Who's who

Director of LSE100

KSW.4.06

Email: J.B.Templeton@lse.ac.uk

I received a PhD in Government from LSE in 2012 after completing doctoral research on the role of strategic issue framing in science-based decision-making within the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Since then my research has broadened into other areas of global environmental governance, including the Basel and Rotterdam conventions, the recently adopted Minamata Convention on Mercury, and wildlife crime. In addition to my work with LSE100, I lecture in the Department of Geography and Environment and, in years past, have taught in the departments of Government and International Relations. I also write for the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Earth Negotiations Bulletin, observing and analysing multilateral environmental negotiations conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.

Chris Blunt (Power shifts)

Email: C.J.Blunt@lse.ac.uk

I received my PhD from the Philosophy department at LSE. I am a Philosopher of Medicine, working on concepts of evidence in Evidence-Based Medicine. My thesis focused on hierarchies of evidence, an influential tool for ranking and evaluating the quality of evidence from clinical trials and other forms of medical research. My work is interdisciplinary and brings together perspectives from clinical practice with philosophy, policy, ethics and methodology. I am also interested in issues relating to genomic and “personalised” medicine, and questions of demarcation between science and pseudo-science. I have taught at LSE for 5 years, teaching a range of courses in the Philosophy department as well as LSE100. I also run http://writephilosophy.com, a website designed to teach philosophical skills and improve argumentative writing.

Social Profile: cjblunt.com

Maria Chen (Crime and Punishment)

Email: M.X.Chen@lse.ac.uk

I completed my PhD in the International History Department, where I teach a course on 20th century history. My research investigated the wine policy of the European Community and its impact on French wine producers. My work sat at the intersection of cultural and political history, and drew also from my interests in political science, economics, nationalism and identity studies, and food cultures. My background is in both political science and history - before arriving at LSE, I completed an MPhil in Politics from the University of Cambridge, where my thesis focused on elites, identity formation, and state-building. I have found interdisciplinary approaches fruitful and important, and find LSE100 to be an excellent place to explore this for teachers and students alike.

Antonia Dawes (Power shifts)

Email: A.L.Dawes@lse.ac.uk

I am just coming to the end of a PhD in LSE Sociology. I recently submitted my thesis, which is an ethnography of street markets in Naples, southern Italy. My research interests include race and racialisation, culture, migration and qualitative research methods. This work is connected to other projects I am involved in both inside and outside of the university. In particular I curate a student journal www.criticalcontemporaryculture that aims to forge stronger links between different people - artists, scholars, writers, musicians - who reflect upon the pressing issues we are facing today. I have taught in the LSE Sociology department for the last two years and am looking forward to bringing this experience, and my multidisciplinary approach to intellectual work, to teaching LSE100 this year.

Diego De Merich (Poverty and Inequality) 

Email: D.De-Merich@lse.ac.uk

I hold a PhD in International Relations from the LSE and am a research associate at the Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy  at Simon Fraser University. My doctoral work focused on human empathy, the feminist ethics of care and alternative frameworks for International Development (post-Millennium Development Goals). With a background in political science, my broader academic interests include international political theory and politics, critical theory and moral philosophy, gender and intersectionality theory, film and cultural studies. As the parable of the blind men and the elephant teaches us, each of our disciplines can only ever help us to appreciate one or two aspects of the big issues which affect us most (e.g. war, climate change, poverty, development, financial crisis and fall-out). I therefore look forward to engaging with students and colleagues from across the School on LSE100 and to participating in the collaboration and interdisciplinarity which "understanding elephants" will always require.

Marina Franchi (Poverty and Inequality)

Email: M.Franchi@lse.ac.uk

I completed my PhD in the LSE- Gender Institute in 2015. My research focused on Italian news media discourse on the legal recognition of de facto couples in Italy. Focusing on Italian newspapers I questioned the way in which they produce narratives that both sustain and disrupt normative notions of family and kinship. I am convinced that the analysis of news media discourse is crucial to our understanding of contemporary Italian politics of sexuality. Before this, I completed a MSc in Gender and Media at the Gender Institute and a Laurea in Political Sciences at the University of Easter Piedmont (Italy). I worked within various EU funded projects as a junior researcher in the Department of Social Research in the Faculty of Political Sciences of Alessandria. My experiences as a researcher taught me the importance of the strong interdisciplinary approach at the core of LSE100.

