Teaching IR in Wartime

The ongoing Russian war against Ukraine has brought many new challenges to the teaching of International Relations (IR). Ukrainian and other universities have had to rethink their curricula and pedagogies, both content- and format-wise, and to adapt to new realities. The new challenges varied greatly, from delivering lectures from the bomb shelter or even from the frontline to rethinking of IR curricula across the field. This volume explores the experiences of Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian academics who have taught IR courses during the Russo-Ukrainian War and covers a wide range of issues, from enabling resilience while at work within Ukraine to embracing the psychological effects of the war on teaching and learning to the amendment of course syllabi.

Dr Kateryna Zarembo studied English and Italian as well as European politics and international relations at Kyiv and Dublin. She is an Associate Fellow of the New Europe Center, a member of PEN Ukraine, and has taught at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the Technical University of Darmstadt as well as the Central European University in Vienna. Her articles have appeared in, among other outlets, European Societies, Problems of Post-Communism, European Security, and the Kyiv-Mohyla Law and Politics Journal. Dr Michèle Knodt studied politics in Darmstadt and Mannheim. She is Professor of Political Science and Jean Monnet Chair, ad personam, at the Technical University of Darmstadt. Knodt has received research grants from the German Federal Ministries of Education and Research as well as Economic Affairs and Energy, German Research Council (DFG), Volkswagen Foundation, and European Commission. She is co-author of, among other books, Bilateral Energy Relations between the EU and Emerging Powers (Nomos 2017). Knodt's papers have appeared in, among other journals, Media, War & Conflict, Cooperation and Conflict, Regional & Federal Studies, Energy Research & Social Sciences, European Security, and Local Government Studies. Dr Maksym Yakovlyev studied social work and comparative politics in Kyiv. He is Head of the International Relations Department and Director of the School for Policy Analysis at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Yakovlyev is the author of Teorii zmov (Conspiracy Theories; Vykhola 2023), co-editor of Constructing a Political Nation (Stylos 2017), and a member of the Public Council at Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His articles have appeared in, among other outlets, the Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Foucault Studies, and the African Journal of Economics, Politics and Social Studies.