Research seminar: Great Power Politics and Development in South Asia and East Asia

On 12-13 of May the Institute of Political Science and International Relations of the Jagiellonian University was the main host of the research seminar and students’ conference, organized in cooperation with the South Asian Studies, School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, University of Oxford, and the Institute of International Relations of the University of Warsaw. The seminar was a part of the comprehensive project in which the Institute has been participating since 2016. 

In May of 2016 the first part of the project was conducted. In the Collegium Novum of the JU a seminar India – Emerging Power and the New International Order in Asia was held. Honorable professors from the University of Oxford, the University of Calcutta, the Manipal University, the Jawaharlal Nehru University, the University of Warsaw, and the Jagiellonian University presented their papers.   

This year’s edition of the cooperation consisted of mutual research visits. The first part took place in Oxford in March 2017. Students from the Asian Committee of the International Relations  Students’ Society at the Jagiellonian University, under the supervision of dr Marcin Grabowski, had the opportunity to present their papers. The title of the Spring School in Oxford was Asia in 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities.

Due to the Spring School in Oxford the students of the Jagiellonian University became acquainted with the issues concerning economic development of India, the current situation in Kashmir and the intensity of relations in South Asia. The representatives of the Jagiellonian University contributed to the establishment of the stable cooperation between the participating universities. 

In May 2017 the professors and students from Oxford revisited Polish universities. The academic conference was held in Warsaw and the research seminar and students’ conference was organized in Kraków. The title of that part was Great Power Politics and Development in South Asia and East Asia. The Krakow’s part of the project was coordinated by dr Marcin Grabowski, with the assistance from the International Relations Students’ Society at the Jagiellonian University and The Association of International and Area Studies of Jagiellonian University.

On the 12 of May, at Jagiellonian University, Professor Matthew McCartney from the University of Oxford gave a lecture - Tigers: Economic Growth in Bangladesh and Pakistan in Comparative Perspective? After the lecture there was the presentation about the possibilities to study at Oxford.

In the students’ conference both the students from Oxford and from Poland presented their papers. It strengthened relations between the universities, professors and students. The project will be continued in the next academic year.