Tobias Lemke
Political Science Ph.D.

I pursue an active research agenda that expands beyond the theoretical and historical context of my dissertation project. One strand of this research examines the impact of digital technology on international politics. A recently published article in the Journal of Global Security Studies analyzes how state actors leverage social media platforms to spread disinformation abroad. Drawing from social network theory, the article argues that these activities are best understood by examining how actors achieve and maintain access to the existing social media networks via a process of cultural keying—mimicking the cultural cues of the target network to camouflage their intentions and attract followers.

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Using structural topic modeling (a quantitative content analysis using R code), the article identifies thematic overlap between Kremlin-linked news outlets RT and Sputnik and a panel of some 200 French Twitter users. The analysis suggests that these outlets are indeed active in local social networks and repeatedly key on salient themes such as Islamophobia and Euroscepticism.

 

More broadly, I have written and published on how the digital revolution is changing the dynamics of interstate relations in the twenty-first century. This includes discussions of how state actors may appropriate social media platforms to interact with foreign publics--what some call digital diplomacy. In Diplomat or Troll, my co-author Michael Habegger and I caution against an overly optimistic reading of this trend. Instead, we conceptualize diplomatic and digital practice as two distinct systems of political communication that differ in scope (i.e., the number of participants), process (i.e., how these participants interact), and are generative of two different communicative logics.

 

Based on this functional differentiation, we suggest that both states and international organizations will find it difficult to promote and their interests through the integration of digital practice.

 

Another strand of my research is classroom focused and asks how we can facilitate safe but engaging learning environments during a time in which remote, hybrid, and asynchronous modes of teaching may become the new norm. In my contribution to the edited volume Pandemic Pedagogy: Teaching International Relations Amid Covid 19, I provide a conceptual starting point for navigating this challenge. The central question guiding my discussion is how to choose between synchronous and asynchronous course components. Here I advocate for a hybrid model that combines synchronous (i.e., face-to-face) instruction with asynchronous modules students can complete outside of class. 

 

If you want to know more about how I designed my classes to meet this challenge, check out the link on the right!