Dr Kamil Zwolski is committed to improve student learning through high-impact pedagogies including gamification, staff-student partnerships, research-informed teaching and other active-learning approaches. His current research and education activities revolve around the European Union’s Jean Monnet Chair award, which he received in 2019. These activities involve conducting research for a new book on European security as well as promoting research-informed teaching in European Studies.
Kamil’s latest book, European Security in Integration Theory (2018), shows how international integration theories developed after World War I (federalism and functionalism) should be revisited today, particularly in the context of the troubled European-Russian relations and the conflict in Ukraine. Kamil also regularly publishes in peer-reviewed journals, including on the pedagogy of teaching and learning international relations. One of his recent articles proposes a holistic framework for assessing international relations in undergraduate education.
Kamil, an Advance HE Senior Fellow, is also leading PAIR’s (Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Southampton) efforts in the area of teaching and learning innovation. He received the 2015 Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Award for introducing online simulation to the teaching and assessment of his International Relations Theory module.
In 2019, Kamil received the Southampton Students' Union Academic Award for his innovative staff-students partnership initiative, allowing students to work with staff on assessment and feedback. For this initiative, Kamil was also announced the Finalist of the 2019 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards. As part of his Jean Monnet Chair award, Kamil began researching and popularising research-informed teaching in European Studies and International Relations. To that end, his annual Jean Monnet Workshop ‘Research-informed Teaching in EU Studies’ offers inclusive and encouraging space to exchange knowledge and best practice among EU studies teachers.
One of the most recent community building innovations, which Kamil introduced at the University of Southampton, are PAIR Roundtables. These are regular research events involving staff and students, aiming to break down institutional firewalls between teaching and research in the Kamil’s Department. Since 2019, PAIR Roundtables have become the cornerstone of engagement with students outside of the regular modules.