Professor Jack Holland

Profile

I studied at Cambridge, Birmingham, Warwick and Queensland.

I first worked at Leeds in 2009-2010, as a temporary lecturer. I returned in January 2016 as Associate Professor and was promoted to Professor in 2021. In the interim, I worked as Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey, where I was also Subject Leader for Politics. At Leeds, I have been Academic Group Leader for International Relations, and founded the Centre for Global Security Challenges, which I co-direct. I am also Editor of the The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. 

The ESRC, AHRC, Leverhulme Trust, and EU have funded my research. Amongst other things, this enabled me to spend several months working as a British Research Council Fellow at the US Library of Congress.

I am the author or editor of 6 books and I have published 30+ articles and chapters in journals such as European Jounal of International Relations, International Political Sociology, Review of International Studies, and British Journal of Politics and International Relations. 

My textbook (Palgrave) and three single-authored monographs (Routledge, MUP, CUP) have been well received. My first monograph has become an important reference point in studies of post 9/11 foreign policy. My second monograph was awarded a prize for its contribution to studies of US politics and popular culture. And my third monograph advances studies of Anglosphere foreign policy and the Syrian Civil War. I am currently updating my textbook on Security Studies for a second edition. 

In addition to working with a range of policy makers and practitioners, I regularly undertake media work, conducting over one hundred interviews to date (e.g. BBC Breakfast, BBC News, Sky News).

Responsibilities

• Founding Director of the Centre for Global Security Challenges
• Editor of The British Journal of Politics and International Relations
• Associate Editor of the European Journal of International Security

Research interests

My work is known for substantive contributions on US, UK, and Australian foreign and security policy as well as theoretical contributions to (critical) constructivism and methodogical contributions to discourse analytic approaches. While I usually make use of qualitative approaches, such as computer-aided discourse analysis, I have also undertaken quantitative research such as statistics and bibliometrics. 

Qualifications

• 2010: PhD in Politics and International Relations (Warwick, ESRC funded)
• 2007: MA Political Science Research Methods (Birmingham, ESRC funded) - Distinction
• 2005: BA Geography (Cambridge) - First with University and College Prizes
• Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching (Surrey)

Student education

I currently teach Security Studies (200 students) and American Foreign Policy (60 students). 

Alongside a textbook, I have published pedagogical research, with two articles on visual literacy and high-end skill transfer.

I have also been awarded two teaching prizes:

• the British International Studies Association-Higher Education Academy Award for Excellence in Teaching International Studies;
• the Vice-Chancellor’s Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence at the University of Surrey.

To date, I have supervised eight PhD students to completion.

Research groups and institutes

• Centre for Global Security Challenges

Current postgraduate researchers

• Charles Gray
• Laura Rose Brown
• Georgina Taylor