Laura Rose Brown

Profile

My ESRC PhD project explores the recent trend to gender nuclear weapons policy. I am researching the increased focus on gender in the realm of nuclear weapons policy to identify the goals and effects of these efforts in order to understand their policy and scholarly impacts. The project explores the varied approaches to gendering the space as well as the intentions, impact, and success (or not) of this work.

I joined the University of Leeds in September 2021 on a 1+3 ESRC WRDTP PhD Studentship. As part of this studentship I have successfully completed an MA in Social Research, during which I undertook a dissertation exploring the role of gender within discourses of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. I am carrying out my PhD project as part of a collaborative studentship with BASIC, a UK based think-tank focused on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. As part of this joint project I am working to develop policy oriented outputs related to my scholarly research into the intersection of gender and nuclear weapons.

Before joining the University of Leeds in 2021, I worked as a Policy Intern for BASIC where I worked on coordinating the Emerging Voices Network and contributed to the Nuclear Responsibilities programme. Prior to this, I studied at the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po Paris where I gained a Masters degree in International Security with cum laude honours. I also hold a BA in Political Science specialising in the Middle East from Sciences Po Paris.

I am currently the Communications Officer for the Centre for Global Security Challenges and the European Journal of International Security.

Research interests

• Nuclear weapons disarmament and non-proliferation
• Feminist IR & Feminist Security Studies 
• Postcolonial and Feminist Theories of Gender & Security

Qualifications

• MA Social Research (distinction), University of Leeds
• MA International Security (cum laude honours), Sciences Po Paris
• BA Political Science, Sciences Po Paris