#BISA2025 conference keynote announced
We are thrilled to announce that the keynote speaker for #BISA2025 will be internationally acclaimed professor, Roland Bleiker, currently based at the University of Queensland, Australia. The title of Roland’s keynote will be ‘Seeing and Sensing World Politics’. The #BISA2025 conference celebrates the 50th anniversary of BISA and is expected to be our most exciting conference yet.
Roland Bleiker is Professor of International Relations at the University of Queensland, where he coordinates a Visual Politics Research Program. Roland’s research explores how images and emotions shape political phenomena, including humanitarianism, security, peacebuilding, protest movements and the conflict in Korea. His current main project is an interdisciplinary collaboration on Visualising Humanitarianism, involving several partner organisations, including the ICRC and the World Press Photo Foundation. Roland’s books include Visual Global Politics (Routledge, 2018); Aesthetics and World Politics (Palgrave, 2009/2012); Divided Korea: Toward a Culture of Reconciliation (University of Minnesota Press, 2005/2008) and Popular Dissent, Human Agency and Global Politics (CUP, 2000).
Roland grew up in Zürich, Switzerland, where he was educated and worked as a lawyer. He studied international relations in Paris, Seoul, Toronto, Vancouver and Canberra. Roland also worked for two years in a Swiss diplomatic mission in the Korean DMZ and held visiting affiliations at Harvard, Cambridge, Humboldt, Tampere, Yonsei and Pusan National University as well as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. He is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
At the BISA conference you can join a dynamic community of specialists from around the world to discuss, debate, and advance the field of international studies. Whether you're presenting your latest research, seeking insightful feedback, or simply looking to engage in thought-provoking discussions, our conference offers something for everyone.
The BISA 50th anniversary conference takes place in Belfast from 18-20 June, and will include:
- Three days of inspiring, provocative and diverse panels and roundtables
- Roundtable on gender, peace and security involving members of the Northern Women’s Coalition and feminist activists
- Conference reception on Wednesday 18 June at Titanic Belfast. Titanic Belfast is the world's largest Titanic visitor experience. BISA delegates with a valid conference ticket will receive free admission to the exhibition galleries on the evening of 18 June from 6pm, before heading up to the reception. The reception venue boasts stunning views of the Slipways and Belfast Lough, where the world famous liner was designed, built and launched. There’ll also be photo opportunities aplenty on the replica of the liner's Grand Staircase
- Social programme including a Postgraduate Network drinks and pizza evening, and an early-morning Belfast run.
Abstract, panel and roundtable submissions are open now until 14 November.