Friday IR Café
What is Friday IR Café? What we do? Why we do it?
Friday IR Café is a project created and led by Xiao Alvin Yang and Eli J. Patton. We are based in the US, Canada and Germany. We meet on Fridays to discuss theories and issues in social sciences and humanities, with a focus on international relations and the global economy.
We have started this initiative because we want to explore new ways of creating and sharing knowledge in an open, transparent, and collaborative way, and in a friendly and relaxed environment.
Our Friday IR Café runs like a symposium in the ancient Greek sense of the word. Recall the Platonic dialogues in Plato's books. So, there are no presentations and lectures but great conversations and dialogues. We let our intellectual sparks lead us.
The acronym, IR, could be interpreted in multiple ways. Conventionally, IR simply means international relations in political science. However, we try to go beyond this conventional way of thinking about the world as inter-national relations.
Therefore, IR here could also be interpreted as inter-discipline relations, inter-societal relations, inter-cultural relations, inter-personal relations, inter-racial relations, inter-species relations, or whichever way you can come up.
The point is to move beyond the "international paradigm" and see various relations in our world in new lights.
Friday IR Café is based on the ideas of open scholarship and open science. Therefore, everyone is more than welcome to share their perspectives and insights. Everyone is welcome to propose ideas, topics, or questions for future Café sessions.
Please send us your proposal to: fridayircafe@gmail.com Thank you very much!
FAQs
How does Friday IR Café work?
Our Friday IR Cafe runs like a symposium in the ancient Greek sense of the word. Recall the Platonic dialogues in Plato's books. So, there are no presentations and lectures but great conversations and dialogues. Think of it as a salon where we let our intellectual sparks lead us.
What is the structure of Friday IR Café?
It varies from time to time. But usually, we will start by briefly introducing Friday IR café and special hosts if there are any. We then kick off with questions on the poster of the week. Participants can join the conversation at any time.
We just let curiosity and inspiration lead the conversation.
How many people come each week usually?
Depending on the topic, the size of the group varies, ranging from small groups to medium or large groups.
Who usually comes?
Typically, graduate students and professors come to our Friday IR café. Occasionally, bachelor students and professor emeritus join.
Which academic disciplines do participants come from?
They come mainly from social sciences and humanities, such as political science, sociology, economics and history.
Thus, we always take a transdisciplinary approach.
Where do participants come from?
Participants usually are based in North America and Europe. Due to the time zone differences, some interested people outside North America and Europe cannot participate.
In the future, we may schedule some sessions for different time zones.
Can I propose a topic to Friday IR café?
Definitely! You are more welcome to do so. Please send your proposal to fridayircafe@gmail.com
Can I be the co-host?
Absolutely Please send your proposal to fridayircafe@gmail.com
Is Friday IR café online only?
Yes, for now, due to the pandemic. However, we plan to host some meetings in person in the future.