Natasha Marhia (Markets)

Email: N.E.Barrass@lse.ac.uk

I recently completed my doctoral research, analysing police discources/practices surrounding violence against women in Delhi, at the LSE Gender Institute. My research is highly interdisciplinary, engaging wider questions about human security, institutional power, and social change and reproduction. Over the past few years I have taught on gender theory at the Gender Institute, and conflict, globalisation and post-totalitarianism at the Government Department. In addition to teaching, I have coordinated a project exploring the impact of language difference and translation in social research, in partnership with two colleagues, and conducted research on gendered violence for women’s rights NGOs in both London and Delhi. Before coming to LSE I studied Development Studies at Oxford and Philosophy at Warwick.

Maria Norris (Crime and Punishment) 

Email: M.C.Norris@lse.ac.uk

I hold a PhD on the UK counter-terrorism strategy from the European Institute at the LSE.  Broadly speaking, my research interests include nationalism, security, terrorism, citizenship, gender, immigration and human rights.  Outside of academia, I am interested in ballet, comics, Tottenham Hotspur and science fiction.

Claire O'Donnell (Markets) 

Email: C.E.O'Donnell@lse.ac.uk

I have taught a number of social science disciplines, including economics and investment theory (at Roehampton Business School) and more recently philosophy, in the Department at LSE, for four years. I previously worked in the investment industry in London for over 25 years as a portfolio manager and in various management roles, before resuming my studies at the LSE with an MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy. My experience in the corporate world, in particular, has convinced me of the value of the multidisciplinary approach embedded in LSE100. I am delighted to be part of such an important initiative.

Alessandro Castellini

Email: A.Castellini@lse.ac.uk

I received my PhD in Gender Studies from the Gender Institute (LSE) in 2014. My research focuses on discursive representations of maternal filicide in postwar Japan and investigates areas as diverse as media coverage, the rhetoric of the Women’s Liberation Movement in Japan and women’s literature. Before this I completed an MA in Gender Studies at SOAS University and a BA in Languages and Civilizations of the Far East at Ca’ Foscari University (Venice, Italy). My interests range from gender and motherhood studies to history and translation studies. I worked as LSE Teaching Fellow in Transnational Gender Studies at the Gender Institute. I have always been deeply committed to an interdisciplinary approach to academic research and I am delighted to see that LSE100 aims to encourage students to develop a multidisciplinary perspective.

Alexandros Alexandropoulos

Email: A.Alexandropoulos@lse.ac.uk

Conducting research for a PhD project in Political Theory of Debt in the University of Amsterdam, I have a keen interest in how our democratic models have evolved over the last decades and the risks that threaten them in the context of a financial crisis, while my general research interests lie in the fields of in Political Philosophy and Critical Theory. I have previously taught at SciencesPo Paris and the University of Paris. I have been a member of the European Research Network on Social and Economic Policy (ERENSEP). Outside Political Theory I have a professional background in Psychoanalysis and in Curating for Contemporary Art. 

Manmit Bhambra

Email: M.K.Bhambra@lse.ac.uk

I recently completed my PhD. at the University of Oxford. My research in based broadly in ethnic and national identities and the range of factors that can influence their development and salience in a range of social contexts. Previously, I have studied at the LSE completing my undergraduate studies in Economic History and then completing two Masters in Global Politics and Social Research Methods. I have worked in a range of roles from Investment banking, to Public Sectors roles, such as an Economist for Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,and a Policy Advisor at the Home Office. I thus have a wide range of academic and vocational experiences that I hope to channel into my teaching of this multi-disciplinary course. I look forward to meeting and getting to know my new students and being part of this initiative.

Rosie Coffey

Email: R.S.Coffey@lse.ac.uk

I passed my PhD in International History (LSE) in November 2015.  My thesis was entitled ‘The British Press, British Public Opinion and the End of Empire in Africa, 1957-60’.  It examined the relation between British newspaper coverage of Africa and the process of decolonisation.  It is the first broad study of the role of the British press in, and in relation to, Africa at the end of empire and spans three regions.  It underscores the significance of British newspapers, journalists and editors to politicians and the public in Britain and Africa.  Further, the thesis offers a reassessment of the view that the broader British low political and cultural context to the end of empire was extraneous to the process; and presents a ‘different’ (non-official) history of decolonisation as seen through the eyes of the press.  This academic year, in addition to teaching LSE100, I am teaching in the International History Department on the course entitled ‘From Empire to Independence: The Extra-European World in the Twentieth Century’.  In 2014, I won the LSE Student Union Student-led Teaching Excellence Award for Excellent Feedback and Communication and shared the International History Department’s Martin Abel Gonzalez Prize for graduate teaching assistants.

