Leiden MAIR Hosts 2nd Humanities & International Relations Graduate Conference
On 11 June 2025, the MA in International Relations (MAIR) Programme convened its 2nd Humanities & IR Graduate Conference at The Hague Campus (Schouwburgstraat), welcoming over sixty participants from twenty institutions in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Participants represented the MAIR programme and Leiden University’s Institute for History, Area Studies and Political Science; Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe; University of Amsterdam; Cornell University; Roma Tre University; University of Nottingham Ningbo China; Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi; Mustaqbal University; Polish Academy of Sciences; and other institutions.
Opening Panel: Charting the Future of IR
The day began with an interdisciplinary opening panel on the evolving role of the humanities in International Relations, featuring Tom de Groot (Centre for Professional Learning, Leiden), Isabel Duyvesteyn (History), Carina van de Wetering (Political Science), Kevin Pham (University of Amsterdam) and Timon Domela Nieuwenhuis Nyegaard (ADC Consulting), moderated by Santino Regilme (History). This panel brought together scholars and practitioners to explore how the humanities and the humanistic social sciences can enrich our understanding of and practices in global affairs. In an era marked by complex crises, contested expertise, and shifting geopolitical alignments, this conversation asked several questions:
- Can a more humanities-informed, multidisciplinary approach make IR more relevant, inclusive, and effective?
- What are the challenges and opportunities presented by a multidisciplinary and humanities-oriented approach to IR?
- How can the study and practice of International Relations benefit from greater engagement with the humanities and multidisciplinary approaches—and what tensions or opportunities arise when academic theory meets real-world diplomacy?
Together, they reflected on the possibilities and limits of reimagining International Relations as both an academic field and a practical vocation.
Concurrent Panels: From Representation to Technology
Across three rounds of concurrent sessions, presenters explored a wide range of topics in eight panel presentations:
· Panel 1: Gendered Orders, Counter-Narratives, and the Politics of Representation
· Panel 2: Borders, Belonging, and the Politics of Inclusion
· Panel 3: The Politics of Norms: Legitimacy, Resistance, and Multilateralism
· Panel 4: Memory, Identity, and Affect
· Panel 5: Hegemony, Resistance, and Postcolonial Imaginaries
· Panel 6: China and the Making of Global Order: Ideology, Development, and Diplomacy
· Panel 7: Innovation, Technology, and the Future of Global Politics
· Panel 8: Memories, Institutions, and Political Imaginaries of IR
Closing Plenary: Agency in Global Uncertainty
In the closing plenary session, Flore Janssen (Utrecht) and Gerard van der Ree (Utrecht College), under Hitomi Koyama’s (Leiden Institute for Area Studies) moderation, invited attendees to reflect on one’s agency in times of global uncertainties—a fitting capstone on solidarity, ethics, and political possibility.
Co-sponsored by Leiden University Center for International Relatioins, Leiden Institue for Area Studies, and the Leiden Institute for History, this conference underscored MAIR’s commitment to rigorous multidisciplinary and humanities-oriented approaches to study of international relations.
The conference organisation team was led by Santino Regilme (MAIR Programe Chair and Associate Professor, Institute for History) and supported by Olivier Wijdicks (MAIR Student Assistant), Hitomi Koyama (Assistant Professor, Institute for Area Studies), and Leandra Engelfried (MAIR Programme Board Student Representative).
Learn more about the MAIR programme at https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/education/study-programmes/master/international-relations