Dr. Stephen Michael Christian
Assistant
Research areas
International relations
Stephen Michael Christian studied political science and International Relations at Georgia Gwinnett College (Lawrenceville, GA, United States) and University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT, United States). Before joining VU TSPMI, Michael taught courses on American Government and IR at various institutions. During his earlier academic career, Michael advocated for anti–police violence and wrote about disability, aesthetics, ontological security, and other topics for an IR audience. Michael premises his pedagogy on exposing students to a broad array of theories and perspectives (both traditional and critical) to prepare them for the turbulence of (international) politics. Michael’s main life advice is to be cheeky and truthful in every facet of one’s life, confronting power and ideology in every social sphere.
Selected conference papers
- “Interesting Relations: The Aesthetic Judgment of Interests and Preferences in IR” (oral presentation, Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association–Northeast, Providence, November 2023).
- “Make IR Great Again: Disability, Identity, and Donald Trump” (oral presentation, Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association–Northeast, Baltimore, November 2016).
- “Miss Zika, I Love You: On the Zika Virus and Spectacularized Bodies” (oral presentation, Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association–Northeast, Baltimore, November 2016).
- “Cynicism and Ontological Security Theory” (oral presentation, Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Atlanta, March 2016).
Courses taught
American Government
International Relations
Political Ideologies
Research interests
IR theory
Disability studies
Aesthetic apprroaches to IR
Critical theories
Publications
“Autism in International Relations: A Critical Assessment of International Relations’ Autism Metaphors,” European Journal of International Relations 24, no. 2 (June 2018), https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066117698030.
“Ontological Security and the Responsibility to Protect: The United Kingdom and Rationalizing the 2011 Intervention in Libya,”Journal of International Relations 15 (2013).
Review of The Making of Global International Relations: Origins and Evolution of IR at Its Centenary by Amitav Acharya and Barry Buzan, E-International Relations (2020).
Review of The Microbial State: Global Thinking and the Body Politic by Stefanie R. Fishel, E-International Relations (2019).
Review of The Politics of Subjectivity in American Foreign Policy Discourses by Ty Solomon, E-International Relations (2017).
Review of Conflict Resolution and Ontological Security: Peace Anxieties edited by Bahar Rumelili, E-International Relations (2017).