Helen Brown Coverdale

Email: H.A.Coverdale@lse.ac.uk

I enjoy working with students and having fun through collaborative engagement with the exciting and innovative multidisciplinary LSE100 course. In addition to teaching on LSE100 where I lead on Research Ethics teaching, I have previously taught political philosophy at King’s College London, and conceptual courses in Social Policy and Law at LSE. I also offers private tuition in legal and political theory, politics, and ethics. My research interests in applied legal and political theory focus on the moral qualities of interactions between the state and individuals, and include the philosophy of punishment, care and relational ethics, relational equality and interactional justice. I earned my AHRC funded PhD in the LSE Law Department, through research applying the mode of practical moral reasoning found in care ethics to criminal punishment in order to better provide treatment as equals to offenders. I hold an MA in Legal & Political Theory (UCL) and a BA specialising in Government (Manchester). Previously I have worked in the criminal justice sector, and as a Parliamentary Researcher.

Magdalena Delgado

Email: M.C.Delgado@lse.ac.uk

I completed my PhD in the Department of International Relations (IR) at the London School of Economics (LSE) in November 2015. My Doctoral work focuses on the role of religion in the foreign policies of Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia, and explores this topic through a Constructivist-FPA framework. More broadly, my research interests include Religion and IR, Political Islam and international relations of the Middle East. Before joining the LSE100 team in September 2015, I taught Concepts of International Society (IR100) and Foreign Policy Analysis (IR202) in the IR Department, as well as the LSE Summer School course The Middle East in Global Politics (IR160). Prior to commencing my Doctoral studies, I worked in a research capacity for the Royal United Services Institute for Defence & Security Studies (RUSI) and the World Service Trust of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Roch Dunin-Wasowicz

Email: Duninwas@lse.ac.uk

Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz  is a sociologist. He is a graduate of the New School for Social Research in New York City and holds a PhD from the London School of Economics' European Institute. He works as a consultant and researcher at the LSE Public Policy Group and he is Managing Editor of the LSE Brexit blog. He studies Europe as a cultural category, a political practice, and a social reality.

He tweets @RochDW.

Rachel Faulkner- Gurstein

Email: R.Faulkner-Gurstein@lse.ac.uk

In 2015 I completed a PhD in Political Science from the City University of New York Graduate Center. My thesis examined the emergence and institutionalization of harm reduction drug policy in New York City. My research interests focus on social policy, public health, urban politics, and policy ethnography. In particular, I am interested in how social movement groups focused on health and social welfare interact with experts and policy makers within the policy process against a backdrop of austerity and state restructuring. Originally from Canada, I have an MA in Political Science from the University of Toronto, and a BA in International Relations from the University of British Columbia. I have been a visiting researcher in the Department of Social Policy at the LSE and have received research support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the United States.

Myriam Fotou

Email: m.fotou@lse.ac.uk

I joined LSE as a doctoral student under the supervision of Professor Kim Hutchings in 2010. My thesis on the ethics of hospitality and the position of the "stranger Other" in contemporary theory criticised traditional IR approaches, ethics of migration literature and a part of the poststructural scholarship, which I found to be based on an exclusionary, hierarchical understanding of the Other. My research continues in the same context inquiring into the ethical "figures" of migration, such as the undocumented migrants, people smugglers, Frontex, etc. I have been teaching in the International Relations Department since 2011 with an emphasis on International Political Theory.

Inez Freein von Weitershausen

Email: i.freiin-von-weitershausen@lse.ac.uk

I recently completed my PhD at the International Relations Department with a thesis on European cooperation in the area of crisis response during the 2011 uprisings in Libya. I hold degrees in law, business and politics from Bucerius Lawschool, Hamburg, WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, and the University of Bonn, Germany, and have taught a large number of courses for different LSE departments, including International Relations, Government and Economics.   Prior to coming to London, I worked for the Africa division of the European External Action Service in Brussels and for a corporate law firm in Frankfurt. Having lived in numerous countries, including France, the United States, Spain, Belgium, and Croatia, I have still to make up my mind about which place I actually like best and look forward to learning with and from my students during LSE100.

