About
Dr Kamil Zwolski is Associate Professor in International Politics at the University of Southampton and Jean Monnet Chair of European Security Governance. He is also a National Teaching Fellow and Senior Fellow of Advance HE. Kamil researches International Relations, specifically looking at European security governance, Europe-Russian relations and the role of institutions in European security. His latest book, European Security in Integration Theory (2018), examines federalism and functionalism – two fundamental, yet largely forgotten, theories of international integration, in the context of the war in Ukraine and contemporary European security order.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- European security integration
- European-Russian relations
- Geopolitics of European security
- Transatlantic relations and European security
- The EU as an international security actor
Current research
Kamil's current research interests revolve around the European Union’s Jean Monnet Chair award and include work on his Palgrave-contracted book European Security in Integration Theory. In this book, Kamil explores various aspects of European security from different methodological angles. For example, he looks at:
- European security from Saint-Pierre to CSDP
- How much has European security evolved since the end of Cold War?
- How would a functional model of European security look like?
- Should and can the European Commission become a geopolitical actor?
Publications
Supervision
Current PhD Students
Teaching
Kamil is an award winning teacher, National Teaching Fellow (2022) and Senior Fellow of Advance HE. He is committed to improve student learning through high-impact pedagogies including gamification, staff-student partnerships, research-informed teaching and other active-learning approaches.
In 2019, Kamil received the Southampton Students' Union Academic Award for his innovative staff-students partnership initiative, allowing students to work with staff on assessment and feedback. For this initiative, Kamil was also announced the Finalist of the 2019 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards.
As part of his Jean Monnet Chair award, Kamil began researching and popularising research-informed teaching in European Studies and International Relations. To that end, his annual Jean Monnet Workshop ‘Research-informed Teaching in EU Studies’ offers inclusive and encouraging space to exchange knowledge and best practice among EU studies teachers.
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
Kamil’s current research revolves around two major themes: (i) European security integration and (ii) research-based teaching in International Relations and European Studies. The overarching objective of the first research activity is to promote excellence and innovation in researching European security integration through challenging established ways of conducting research in this field, with the view to open up new methodological, theoretical and empirical research avenues for the benefit of the young generation of scholars in EU studies. Currently, Kamil works on his forthcoming book Researching European Security Integration, which is contracted by Palgrave and due to be finished by June 2023.
Kamil’s earlier book, The EU as a Global Security Actor (2013, co-authored by Prof Christian Kaunert), adopts a comprehensive approach to the study of the EU’s role in international security. Kamil also regularly publishes in peer-reviewed journals. Notably, he published on David Mitrany and contemporary European security order (JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies); power relations in the so-called communities of practice in international relations (Journal of European Integration); or how the study of the sociology of bureaucracy and bureaucratic behaviour in international relations can help to explain the EU’s international security policy (JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies).
Kamil is often invited as a contributor and keynote speaker and his research excellence in the study of European security governance has been recognised by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, who invited Southampton’s Politics and International Relations (PAIR) department to become institutional members of the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium (EUNPD).
Further to his research interests, Kamil also leads Southampton University’s efforts on teaching and learning innovation. These efforts were recognised with the UK’s most prestigious award – National Teaching Fellowship, which Kamil received in 2022. Among other achievements, Kamil also received the 2015 Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Award for introducing online simulation to the teaching and assessment of his International Relations Theory module.
In 2019, Kamil received the Southampton Students' Union Academic Award for his innovative staff-students partnership initiative, allowing students to work with staff on assessment and feedback. For this initiative, Kamil was also announced the Finalist of the 2019 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards.
Prizes
- 2022 National Teaching Fellows as awarded by Advance HE (2022)