The Spotlight Scholars program highlights outstanding early-career scholars whose work showcases or advances interpretive approaches to the study of politics. On May 1st, our 2025-2026 Spotlight Scholars, Mazie Bernard (Purdue University), Winston Berg (Harvard University), and Tadek Markiewicz (SWPS University in Warsaw) will present their work before we open it up for a Q&A from the audience.

This event is open to the public, but please register by clicking here.

Interpretivists do Interpretive Methods Series

Anastasia Shesterinina (The University of York) will discuss the ins and outs of life history interviewing in her work with ordinary people who participated in different ways in the Georgian-Abkhaz war of 1992-1993, former mid-level commanders of the FARC-EP in Colombia, and the broader Civil War Paths project she leads. 

The talk is free and open to the public, but please register here.

Interpretivists do Interpretive Methods Series

Rich Nielsen (MIT) will discuss the ways in which he has sought to cultivate an ethnographic sensibility in his own work and the possibilities of combining interpretivism and positivism, drawing on a recent article published in International Studies Review titled “Religious Fieldwork for International Relations Scholars".

The talk is free and open to the public, but please register here.

Interpretivists do Interpretive Methods Series

Samantha Majic (John Jay College and the CUNY Graduate Center) will discuss her trials and tribulations doing research on the internet, as well as her ongoing work on fitness influencers.

The talk is open to the public, but registration is required. Please register by clicking here.

Interpretivists do Interpretive Methods Series

Sophie Harman (Queen Mary University of London) will discuss how she turned her research into an award-winning short film called Pili, telling the stories behind her research on global health.

The talk is open to the public, but registration is required. Please register by clicking here.

Interpretivists do Interpretive Methods Series

Marnie Howlett (Oxford) will discuss online interviewing, based on her own experience and fieldwork. Her publications on methods include “Looking at the ‘Field’ Through a Zoom Lens” (2022) and "When 'Home' Becomes the 'Field': Ethical Considerations in Digital and Remote Fieldwork” (2022).

The Zoom event is free and open to the public, but please register in advance here.

Interpretivists do Interpretive Methods Series

Audrey Alejandro (LSE) will discuss reflexivity in practice. Professor Alejandro studies discourse and knowledge, the role they play in society and world politics, how we can apprehend their effects, and what it takes to produce discourses and knowledge helping us to create a world consistent with our values. She has published extensively on reflexivity. See, for example, “How to Pay Attention to the Words we Use” (2022) and “Reflexivity for Qualitative Research Quality and the Quality of Qualitative Research” (2024).

This talk will take place from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM (Eastern Time), via Zoom.

The talk is open to the public, but registration is required. Please register by clicking here.

Interpretivists do Interpretive Methods Series

Mike Rowe (University of Liverpool) will discuss the value the value of interpretive analysis for the study of street-level bureaucrats—from police officers, to social workers, and teachers, drawing from his recently published book, Researching Street-level Bureaucracy, recently published with the Routledge Series on Interpretive Methods. This talk is part of a series of events leading up to the 25th anniversary of the Methods Café.

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Click here to register.

Interpretivists do Interpretive Methods Series

James M. Curry (University of Utah) will speak about the value and importance of interpretive research to understand the American legislative branch, drawing from his book, Understanding American Legislatures: The Need for Interpretive-Qualitative Research, which is forthcoming with the Routledge Series on Interpretive Methods. This talk is part of a series of events leading up to the 25th anniversary of the Methods Café.

This event is free and open to the public but registration is required. Click here to register.