International Relations Joint PhD with the Institute of International Relations at the University of São Paulo at Kings College London

Overview

The units at King’s College London that are participating in the joint PhD are the Brazil Institute and the departments of War Studies and Political Economy. At USP, the departments affiliated to IRI are Law, History, Economics and Political Science.

For the PhD student starting at King’s, access to IRI at USP offers a wealth of courses and expertise.  Areas covered include regional economic integration in South America; South Atlantic security issues; and global environmental challenges from a Brazilian perspective. For the PhD starting at USP, our specialists in War Studies, Political Economy, Geography and the Brazil Institute can offer expertise in areas that may not be covered at IRI. We believe that institutionalizing the flow of students between our universities could lead to exciting opportunities for collaborative research. 

The programme began at King’s College London in September 2015 and its first students began their studies at USP in August 2016.

King's students will be expected to spend a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 24 months at USP, pursuing studies outlined in their research proposal.

Description

The units at King’s College London that are participating in the joint PhD are the Brazil Institute and the departments of War Studies and Political Economy. The departments of Geography and History may become part of the programme. At USP, the departments affiliated to IRI are Law, History, Economics and Political Science.

The Brazil Institute is able to draw on academic expertise in a range of disciplinary departments across the College, and supervision may be provided from within the Institute or  with other staff of the College in the departments above. To give you an idea, staff research interests in the Brazil Institute include the following:

Professor Anthony Pereira:
Comparative politics; democracy and authoritarianism; political regimes and regime change; military rule; social movements; citizenship and human rights; new institutions of accountability in Brazilian public security; Brazil's political, economic, and social transformation in the 20th and early 21st century.

Dr Jeffrey Garmany:
Brazil in the twenty-first century; the geographies of religion and their connection to governance and globalisation; emergent forms of civil association relative to state-based rule; the relationships between drugs, violence, and death in contemporary urban space; governance in favelas; globalisation; the environment.

Dr Sónia Gonçalves:
Her main research interests are in the fields of development economics and political economy. She has worked on research projects that analyse the links between public service delivery and participatory democracy in Brazil, as well as between media and political accountability.

Dr Vinicius De Carvalho:
Brazil in peace keeping operations; internal stabilization policies; literature and violence in Brazil; Brazilian music; Brazilian religions; the epistemology of Brazilian Studies.

Applicants accepted at King’s for this joint degree will spend their first year at King’s and then spend at least a year at USP after completing their upgrade examination.