The Institute of European Studies and International Relations (abb. IESIR) builds on the legacy of the Department of Political Science founded by Professor Miroslav Kusý at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in 1990. In addition to that, the direct predecessor of IESIR was the Centre of European Studies, founded as a multidisciplinary research center at Comenius University in 1998. In its present form, IESIR was established at the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at Comenius University in 2001. As part of its institutional structure, IESIR also hosts the UNESCO Chair for human rights education (the oldest one in the world, established in 1992).
The faculty members of IESIR have a multidisciplinary background in political science, sociology, international relations, organization studies, history, law, economics, diplomacy, and philosophy. Internal and external members of the IESIR are well experienced due to their studies and visiting fellowships at the leading international research institutions. IESIR has an active research agenda in European studies and international relations and participates in a number of international research projects. The Institute also actively cooperates with the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs in conducting research and organizing conferences.
IESIR offers bachelor and master degree programs in European Studies. It also offers a PhD-program in European Studies and Politics. Most of the courses at IESIR are offered in English by Slovak and international lecturers. Students can upon direct agreement with the lecturers to conduct their research in other than English or Slovak language. IESIR became regular member of TEPSA in 2012.
The main research activities of the IESIR involve the following areas:
- dynamics in diplomacy in the context of European integration, EU foreign policy, changes in the transatlantic security architecture and the role of institutions in political life
- comparative research on democratization, political cultures and identities, political symbolism, communication, minority questions
- politics and political analyses, political system, political ideology of the 19th and 20th century to undergraduate and graduate students and for PhD student he holds a class in Current Issues of European Integration
- nationalism, civic engagement and political communication
- the area of state law, constitutional law, Union law, communitarian law (especially area of decision-making processes and horizontal division of powers), international private and public law
- political culture, electoral systems and the problems of public opinion
- migration trends and migration theories, international migration and legal provisions, development (urban, social and economic development and the growth of the green city) and forced migration, as well as climate change effects in relation to social, economical, and political dependence
- international security, theories of international politics, and foreign policy
- game theory, related multi-agent simulations, rational choice theory, political geography and post-structuralist
- Slovak politics and foreign policy with emphasis on energy and security issues
Head of the IESIR – assoc. prof. Jozef Bátora is chief-editor of Journal of International Relations and Development – an independent and internationally peer-reviewed journal in international relations and international political economy. It publishes articles on contemporary world politics and the global political economy from a variety of methodologies and approaches (http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jird/index.html) .
More on IESIR here