News Archive

The UWA Energy and Minerals Institute have written a great piece on the new units with a focus on Africa being taught this semester at undergraduate and postgraduate level by Dr David Mickler from Political Science and International Relations. They have very kindly agreed to share the piece with us:

A new unit  ' International Politics in Africa ' is proving the most popular unit among third year UWA Political Science and International Relations students.

Developed  and taught by Assistant Professor David Mickler, the third year unit has attracted 130 keen students.

"For most of these students this is the first opportunity to study a unit with a focus on Africa," says David, "and the popularity of this unit is a great indication that our students are aware of the ever-increasing importance of Africa on the world scene and are keen to learn more about it."

This view is further supported by a healthy interest in David Mickler's other unit on Africa, also offered for the first time this semester, ' Peace and Security in Africa ' which is offered in both the ' Master of International Relations ' and new ' Master of International Development ' courses.

David is currently exploring whether in future the Masters unit - or part of it- could be taught on location in an Africa, to add a real-life dimension to the unit nd  enable students to gain a first-hand appreciation of the issues involved. "It is early days, and obviously there are many factors such as travel funding and safety to be taken into consideration," says David, "but I have run a similar unit in India in the past, and that has been very successful on all fronts."

Besides his student-focused initiatives, David has also initiated a proposal for an 'Africa Research Cluster' in UWA's Faculty of Arts, with the aim to develop research collaborations and engagement with other institutions. "If approved, the Africa Research cluster would also facilitate the exchange of 'visiting experts' and  provide a great research training environment for UWA postgraduate students engaged in  studies on Africa."

For more information, including other UWA researchers' work in Africa, visit the EMI website .

Media references

David Stacey (UWA Media Manager) (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716

Ully Fritsch (UWA Energy and Minerals Institute) (+61) 413 566 503

Emily Buckland (School of Social Sciences) (+618) 64887249