Creative Pedagogy in IR Examination. When Fiction Unleashes the Learning Process

Abstract

Although the esthetic turn in International Relations (IR) has recently expanded to teaching, with professors promoting the mobilization of artistic material in the classroom, its use in students’ productions and examinations has received scarce attention. Drawing on a course at Sciences Po Paris dedicated to IR normative theory and given for five years at the graduate level, this research argues the added value of creative fictional writing by students in assimilating philosophical concepts. Using both quantitative and qualitative analysis on five cohorts, both surveyed and interviewed in groups, it builds on in-depth feedback from a large sample of students. It appears that beyond long-term familiarization of students with authors and practical skills improvement, such exercise enhances their creativity and self-esteem by releasing their imaginations, and inspiring hope in democracy in the younger generation.

Keywords:

• International Relations pedagogy
• active learning
• fiction
• evaluation

Acknowledgments

The authors want to thank Chloé Chevenet for her assistance in conducting this research, and all the students who responded to the survey and participated in the focus group organized in June 2021.

Notes

1 Rösch organized a dance workshop that explored the positions of the participants and their representations during the performance. The students experimented with forms of power and offered their feedback by sharing their own experiences after the workshop.

2 The research ethics guidelines of Sciences Po have been followed, along with adequate human subject protections consistent with Sciences Po institutional standards and in compliance with APSA Ethical Guidelines.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Frédéric Ramel

Frédéric Ramel, Full Professor of Political Science, the Head of Political Science Department, and researcher at CERI, Sciences Po Paris. He participated in the creation of the Institute of Strategic Research at the Military School (IRSEM), of which he had been the scientific director between 2009 and 2013. He deals with international security, intergovernmental organizations, and normative issues in IR. He coordinates the ANR Datawar (on the production and usages of databases dedicated to armed conflicts) and the GDR-CNRS GRAM (Groupe de recherche sur l’action multilatérale). One of his research programs is also dedicated to esthetics, music, and sensitivity in the international realm. Among his last publications: International Relations, Music and Diplomacy (as an editor with Cecile Prévost-Thomas, Palgrave MacMillan, 2018), “Teaching IR through Arts: some lessons learned” (International Studies Perspectives, 19-4, November 2018), a special issue on the acoustic turn in Arts and International Affairs (2018) and in CNRS Editions: Benevolence in International Relations. A political essay.

Anaëlle Vergonjeanne

Anaëlle Vergonjeanne, Ph.D. Student in Political Science, is currently enrolled at Sciences Po Paris’ Center for International Studies (CERI). Anaëlle Vergonjeanne is a member of the GDR-CNRS GRAM (Groupe de recherche sur l’action multilatérale) where she is part of the steering committee of the Observatory of Multilateralism and coordinates the monthly seminar. Within the CERI, she is one of the scientific coordinators for the research group “Environment and international relations.” She has been an OxPo fellow at Oxford University’s Department of Politics and International relations. Formerly, she graduated from Sciences Po with an MPhil in International Relations and Political Science and obtained her BA from Sciences Po Bordeaux. She conducts research on the emerging children’s rights and climate change nexus in International Organizations. Her thesis focuses on the inclusion of children’s mobilization for climate change at the UN level through judicial processes. More broadly, her research interests include vulnerability, gender, and environmental issues in International Relations. She teaches political science, international relations, and gender studies to Bachelor's and Master’s students at Sciences Po, in both Paris and Lille.