Distinguished Practitioners Series

The University of Nottingham’s “Distinguished Practitioners” series provides our postgraduate community with an invaluable opportunity to interact with distinguished names from the “real world” of politics and international relations. Each academic year, up to six speakers visit the School of Politics and IR to deliver a lecture, field questions, and chat informally with students.

Over the past years we have hosted the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in London, the International Director of the British Red Cross, as well as significant figures from the BBC, the European Union, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and NGOs such as Human Rights Watch

Other distinguished speakers included:

• Europe Minister Geoff Hoon, who spoke on Britain’s role in Europe
• Rana Altaf Majeed, deputy police chief and director-general of the Pakistan electronic media regulation authority based in Karachi, Pakistan, who spoke on the global war on terror
• Major-General Tim Cross, who served as a member of the US-led Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance in Baghdad spoke on failure in the post-conflict phase in Iraq.  Major-General Cross is also a special professor associated with the School of Politics and International Relations, and contributes to the MA programme in the School.

Our speakers visit the university to discuss issues related to their particular area of expertise. But they also provide illuminating insights into the nuts and bolts of what it is like to work in “politics and international relations.” The series provokes our students to relate what they have learned in the classroom to some of the thorny issues facing the world today – as explained by those who make the decisions. As many of our postgraduates go on to work in the field, the “Distinguished Practitioners” series provides an invaluable early glimpse into what post-graduation life might look like, and introduces students to some of the key players from across the field.