Profile

Dr Tom Vaughan
Associate Lecturer in Politics and International Relations
I joined the Department of Politics in October 2021. I successfully defended my PhD thesis in International Politics from Aberystwyth University, on South Africa and the global nuclear order, in October 2021.
My research interests centre around critical nuclear politics, including global nuclear order; non-proliferation and disarmament; postcolonial approaches to nuclear order; power, hegemony, and democracy in nuclear order; the civil/military distinction in nuclear technology; and 'less/non-nuclear' locales in the nuclear world.
I served as Chair of the British International Studies Association (BISA) Postgraduate Network (PGN) from 2019 - 2021, and am an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In 2021/22 I am teaching seminars in the areas of security studies and the international politics of the Global South, and convening a postgraduate taught module on qualitative research methods in social science.
Research interests
Critical nuclear politics, nuclear technology and technological systems, global nuclear order, International Relations theory, South Africa and nuclear technology, ideological components of nuclear order, the intersection of other planetary threats with nuclear politics.
Modules taught
- POL1045 - International Politics of the Global South
- POL2057 - Security Studies
- POLM140 - Qualitative Methods in Social Research
Biography
BSc (Hons) Politics, University of Bristol, 2013
MA Critical International Politics, Aberystwyth University, 2017
PhD International Politics, Aberystwyth University, 2022
Associate Fellow, Higher Education Academy (AFHEA), 2021