Dr Naomi Head

IAS Spotlight Series: Pacifism and Nonviolence

University of Glasgow

Naomi Head is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Glasgow. Prior to joining the University of Glasgow she previously held positions at the University of Leeds where she was a Lecturer (2008-9) and Aberystwyth University where she was an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow (2009-10).

In 2019 she held a Leverhulme Research Fellowship on the project 'Empathy under Fire: 'Hearts and Minds' and the Politics of Empathy'. Her research explores the politics of empathy and emotions in contexts of occupation and war, and she is currently focusing on the Human Terrain System adopted by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan along with a wider focus on the relationships between the social sciences, colonialism, and counterinsurgency. Previous research has focused on NATO’s intervention in Kosovo, Frankfurt School critical theory and communicative ethics, the emotional dynamics of the Iranian nuclear issue, and the dynamics of empathy in non-violent resistance movements in Israel/Palestine.

Naomi is co-founder and (soon to be former) convenor of the British International Studies Association Working Group on Emotions in Politics and International Relations as well as a Trustee for the British International Studies Association.