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Lesley Maters Staff Photo

Lesley Masters

Senior Lecturer

School of Social Sciences

Role

I am a senior lecturer in the field of Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations and Diplomacy. Thisincludes teaching on subjects such as diplomacy, the UN, global governance, the politics of the global south.

As the course leader for the MA Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations and MA Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations and Security, I am involved in post-graduate teaching and supervision.

I supervise at the PhD level and welcome research proposals on questions ofdiplomacy, international agency of non-state actors, and South African foreignpolicy. This aligns with my own research area that focuses on the changing natureof diplomacy and how this should be approached

Career overview

I am a senior lecturer in Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations. Prior to working at NTU I was a senior researcher and lecturer at the University of Johannesburg SARChI Chair in African Foreign Policy and Diplomacy, these are links I continue to maintain as a Senior Associate.

Before joining academia, I was the programme manager for the foreign policy and diplomacy programme at the Institute for Global Dialogue, a foreign policy think tank based in Pretoria, South Africa

Research areas

My research interests centre on foreign policy and diplomacy with an emphasis on building an understanding of the role of state and non-state actors in global governance. This includes research on climate change diplomacy, science diplomacy, parliamentary diplomacy amongst other areas of diplomatic engagement. As part of this analysis, I am interested in growing diplomatic studies networks and enhancing the teaching of diplomacy within Higher Education.

In addition to my work on promoting the study of diplomacy, I am actively engaged in research on South African foreign policy and am part of the editorial team of the South African Foreign Policy Review. This links to my research work on African agency and globalising international relations, showcasing the contributions of African theory and practice to international relations.

Orcid ID: 0000-0002-1053-8977

Academia.Edu

External activity

I act as a peer reviewer for academic journals and an external examiner for research degrees.

I am a co-convenor for the Africa and Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Studies working group of the British Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Studies Association.

Visiting senior research associate at the South African Research Chair (SARChI) in African Diplomacy and Foreign policy.

Publications

Most recent publications:

Masters, L. and Landsberg, C. (2024). South Africa Foreign Policy and the
National Interest: Which interest? Revista Brasileira de Politica Internacional.
67(2), 1-19

Masters, L. (2024) A Diplomatic Conduit: the Role of Science Diplomacy in
Africa. Key Issues in African Diplomacy: Developments and Achievements. S.
Botha and J. van Wyk (eds). Bristol: Bristol University Press 

Masters, L. (2024) On the Pillars of Pan-Africanism: An Emerging AU Foreign
policy. Non-State Actors and Foreign Policy Agency: Insights from Area Studies.M.
Charountaki, Christos Kourtelis, Daniela Irrera (eds). Switzerland: Springer nature
DOI:

Masters, L. Mthembu, P. and van Wyk, J. (eds) (2022) The South African Foreign
Policy Review, Volume 4. Pretoria: African Institute of South Africa (Shortlisted for
the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences award March 2024)

Masters, L. 2021. Africa, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and digital
diplomacy: (Re)Negotiating the international knowledge structure, South African
Journal of Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Affairs, Vol. 28(3), pp. 361-377 DOI:

Course(s) I teach on