Dr Blake Lawrinson

Profile

I am a Lecturer (Teaching and Scholarship) in British Foreign Policy and International Relations. I have been in POLIS for over a decade having completed a BA, MA and PhD in the School. 

In POLIS, I teach on a range of modules in foreign policy and International Relations at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. My pedagogy and teaching reflects in my research interests in British foreign policy, International Relations history and theory, and foreign policy.

I am the Director of Undergraduate Admissions for the School. 

Responsibilities

• Director of Undergraduate Admissions, POLIS

Research interests

My primary research interests are on Britain’s role in the world, international order, human protection and the pedagogy of International Relations history and theory. 

Some of my further research interests are:

• The pedagogy of Global IR 
• Norms (international norms, the life cycle of norms, clusters, entrepreneurship)
• British foreign policy (humanitarian protection, human rights, soft power, world role, national interest, values)
• Humanitarian protection (R2P, civilian protection, peacekeeping)
• International order and a changing international order 
• Foreign polciy analysis (foreign policy change)

Qualifications

• PhD Politics and International Studies
• MA International Relations
• BA International Relations

Professional memberships

• Fellow (Advance HE)
• British International Studies Association (BISA)

Student education

I thoroughly enjoy teaching, student education and pedagogy and have a number of University Partnership nominations for my teaching, assessment and feedback practices (2022, 2023, 2024). This includes winning the 2023 Faculty Partnership Award for Assessment and Feedback.

I am passionate about educational engagement and have been involved in a range of educational outreach programmes at School and University level. 

I have experience of leading and teaching a range of modules at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This includes International Politics, research methods, United States politics, security studies, the responsibility to protect, British foreign policy and nuclear weapons. At postgraduate level, I have been module leader for theoretical approaches to IR, Diplomacy and International Relations history. 

My approach to pedagogy is to encourage students as critical and reflective thinkers in order to understand and shape the analysis of the politics of global challenges, while learning and building core skills.