Lecture Abstract:

According to Cathy O’Neil, data curated by humans reflects the biases and imperfections of humans. For example, in autonomous weapons systems, the data entered produces algorithms from which weapons systems learn, and as a result the systems mirror and amplify existing biases in the data sets. In political science and international relations, biases are sometimes both inherent and amplified through the research approaches and methods adopted. They can be frequently hidden as well. A stark example of this is in the debate between area and disciplinary studies. Although, there is a growing recognition that area studies can make valuable contributions to the study of international relations, the debate so far has not recognized the gulf of differences in research methods between these two approaches. This Seminar discusses these approaches in the study of international relations.