ASPIRE Members
Colleagues on Teaching and Scholarship contracts make up more than 21% of all those working in Politics and International Relations Higher Education in the UK (British Academy 2025). ASPIRE works to bring those academics together to develop our teaching and scholarship work, in order to create excellence in practice and career progression for all.
Membership is free and all are welcome. Please register using the link below or check out our list of current members.
Members' benefits include participating in the ASPIRE SoTL circle, having your work shared in our newsletter, and being in a great community of scholars!
We are constantly looking to expand our work so if there is more that you would like to see ASPIRE doing, please get in contact.
Members of ASPIRE:
ASPIRE provides a great way to network with colleagues across the country looking to develop their own teaching and scholarship practice. Check out the list of current members below:
Katharine Adeney
Professor, Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham
SoTL Interests: EDI; Decolonisation; AI
Douglas Bamford
Lecturer, Continuing Education, University of Oxford
SoTL Interests: Teaching Adult learners, Teaching Political Philosophy, Public Policy
Sebastian Booth
Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of York
SoTL Interests: Inclusive teaching, Graduate Teaching Assistant training, Teaching public policy
Madeleine Le Bourdon
Associate Professor, School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds
SoTL Interests: Social media, Transformative pedagogies, Critical pedagogies
Hillary Briffa
Senior Lecturer, School of Security Studies, Kings College London
SoTL Interests: Assessment, Inclusive education
Margherita de Candia
Lecturer, King's Foundations, Kings College London
SoTL Interests: Teaching for politics, Co-creation, GenAI & assessment
Thomas Da Costa Vieira
Richard Dodgson
Lecturer, Department of Politics, Newcastle University
SoTL Interests: Global governance, Political economy, Transition to PGT
Ashley Dodsworth
Senior Lecturer, SPAIS, University of Bristol
SoTL Interests: Mental health, PhD corrections, Climate pedagogy
Cathy Elliott
Professor, Department of Political Science, UCL
SoTL Interests: Joy, Creativity, Imagination
Christopher Featherstone
Associate Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of York
SoTL Interests: International Relations education, Education in crisis
Adam Fusco
Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of York
SoTL Interests: Assessment; Teaching political theory; Graduate Teaching Assistant training
Nikolaos Gkotsis-Papaioannou
Senior Lecturer, Politics and International Relations, University of Surrey
SoTL Interests: Critical approaches (punk pedagogy); Student-staff symbiotic environment; socially-oriented T&L
Sara van Goozen
Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of York
SoTL Interests: Inclusive assessment & feedback, Ungrading, Critical thinking
Stuart Gordon
Amanda Hall
Lecturer, Politics and International Relations, University of Reading
SoTL Interests: Widening access; Transition to university; Inclusive teaching
Terry Hathaway
Lecturer, Norwegian Study Centre, University of York
SoTL Interests: Pedagogy, Democratic education, Active learning
Christopher Huggins
Associate Teaching Professor and Director of Academic Programmes, Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge
SoTL Interests: Teaching European Union politics, Continuing education, Academic leadership
Andrew Judge
Senior Lecturer, Division of Political and International Studies, University of Glasgow
SoTL Interests: Authentic assessments; simulation games; what’s the point in learning about (global) politics?
Susan Kenyon
Principal Lecturer, Law, Policing and Social Sciences, Canterbury Christ Church University
SoTL Interests: Commuter students; Innovative pedagogy; Active learning
Kasim Khorasanee
Teaching Associate, School of Law, University of Nottingham
SoTL Interests: Political Theory, Student social networks, Media literacy
Lucas Knotter
Lecturer, PoLIS, University of Bath
SoTL Interests: Research-led teaching; Creative pedagogy; GenAI
Sebastian Koehler
Lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London
SoTL Interests: Assessment, AI literacy, Methods teaching
Marzieh Kouhi Esfahani
Assistant Professor, School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University
SoTL Interests: Teaching and assessment innovations, Inclusivity challenges
Simon Lightfoot
Professor, School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds
SoTL Interests: Research-teaching nexus, Skills, Assessment
Angeliki Martinou
Teaching Assistant, Social and Political Sciences, Brunel University of London
SoTL Interest: Intelligence, International Relations theory, Research methods
Stuart McAnulla
Professor, School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds
SoTL Interest: Teaching politics; Curricula diversity; Management and educational changege
Alexandra Meakin
Lecturer, POLIS, University of Leeds
SoTL Interests: Attendance; Innovative pedagogy; Widening Participation
Jeremy Moulton
Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of York
SoTL Interests: Assessment, Ethics, Environmental education
Silvia Naydenova
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Politics, University of Warwick
SoTL Interests: Pedagogy, Innovative teaching, Module development
Timothy Oliver
Lecturer, Department of Politics, University of Manchester
SoTL Interests: Lecturing, humour, engagement
Louise Pears
Associate Professor, School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds
SoTL Interests: Digital teaching, Open education methods, Critical pedagogies
Anna B Plunkett
Lecturer, School of Security Studies, King's College London
SoTL Interests: Teaching comparative politics
Neil Pye
Lecturer, School of Histories, Languages and Cultures, University of Liverpool
SoTL Interests: Teaching practice; Research informed teaching strategies; Curriculum development
Sudhir Selvaraj
Assistant Professor, School of Social Sciences, University of Bradford
SoTL Interest: Creative practices, Peace Education, Critical pedagogies
Keith Smith
Lecturer, Department of Political Economy, King's College London
SoTL Interest: Wellbeing, Widening participation, Inclusive education
William Reynolds
Lecturer, Politics, Defence Studies Department, King's College London
SoTL Interest: Professional Military Education; Active Learning; Research-based Learning
Nat Rutherford
Lecturer, Politics, Interational Relations, and Philosophy, Royal Holloway, University of London
SoTL Interest: Political theory; Political legitimacy; Marxism
Luca Tardelli
Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, LSE
SoTL Interest: International Relations education, Assessment, Curriculum design
Jillian Terry
Associate Professor, LSE100, LSE
SoTL Interests: Co-teaching, Interdisciplinarity, Feminist pedagogies
Stephen Thornton
Reader in Politics, Politics and International Relations, Cardiff University
SoTL Interests: Information literacy, Assessment and feedback, Curriculum design
Ellen Watts
Assistant Professor , School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham
SoTL Interests: Research methods; Skills; Creativity
Mette Wiggen
Helen Williams
Professor & APVC Education and Student Experience (Social Sciences), School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham
SoTL Interests: Assessment and feedback, Teaching research methods, Digital learning
David Wilcox
Part-Time Teaching Fellow, Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham
SoTL Interests: LEGO; Playful Learning; Active Learning
John Wilesmith
Lecturer, Department of Political Science, UCL
SoTL Interests: Teaching political theory; Inclusive education; Personal tutoring