- Centre for the Study of Democracy
About me
Dr Thomas Moore is Associate Head of College (Education and Students) in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He is also a Reader in International Relations in the School of Social Sciences.
As an experienced academic leader in education and curriculum development Dr Moore has led cross-institutional projects designed to enhance inclusion and belonging at the University of Westminster. Dr Moore leads on the design and development of the education portfolio in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, ensuring that our approach to learning design is informed by interdisciplinary innovation and equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Dr Moore’s research is in International Political Theory, at the interface between international ethics and International Law. With a focus on the legal and political theory of Carl Schmitt his published research explores the frontiers of legality, legitimacy, and violence in discourses of state sovereignty in Global Politics. With an increasing focus on theories of international security, recent publications have been concerned with the philosophical foundations of sovereignty in international discourse.
Dr Moore has been Director of Cross-Disciplinary Learning and Teaching (2016-2018) and Director of Learning and Teaching in the previous Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Languages (2012-2016).
Dr Moore was awarded a University of Westminster Teaching Fellowship in 2018-2019 for International Engagement and Student Experience.
Dr Moore is keen to supervise PhD/MA/UG students in the field of international political theory, including questions about the ethical dimensions of International Relations. Dr Moore is available to comment on ethical questions within international politics, including ethical foreign policy, the ethics of borders and state-sanctioned violence, and the politics of International Law.
Teaching
Dr Moore was the University lead for the development and implementation of the University of Westminster's foundation programme. This programme has been specifically designed to facilitate a successful transition to Higher Education for students from a range of academic backgrounds and disciplines.
Dr Moore was formerly the Director of Learning and Teaching within the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. A key project during this time was innovating for the classroom of the future, including rethinking the spatial dimensions of learning within Higher Education.
He was also previously course leader for BA International Relations, BA Politics and International Relations and BA Politics within the Department of Politics and International Relations. During this time Dr Moore supported the work of the Democratic Education Network which was awarded runner-up in the student experience category of the 2019 Guardian University Awards.
Dr Moore has extensive teaching experience in Politics and International Relations. His teaching is research-led, reflecting his published research in the field of international theory, with a focus on international relations theory and competing conceptions of justice within International Relations.
Dr Moore has most recently been teaching on a School of Social Sciences elective, The Politics of Killing (Level 5). This module explores the dimensions of violence in human and political communities and is offered to students on courses in Politics and International Relations, Sociology, Criminology, and Psychology.
Modules previously taught: Ethics and International Relations (Level 6); Theories of International Security (MA); Theories of International Relations (Level 5).
External examiner experience: University of Winchester; University of Leicester; University of Birmingham.
Research
My research is in the area of international political theory, examining the critical limits of International Relations theory through the work of Thomas Hobbes, Carl Schmitt and the realist tradition.
Past research has examined the contractual foundations of international security and discourses of exceptionalism within the work of Carl Schmitt. Current research is concerned with the geopolitical dimensions of just war theory and communicative justifications of violence in contemporary international politics.
I am available to supervise dissertations in the area of contemporary IR theory, critical political theory, and Carl Schmitt's legal and political theory.
Completed PhD supervisory experience includes:
- Christian Pfenninger, 'A complex web of capillary relations: modelling an ideal-type of the global demos along the lines of theoretical anarchism' (Completed - Director of Studies).
- Marta Wielander, 'European border violence in the context of the contemporary 'refugee crisis' (Completed - Director of Studies).
- Richard Neve, 'States of Emergency: Between Legal Order and the Political' (Completed - with Professor Chantal Mouffe).
- Paula Sandrin, 'European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy and the impact of Turkey: a Tale of divergent Security Cultures?' (Completed - with Professor Chantal Mouffe).
- Daniel Matteo, 'International Legitimacy and Private Security Companies' (Completed - with Professor Roland Dannreuther).
- Greg Aasen (Completed - with Professor Dibyesh Anand).
Publications
For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.