses on how the politics of affect, gender and sexuality fuel and contest growing nationalisms and intensified border regimes. He is the author of “Affective bordering: Race, Deservingness and the Emotional Politics of Migration Control” (MUP 2024) and the co-editor of “Transnational Anti-Gender Politics: Feminist Solidarity in Times of Global Attacks (Palgrave 2024). This session will trace the spread of transnational anti-gender politics uncovering how they are driven by reproductive racism and demographic anxieties about preserving the nation as white and heterosexual. It explores how anti-gender ideologies across Europe and North America not only stifle feminist and queer movements but also fuel violent conspiracy theories like the Great Replacement, which justifies racist terror in the name of protecting the “white nation”. This talk will underscore the need for a transnational and intersectional feminist framework that resists the “divide and conquer” logic that anti-gender politics thrive on and protects against the multiple lines of attack it produces. Dr Holzberg’s full research record is available on the KCL website For more information josephine.carr@rhul.ac.uk Royal Holloway, University of London Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX @GenderRHUL"
February 3, 2025 at 11:42 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
Today at 1pm, the inimitable @mixosaurus.bsky.social is presenting "Eroticising the trans body: labels and descriptions of queer bodies in online erotica" as the Gender Institute's Scholar of the month🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️
Join us in McCrea 1-17 or on Teams for what is sure to be a fascinating talk
A poster advertising the talk. There is a photo of Kat Gupta, a non-binary south Asian person, next to the title. The body of the text says: "Thursday 3oth January, 1pm in McCrea-1-17 or Microsoft Teams Dr Gupta is a Lecturer in Political Communications in the Department of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy at Royal Holloway. Their research uses corpus linguistics and (critical) discourse analysis to explore representation, marginalisation and power, with a particular focus on gender, sexuality, and intersections of these with other identities. They are the author of “Representation of the British Suffrage Movement” and co-editor of “The Emergence of Trans Cultures, Politics and Everyday Lives” . Kat has performed their creative writing as part of CN Lester’s Transpose series. and both contributed to and co-edited Non-Binary Lives: An Anthology of Intersecting Identities (with Jos Twist, Ben Vincent, and MJ Barker: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2020), a Lambda Literary Award finalist. This session will focus on how non-normative bodies, such as those that violate or transgress the gender binary, are constructed as desirable in a corpus of online erotic fiction. Erotica has a complex relationship with reality: writers may write about interactions obviously based in fantasy: write about sexual acts and dynamics that they have not (yet) experienced but would like to; or explore themes or sexual acts that they find arousing but which they do not want, or which are impossible, to experience in real life. However, erotica is written on a sociocultural context which is reflected in the dynamics between characters and types of sexual acts."
January 30, 2025 at 10:50 AM
rhulpir.bsky.social
@antaradatta.bsky.social has collaborated with the National Archives to produce a resource for Key Stage 4 and 5 students about refugees in South Asia during WWII - share widely with educators and young people! www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/re...
A black and white photo of Burmese refugees. Two men are pulling a handcart. Two women and a child sit in the handcart, surrounded by their belongings.
January 27, 2025 at 9:45 AM