MSc Education, Power and Social Change annual lecture: Professor Liam Gearon
Title: 'Education, Security and Intelligence Studies: Mapping the Field, Interrogating the Terrain'
Speaker: Prof Liam Gearon
Date: Monday 22 June, 6.00 - 7.30pm
Venue: Room 532, Malet St
Open to all Masters students in the department, prospective students and the wider researcher community at Birkbeck.
Abstract: Education, Security and Intelligence Studies:Three Intersections Any reference to the interface of education, security and intelligence today will undoubtedly elicit concerns over terrorism, radicalisation and initiatives to counter such in, through and by curricular, pedagogical or institutional policy initiatives such as monitoring or related information gathering. This in itself provides a rationale for making the interface of education, security and intelligence studies a legitimate field of emergent enquiry. Providing some guidance as to the contested terms and disciplinary boundaries of 'security' and 'intelligence' as fields of academic enquiry and military-political operation, I argue however that this interface between education, security and intelligence studies is but one of a number of intersections. Drawing on contemporary historical as well as contemporary security concerns and intelligence gathering, I outline three sites of intersection where education, security and intelligence studies meet: covert; overt; and the covert-overt. Education is here defined as any formal institution of training, schooling or research in which the concerns of security and intelligence are a focus. Drawing exemplars from the UK and US, the intersections include (1) training institutions which directly serve the security and intelligence communities, and which in turn inform military-political policy, processes in large measure secret (covert); (2) universities (and in the US higher education sector colleges) where direct security and intelligence community interests are increasingly evident in transparent ways (overt); and, intersection (3) relating to mainstream schools and universities where security and intelligence community concerns are evident but not (and often for operational reasons) open (covert-overt). A short concluding statement raises questions of ethics and directions for further multi-disciplinary investigation.
This event is free but booking is required.
Please click here to book your place: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/education-security-and-intelligence-studies-mapping-the-field-interrogating-the-terrain-tickets-16219986416