Alasdair Blair

Alasdair Blair is a Professor and Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic at De Montfort University, affiliated with the Faculty of Business and Law and the Leicester Castle Business School. He holds a Jean Monnet Chair in International Relations and established the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at DMU in 2013. He previously served as Associate Dean Academic, Head of Department of Politics and Public Policy, and Head of Historical and Social Studies at DMU, and was Jean Monnet Professor at Coventry University.

• M.A. (Hons) in Economic History and Politics, University of Aberdeen (1992)
• M.A. Diplomatic Studies, University of Leicester (1993)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Information Technology, University of Leicester (1994)
• Ph.D. on Britain and the Negotiation of the Maastricht Treaty, University of Leicester (1998)
• MA Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Coventry University (2005)

His research focuses on European Union Politics, British Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. He is currently working on the 3rd edition of The European Union Since 1945 and a Global Politics textbook. His recent publications emphasize pedagogical innovation, feedback practices, block teaching, and the role of discipline in higher education.

His awards include the National Teaching Fellowship (2006), Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2015), and multiple Jean Monnet Chairs. He has secured significant research grants from the European Commission and the Higher Education Academy.

• National Teaching Fellowship (2006)
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2015)
• European Commission Jean Monnet Chair (2010–)
• Best article on learning and teaching in Politics (2012–13)
• Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (2001)
• Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts (2006)

He has supervised 12 PhD students to completion and currently supervises four more. He has led multi-institutional projects on feedback and teaching innovation. He serves as editor of European Political Science and has been an external examiner at the University of Nottingham and University of Leicester.

He leads the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at DMU and contributes to the Higher Education Academy's initiatives on pedagogic practices.