2013 has been an exciting year so far. Our faculty have been busy working on new research, publishing new books, attending conferences and giving expert comment to the media.
Forums on the World Stage
Dean Ngaire Woods attended the annual Skoll World Forum, held from 10-12 April in Oxford. She participated in the panel discussion 'From Per Capita to Pro Capita: Launch of the Social Progress Imperative', moderated by Philanthrocapitalism author Michael Green. The panel dicussed how to effectively measure a country's progress, using metrics that give a clearer picture than the oft-cited Gross Domestic Product.
Professor Woods has also been interviewed on Radio 4's Today Programme about the state of the global economy and the measures employed to fix it. Earlier this year she travelled to Davos to participate in the World Economic Forum, where she was interviewed on Forum Live.
Cyber Security
Departmental Lecturer Ivan Arreguín-Toft was interviewed on BBC South Today earlier this month about the new cyber security centre which will be based at the University's Oxford Martin School. The Global Centre for Cyber Security and Capacity Building will assist countries in developing their defences against online threats and attacks. Dr Arreguín-Toft, an international security and strategic studies scholar, explained that the University's suitability as a location for the centre rests in its wide-ranging areas of expertise that will be needed to make the endeavour successful. The Centre will receive an investment of £1m from the UK government over two years.
Development and Tax Avoidance
Last month, Processor of Economics Paul Collier attended the Wilson Center conference 'Locating Social Entrepreneurship in the Global South: Innovations in Development Aid' in Washington DC. Professor Collier gave a keynote address entitled 'Social Enterprise and Aid: Pump-Priming the Missing Effective Organisations', which you can watch here (Professor Collier begins his address at about the 40-minute mark). He was also interviewed about social entrepreneurship, discussing new developments in social innovation (watch his responses to questions here). Professor Collier is advising the UK government on tax avoidance ahead of ths year's G8 summit. His recent article in Prospect Magazine, 'In Pursuit of the $21 Trillion', sets out how he believes David Cameron should tackle the subject. The PM mentioned his work in a special address at Davos earlier this year.
International Studies and Stateside Travels
Professor of Government and Public Policy Monica Toft attended the International Studies Association Annual Convention in San Francisco earlier this month. This year's theme was 'The Politics of Diffusion: Regional and Global Dimensions', and Professor Toft participated in a Presidential Roundtable on Religion and Secularism. She then travelled to the University of Harvard to present her research on Islamic insurgency. Professor Toft spent ten years teaching at Harvard before joining the Blavatnik School of Government.
Also in attendance at the International Studies Annual Convention was Dr Thomas Hale, Blavatnik School of Government Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Dr Hale won the Lawrence Finkelstein Award for best graduate student paper in the field of international organisation. He presented his award-winning paper at last year's Annual Convention.
HIV Research
Dr Adam Ritchie, Departmental Lecturer in Science and Public Policy, published a paper with his group at Oxford University's Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. The paper, entitled 'Vertical T-cell immunodominance and epitope entropy determine HIV-1 escape', shows how both host and viral factors influence the ability of HIV to evolve and avoid the immune response in the months following infection, with implications for future vaccine development and testing.
New Faces
Kathryn Sikkink and Douglas Johnson have joined the School as Visiting Professor and Visiting Practitioner, respectively. Together they will teach the Theory and Practice of Human Rights during Trinity Term. Both bring extensive experience and expertise in human rights policy and advocacy to the School. Professor Sikkink is Regents Professor and the McKnight Presidential Chair in Political Science at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches courses on human rights, democracy, international institutions and international law. A long-time human rights advocate, Douglas Johnson was for many years the Executive Director of the Center for Victims of Torture in Minnesota, where he worked to develop the organisation's outreach and counselling services to torture victims and co-ordinated efforts to bring attention to the issue on an international scale. He also co-founded the Infant Formula Action Coalition (INFACT), the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) and the International Nestle Boycott Committee to lobby for changes in the way baby food and formula are marketed.
Dr Maya Tudor, University Lecturer in Government and Public Policy, recently joined the School's core academic team. Dr Tudor researches how stable and democratic states begin in the developing world. Her recent book, 'The Promise of Power', (Cambridge University Press, 2013), investigates the post-colonial development of the state in Pakistan and India. She has previously held fellowships at Oxford University's Centre for the Study of Inequality and Democracy and Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She has also worked for the World Bank, UNICEF, the United States Senate and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee.
