Political science professor explores pressing global issues on international and national stages
Earlier this month, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science Iuliia Hoban, Ph.D., attended a symposium on preventing child soldiers in Oslo, Norway, and an International Studies Association conference in security studies in Denver, Colorado.
The symposium hosted in Oslo brought Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and academics together to discuss potential policies in law and practice. Hoban was invited due to her area of expertise in policy and prevention of child soldiers.
At the international conference, participants discussed all the facets and complexities of the issue with particular emphasis on creating a standardized definition of a child soldier and factors leading to the recruitment of child.
“It was quite fascinating, because they brought NGOs and academics that work on the issues and the government of Canada sponsored it,” Hoban said. “It had different stakeholders and opinions. The symposium allowed us to brainstorm the best way forward on this issue. In order to build a model on prevention, we need to know exactly what leads to a child’s recruitment.”
For Hoban, being able to contribute her expertise and research was important, but being able to make it applicable was the most valuable aspect of the symposium for her.
“It is important to make knowledge applicable,” Hoban said. “Publishing on the issue is pressing, but it is important to be able to take the academic research and turn it into action.”
At the ISSS-IS Annual Conference, held by the International Studies Association at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, the timely topic of security studies was discussed. Panelists represented differing perspectives on how security is viewed and approached.
At the national conference, Hoban presented her new project on the militarization of children and received feedback and advice on how to best advance her work.
Immediately upon returning to Radford University, Hoban taught a class about NGOs in a capstone course on International Justice and Human Rights.
“It was great for me to be able to bring my experience right into the classroom and tell students how academics can cooperatively work with these organizations,” Hoban said. “I brought specific, real-world examples to the class that I had just been able to experience myself.”
During the month of October, Hoban was published in the “Journal of Human Rights” for her article on “Children, conflict and the detention of ‘child soldiers’ in Canada and the United States: How framing contests shape policies.”
Hoban’s work to help prevent the militarization of children is just one example of the many ways that Radford University students, faculty and staff work for the betterment of the global community.