Epistemology and

Method in International

Relations

A Workshop at the University of Florida

featuring

Patrick Jackson, American University
Audie Klotz, Syracuse University
Nicholas Onuf, Florida International University
Harry Gould, Florida International University

and University of Florida Faculty
Paul D’Anieri (Dean, CLAS)
Badredine Arfi (Political Science
Samuel Barkin (Political Science)
Aida Hozic (Political Science)
Laura Sjoberg (Political Science)

as well as Political Science graduate students and recent Ph.D.s Betul Gokkir, Kristen Parks, Ty Solomon, Stuart Strome, Sean Walsh, Chi-Hung Wei

The question of how we do what we do confronts us constantly. We think and write about it as we write journal articles and books. We discuss it explicitly in graduate classes concerning scope, epistemology, method, and research design, as well as with our graduate advisees. We discuss it tangentially and implicitly as we teach substantive classes, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. Epistemology and method were among the primary dividing points in what we called the “third debate” in the discipline of IR – what way of knowing is most appropriate to how we want to theorize International Relations.

In this workshop, we would like to ask our participants to think about theorizing these relationships explicitly, in the context of their research, in the context of the field, or both. What are the knowledge potentialites of the methods that the discipline uses? Which ones are under-exploited or over-exploited? What do our traditional dichotomies (between quantitative and qualitative research, positivist and post-positivist epistemologies, and even method and epistemology) illuminate, and what do they hide? How could we think more sophisticatedly and more coherently about how we do what we do, without getting lost in endless self-reflection about method and epistemology? How might an examination of the directional relationship between epistemology and method both illuminate current practices in the field and provide directions forward?

 

March 26, 2010 at 349 Reitz Union

8:30-9:00
Welcome and Introductions
Paul D’Anieri, Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Sammy Barkin and Laura Sjoberg, Department of Political Science

9:00-10:00
Panel 1:
On the Heuristic Use of Formal Modeling in IR Theory
Sammy Barkin, University of Florida
Discussants:
Paul D’Anieri, University of Florida
Kristen Parks, University of Florida

10:00-10:15 Break

10:15-11:15
Panel 2:
Skepticism and Epistemological Modesty
Harry Gould, Florida International University
Discussants:
Audie Klotz, Syracuse University
Sean Walsh, University of Florida

11:15-11:30 Break

11:30-12:30
Panel 3:
The Mutual Constitution of Epistemology and Ontology
Ty Solomon, University of Florida
Discussants:
Nicholas Onuf, Florida International University
Stuart Strome, University of Florida

2:00-3:00
Panel 4:
Starting with Texts: Deconstruction/Reconstruction, Genealogy/Archeology
Nicholas Onuf, Florida International University
Discussants:
Aida Hozic, University of Florida
Ty Solomon, University of Florida

3:00-3:15 Break

3:15-4:15
Panel 5:
Theoretical Geometry and Emancipatory Research
Laura Sjoberg, University of Florida
Discussants:
Sammy Barkin, University of Florida
Betul Gokkir, University of Florida

4:15-4:30 Break

4:30-5:30
Panel 6:
’Negotiating’ the Weberian Gaze in IR Methodology: Negating/Denegating the Pragmatic Turn in IR?
Badredine Arfi, University of Florida
Discussants:
Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, American University
Laura Sjoberg, University of Florida

 

March 27, 2010 at 216 Anderson Hall

9:00-10:00
Panel 7:
A Pluralist Science of World Politics
Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, American University
Discussants:
Badredine Arfi, University of Florida
Harry Gould, Florida International University

10:00-10:15 Break

10:15-11:15
Panel 8:
Pluralism – The Fourth Debate?
Audie Klotz, Syracuse University
Discussants:
Leann Brown, University of Florida
Chi-hung Wei, University of Florida

11:15-11:30 Break

11:30-12:30
Panel 9:
Concluding Discussion
Led by Sammy Barkin and Laura Sjoberg

Thanks to the the Raymond and Miriam Ehrlich Eminent Scholar Chair in Political Science at the University of Florida, Department of Political Science at the University of Florida, the Dean’s Office in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida, and the Manning J. Dauer Eminent Scholar Chair in Political Science at the University of Florida for the fiscal and logistical support to make this workshop possible.