Athanasios Gkoutzioulis

Email:

I acquired professional experience not only in the academia but also in the military and the corporate sphere, enriching my understanding of current socioeconomic and international affairs. I have an MA in politics and international relations from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from Kings College London. Also, I gained extensive teaching experience on a broad range of subjects from King’s College London, Birkbeck and the University of East London. I have taught a number of modules including: the History of EU Integration, Comparative politics, International Relations Theory, Causes of War, War in Modern Society, Conflict and Diplomacy, Global Politics, Democracy and Authoritarianism and International Political Economy. Teaching on a broad variety subjects enriched my knowledge, allowing me to approach international affairs from many different (yet complementary) angles and inform my students about the complexities of international politics, discouraging parsimonious approaches. Moreover, my exchange research fellowship at the National University of Singapore, allowed me to focus on Southeast Asian Studies and the current sociopolitical affairs of the region. Finally, I enriched my professional experience beyond the academia after working briefly for Weber Shandwick - a prestigious PR company - focusing on the field of public affairs and corporate communications. 

Joanne Kalogeras

Email: J.Kalogeras@lse.ac.uk

I received my MSc and then PhD from LSE’s Gender Institute in 2014 under the supervision of Professors Anne Phillips and Clare Hemmings, after a career in software development. My doctoral thesis, entitled “Troubling Cosmopolitanism”, develops a critical cosmopolitan theory that relies on an intersubjective approach. My research involves integrating the normative moral philosophy and political theory theories with more critical approaches from feminist, gender, queer, and postcolonial theorists on cosmopolitanism’s primary components: autonomy, universality, and anti-nationalism. I have taught several courses in LSE’s Sociology Department as well as at the University of Westminster and King’s College London. My work, which is highly interdisciplinary, is informed by many years of LGBTQI, feminism, and disability rights activism.

Corina Lacatus

Email: C.Lacatus@lse.ac.uk

In 2016, I am completing a PhD at the LSE in the International Relations Department, with a focus on the study of international organisation and social science research methods & methodology. I am currently also a Research Associate in Transatlantic Relations at the Dahrendorf Forum (LSE IDEAS). My multi-method doctoral research centres on institutional design in the case of national human rights institutions. In parallel, I maintain a cross-disciplinary research agenda that ties my expertise as a humanities scholar of critical theory, literature & the arts (PhD 2007, UCLA) with my current interests in international politics.

Joseph Lane

Email: J.P.Lane@lse.ac.uk

I am in the final year of a PhD in the Economic History Department at LSE and my research interests lie in the development of historical industrial districts. My thesis applies theory from a number of disciplines in a case-study approach to the history of the North Staffordshire Potteries district in England from 1750 to 1851. I examine the organisation of production under conditions of extreme social and geographical proximity and the relationship this has with social and business networks and the creation and dissemination of knowledge. I love teaching at the LSE and having taught in the Economic History Department for two years, I am looking forward to joining the LSE100 team and engaging with students tackling some of the big questions and debates of our time.

Alexander Mayhew

Email: A.C.Mayhew@lse.ac.uk

I completed my undergraduate degree at King's College London where I was awarded the Brewer Prize for Modern History. After a brief foray into sales I was offered a PhD Scholarship at LSE and began my PhD in International History IN 2014. I have previously taught second and third year undergraduates in the History department. My research focuses on the morale of English soldiers on the Western Front during the Great War, 1914-1918. By investigating morale through a cultural frame of reference I hope to develop an understanding of how soldiers' resilience and mentalities were interwoven. At its heart my thesis is an analysis of human perception and subjectivity and draws extensively from theories in social psychology, anthropology and sociology. My interdisciplinary approach and past experience as an editorial assistant at the Royal United Services Institute - a military and foreign affairs think tank - have left me with a desire to broaden my academic perspective. As such, I am excited to teach on a course which looks to develop nuanced insights into important contemporary issues.

Saliha Metinsoy

Email: S.Metinsoy@lse.ac.uk

I am a doctoral candidate in politics at the University of Oxford. My research interests lie in political economy, IMF programmes, and labour markets.

Fernando Morett

Email: F.Morett@lse.ac.uk

I feel proud of being part of LSE100 and excited waiting to meet the new students this year. LSE100 allows students to transcend specialisation by becoming like polymaths with a technical expertise, which was the idea inspiring the Renaissance men and the Encyclopédistes. I am a philosopher of science. I earned my PhD from LSE writing on design and engineering methods in economics and political science. The design of institutions such as the NHS internal markets, the International Monetary Fund and the FCC auction illustrate my work. Self-interest and sympathy, libertarian and dirigiste properties as well as egalitarian and inegalitarian ones are all aspects of design, which I discuss in my work. I do enjoy teaching, supervising and mentoring students.

