Mark Shanahan

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+44 (0) 118 378 8854
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Associate Professor
- SPEIR Director of Recruitment and Admissions with responsibility for outreach
- Former Head of Department (2018-2021)
- Convenor of American Government and Placement modules in Part 2; Co-convenor of Media and Politics module; Convenor of Part 3 Parliamentary Studies Module
- Responsible for student-led Politics Radio Show on B-Radio
Areas of interest
New developments in teaching and learning pedagogy, especially the use of social media; US government and the celebritisation of American political culture from Eisenhower to Trump (and beyond); the role of Parliament in UK government.
Postgraduate supervision
I am interested in supervising work around the US political system, the UK Parliamentary system and the relationship between politics and the media.
Research centres and groups
Co-founder of the Monroe Group which focuses on US political history.Background
A convert from industry to academia, I spent over 20 years in journalism and corporate media before transitioning to academia, first at Brunel University where I completed my PhD and latterly, from 2012, at Reading. Currently Head of Department for Politics and International Relations, I am a regular media spokesperson for the university on UK and US politics, including for the BBC, ITN, CNN, Sky, ABC (Australia), France 24 and CTV (Canada).Academic qualifications
- PhD in Political History
- MA in International Relations
- BA in English Language and Literature
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and of the Institute of Internal Communication
Professional bodies/affiliations
- Member of PSA and BISA joint T&L Group and past co-chair of BISA T&L Group
- Member of MPSA, BAAS and HOTCUS
Selected publications
- 2018 'The Outsider Presidency' chapter in The Trump Presidency - from Campaign Trail to World Stage, edited by M. Oliva and M.J. Shanahan, Palgrave, London.
- 2016 Eisenhower at the Dawn of the Space Age (monograph), Lexington Books, Lanham, Maryland. Winner of Neudstadt prize for American Politics Book of the Year 2017
- 2015 'Pursuing the Parallel Track', chapter in The Eisenhower Presidency, Edited by A.J. Polsky, Lexington Books, Lanham, Maryland.
- 2012 The 240,000 mile cul de sac - how Kennedy won the moon race but got lost in space - 49thParallel, Issue 27, Winter 2012 - http://www.49thparallel.bham.ac.uk/back/issue27/shanahan.htm
Selected conference papers
- 2020 Student Communications during the Pandemic - PSA Online Conference, June 2020
- 2019 Why students don't read - new tools for topic engagement beyond the classroom - PSA/APSA/BISA International Teaching and Learning Conference, Brighton
- 2018 Teaching Trump in Europe - Policy impact beyond the tweets, APSA T&L conference, Baltimore, USA
- 2017 Breaking the fourth wall - updated - Bringing practitioners into the study of politics, ECPR annual conference, Oslo
- 2016 Bringing expert voices into the room - Investigating Pedagogic Research & Practice in Politics and International Relations - PSA Annual Conference, Brighton
- 2016 Breaking down the fourth wall - using Twitter to engage in US election races - BISA annual Conference, Edinburgh
- 2016 All buzz and no static - using internet radio and podcasting to cement political learning, PSA T&L Conference, Newcastle
- 2015 The journey to the White House started in London, Eisenhower's 1945 address at the Guildhall HOTCUS Annual Conference, UEA
- 2013 Eisenhower's Parallel Path at 'Ike Reconsidered: The Eisenhower Legacy in the 21st Century' - Roosevelt House, Hunter College, CUNY, New York
- 2011 Reassessing Eisenhower's Space Policy - South East History Hub, Annual Conference - University of Kent
- 2010 The 240,000 mile cul de sac - British Association for American Studies - Postgraduate Conference - Rothermere Institute, Oxford
Awards and Grants
2021 - BAAS Research Travel Award
Publications
- Oliva, M. and Shanahan, M. , eds. (2018) The Trump presidency: from campaign trail to world stage. Palgrave MacMillan ISBN: 9783319963242 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96325-9