The Annual IR Workshop Retreat

UNGA

We have run the Retreat every year since 2004, usually at the picturesque Martin Johnson House at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. For almost all graduate students, the Retreat is their first forum for a professional presentation of their research, and it is designed to maximize useful commentary by faculty and fellow students. It is not uncommon for the entire IR Group to be present for most of the Retreat, and we usually have a fairly strong attendance by graduate students, both from International Relations and Comparative Politics. The Retreat consists of student presentations, each of which is followed by commentary of one faculty member and one graduate student, and an open-floor discussion. The Retreat is always at least one day long, and sometimes spills over into a second day depending on the number of presentations we have to accommodate. We provide catered breakfast and lunch, as well as coffee and snacks throughout the day. We can also provide presenters with free parking passes if those are required.

Participation

The Retreat is part of the year-long IR Workshop, and all third-year students formally enrolled in the Workshop are required to attend the Retreat in order to receive credit. Fourth-year students who have not yet defended a prospectus are strongly encouraged to present a draft prospectus. In addition, IR students who wish to present dissertation research or another research paper are welcome to apply for a spot. Space for voluntary applicants is limited and is awarded on first-come, first-served basis. All potential participants must send a title and abstract of their presentations to the Retreat Coordinator at least a full month before the Retreat. Each paper to be presented must be sent to the Coordinator at least one week before the Retreat. All presentations will be posted on the Retreat website for discussants and other participants to download. These will be password-protected and login information will be distributed only to registered participants.

General Format

Each graduate student will present either a draft prospectus, a draft dissertation chapter, or another research paper. If part of a dissertation, the chapter must be either theoretical or empirical or both. No literature reviews will be allowed.

Presentations are limited to 15 minutes, with another 20 minutes available to the discussants, and another 10 minutes for open floor comments. Presenters can assume that the faculty participants will have read all the papers being presented. All other attendees and presenters are strongly encouraged to read all papers in advance. AV setup for PowerPoint/Beamer presentations will be provided. No overheads will be permitted.

For each paper, one faculty member who is not the presenter’s advisor and who works in a different area, and one other graduate student will serve as formal discussants. Each will take no more than 10 minutes for comments. PowerPoint/Beamer presentations of comments are not required.