Jose Javier Olivas Osuna

Email: J.J.Olivas-Osuna@lse.ac.uk

In addition to teaching at LSE100, I am founder of the new voting and debating platform Netivist and editor of Euro Crisis in the Press. I am also Associate to LSE IDEAS and the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit. I did my PhD in the Department of Government. I did a comparative historical analysis on civil-military relations from a public policy angle which is being published now Iberian Military Politics: Controlling the Armed Forces during Dictatorship and Democratisation (2014, London: Palgrave Macmillan). Previously, I did an MSc in Public Policy and Administration at LSE and two Spanish bachelor degrees in Economics and in Marketing. I have taught Political Science and before that I have worked in the automotive sector for 5 years. LSE100 seems to me a great opportunity to make use of my multidisciplinary background and to contribute to a very innovative and ambitious teaching project.

Chris Parkes

Email: C.Parkes@lse.ac.uk

I'm a historian of the 20th century United States specializing in diplomatic history and the history of sexuality. My research to date has looked at the role of sexuality in the U.S. federal government, U.S. foreign policy, and the career of Sumner Welles. I've taught at the LSE for over six years and on LSE100 for three. I've also taught courses on international relations and American Studies at King's College London.

Marco Scalvini

Email: M.Scalvini@lse.ac.uk

I completed my Ph.D in Media and Communication at LSE and I am a module lecture at LSE Enterprise. My research interests is in how meaning is created and communicated through the media and interpersonal relations. My two current projects focus on minorities and public health. I combine quantitative and qualitative data through interpretative, comparative and relational analyses. Before joining LSE, I worked as a consultant for international organisations (UNESCO, UN, OSCE, G8/G20).

Tamara Shengelia

Email: T.Shengelia@lse.ac.uk

More information to follow.

Jillian Terry

Email: J.A.Terry@lse.ac.uk

I have recently completed my PhD in International Relations here at LSE, where my doctoral research explored the relationship between feminist ethics and post-9/11 war. In my thesis, I developed a framework premised on care, empathy, and experience to examine the morality and ethics of contemporary warfare practices such as the use of drones and private military contractors. At LSE, I have also taught international political theory in the International Relations department, and have previously taught widely at the undergraduate level in Political Science and International Relations in my home country of Canada. Apart from research and teaching, my non-academic pursuits include feminist activism, film photography, and finding the best coffee in London.

Michiel van Ingen

Email: M.Van-Ingen@lse.ac.uk

Michiel van Ingen is a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) on the LSE100 course. His doctoral thesis – which was funded by Loughborough University – was concerned with the philosophical underpinnings of the conflict studies literature. More specifically, it drew on critical realism in order to address the philosophical, methodological, and social theoretical controversies and dualisms which currently both divide this discipline and impede its development. Previously he spent 6.5 years as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Westminster’s Department of Politics and International Relations.

Marta Wojciechowska

Email: M.Wojciechowska@lse.ac.uk

I am currently engaged in the PhD project at the Government Department, LSE. My research concerns democracy and mega-cities and I am working on an account of normative democracy which would be applicable to these cities. While this project is mainly theoretical, I also aim to arrive at empirical recommendations regarding governance in these cities. 

I am a political theorist but my background is interdisciplinary. I hold a BA in European Studies (Warsaw), MA in Political Science (Warsaw) and MRes in Political Science (LSE). Additionally to LSE, I am teaching at the University College London, King's College  London and have been doing research on European and urban affairs.

Cherry (Jie) Yu

Email: J.Yu7@lse.ac.uk

I just submitted my PhD thesis at the International Relations Department at LSE. My thesis titles as 'Partnership ot Partnerships: An assessment on China-EU relations by using China-EU collaboration on climate change and clean energy technology as a case study'. I am also the Programme Coordinator for the East Asia International Affairs Programme at LSE IDEAS, the university's own think tank on diplomacy and international affairs. I am also acting as a Teaching Fellow at SOAS for MA General Diplomatic Studies and Practice Course. Prior to academia, I worked as a management consultant and China Desk at London Office of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, GmbH. I have extensive consulting experience with leading European conglomerates that either want to set up joint ventures in China or improve the performance of their existing Chinese business units as well as with Chinese State Owned Enterprises. I obtained my MSc in International Relations from LSE and my BA (Hons) in Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. I am also a fellow at Salzburg Global Seminar.

Jessica Livermore

Email: J.Livermore@lse.ac.uk

LSE100 Course Manager

Anna Lal

Email: A.Lal1@lse.ac.uk

LSE100 Course Administrator

Sophia Dourou

Email: S.Dorou@lse.ac.uk

LSE100 Course Administrator

LSE100 Administration Team

General Enquiries

Email: LSE100@lse.ac.uk