School of Social and Political Science

Dr Ian Russell

Job Title

Lecturer in African Studies and International Development

Photo
Profile picture of Dr Ian Russell

Room number

4.03

Building (Address)

Chrystal Macmillan Building

Street (Address)

15a George Square

City (Address)

Edinburgh

Post code (Address)

EH8 9LD

Research interests

Research interests

I am particularly interested in questions relating to education, knowledge-producing institutions, conflict, and development. I am currently PI on the Interrogating Africa’s Inherited Borders and Identities: Prospects and Challenges of Continental Youth Migration for Higher Education project, which is a partnership with colleagues at the University of Ghana and Leiden University. With colleagues at Moray House School of Education and Sport, I am also researching the political economy of refugee access to higher education for the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium and UNHCR. My previous research includes studies of how universities in Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka engaged with post-war recovery; ceasefires for vaccination campaigns; and inequalities in knowledge production in African Studies. I have also worked with the METRO project (https://www.metro-project.eu/) to explore questions related to production of metrics and standards by international organisations.

 

PhD supervision

Topics I am interested in supervising include:

  • The politics of education and development
  • Education in conflict-affected contexts
  • The governance and politics of knowledge systems
  • Education for refugees and asylum seekers
  • Decolonisation and the politics of academic knowledge, particularly in relation to African contexts
  • Student and popular movements

 

Background

I am an experienced educator with a background in teaching that spans across different levels and educational settings. I believe in taking a critical approach to pedagogy and in taking an active approach to seeking out opportunities to support student development.

 

 

Staff Hours and Guidance

Students on courses I am organising or on the MSc Data, Inequality and Society can book a meeting during my guidance hours (Book time with Ian Russell: Office hours). These are Wednesday 9-10am and Thursday 2.30-3.45pm. Otherwise, to book a meeting, please email me at irussell@ed.ac.uk.

Publications by user content

Publication Research Explorer link
Grek S, Russell I. Beyond Bologna? Infrastructuring quality in European higher education. European Educational Research Journal. 2023 May 31. Epub 2023 May 31. doi: 10.1177/14749041231170518
Russell I. The limits on critical voice in conflict-affected universities: Evidence from Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka. International Journal of Educational Development. 2023 Jan;96:102685. Epub 2022 Oct 18. doi: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2022.102685
Russell I. Giving back and the moral logics of economic relations. Qualitative Research. 2022 Sept 28;1-18. Epub 2022 Sept 28. doi: 10.1177/14687941221129802
Russell I. Degrees of peace: Universities and embodied experiences of conflict in post-war Sri Lanka. Third World Quarterly. 2022 Apr 3;43(4):898-915. Epub 2022 Mar 7. doi: 10.1080/01436597.2022.2038129
Russell I, Wise L, Badanjak S. Shots for peace? Vaccination ceasefires and the fight against Covid-19. 2021.
Russell I, Wise L, Badanjak S. Breathing Space: Vaccination Ceasefires in Armed Conflict. Political Settlements Research Programme, 2021. 68 p.
Ian Russell's Research Explorer profile