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Victoria Hudson

Dr Victoria Hudson

Research Fellow

Research interests

  • International relations
  • Politics
  • Conflict and security

Biography

Victoria Hudson is a British Academy Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of War Studies, researching for a project entitled ‘Russia’s Renewal of Cultural Influence and Attraction Abroad: A Comparative Study of Audience Receptivity to Russian Soft Power in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Estonia’.

The study builds upon her doctoral research at University of Birmingham, where she successfully completed a thesis on the civilisational aspects on Russian soft power in contemporary Ukraine. In addition to engagement with the relevant bodies of IR and critical security theory, the thesis also demanded a significant tranche of fieldwork to be completed in-country, which entailed conducting surveys and focus groups across four cities of Ukraine, in addition to expert interviews in Moscow. During this time, Victoria also enjoyed a fruitful visit to the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, within the framework of the ESRC’s Overseas Institutional Visit initiative.

Victoria Hudson was a co-organiser of the Artists and Academics for Social Change project. This competition brought together political cartoonists and researchers to increase the impact of scholarly work among wider audiences by sharing findings as art. The works created will form part of King’s College London’s contribution to the ESRC Festival of Social Science in autumn 2024.

Please see here for full details, the online gallery and details of the winning academics and artists involved: fass.open.ac.uk/research/projects/ddr/creative-engagement/academics-artists

Dr Hudson is a co-convener of the BISA East Europe and Eurasian Security Group (https://www.bisa.ac.uk/members/working-groups/eees )(2022-) and Information Officer for BASEES (https://basees.org/) (2023-)

Qualifications

  • PhD, Centre for Russian and East European Studies (CREES), University of Birmingham (2014)
  • MA Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham (2008)
  • MSc Security Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth (2003)
  • BSc German and European Studies, Aston University. Birmingham (2002)

Research interests

  • Ideology, nationalism, identity
  • Russia, Ukraine, Europe
  • Soft power and public diplomacy
  • Communication and media

Teaching

Victoria has previously taught at University of Birmingham, University of Leicester and Aston University, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Modules included International Security, Introduction to Politics, Security and Defence Policy of the EU, Russian Politics, Russian Translation, Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods and Comparative Politics. As Teaching Fellow at Aston University in 2013-2014, she was also course convenor for a number of undergraduate and postgraduate modules.

King’s First Year (pilot project).

Publications

Research articles

  • (2022) The impact of Russian soft power in Kazakhstan: creating an enabling environment for cooperation between Nur-Sultan and Moscow, Journal of Political Power, 15:3, 469-494, DOI: 10.1080/2158379X.2022.2127280
  • (2018) 'The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as a Potential ‘Tool’ of Russian Soft Power in the Wake of Ukraine’s 2013 Euromaidan', Europe-Asia Studies, 70:9, 1355-1380, DOI: 10.1080/09668136.2018.1536780 
  • (2015): ‘Forced to Friendship’? Russian (Mis-)Understandings of Soft Power and the Implications for Audience Attraction in Ukraine, Politics, Special Issue: The Soft Power of Hard States, edited by Michael Barr and Valentina Feklyunina, Volume 35, Issue 3-4, pages 330–346, November.

Edited book

  • (2022): Victoria Hudson & Lucian Leustean (eds.) ‘Religion and Forced Displacement in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia’
    University of Amsterdam Press. DOI: 10.5117/9789463727556

Book chapters

  • (2024) Locating the role of neo-Paganism in far-right groups on the Russian socio-political landscape, in: Aitamurto, K., Downing R. (eds) Contemporary Germanic and Slavic Paganisms - Security Risks and Solutions, Bloomsbury [forthcoming, December].
  • (2022) The impact of Russian soft power in Kazakhstan: creating an enabling environment for cooperation between Nur-Sultan and Moscow, Journal of Political Power, 15:3, 469-494, DOI: 10.1080/2158379X.2022.2127280 (open access)
  • (2022) ‘The Response of the Metropolitan District of the Russian Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan to the Emigration of Ethnic Russians from Independent Kazakhstan’ in Victoria Hudson and Lucian Leustean (eds.): Religion and Forced Displacement in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, Amsterdam University Press.
  • (2019) 'The Georgian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate: "Tools" of Russian Soft Power?' in Andrey Makarychev and Thomas Kruessmann (eds.): Europe in the Caucasus, Caucasus in Europe, ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart, pp. 171-198.
  • (2009): ‘Sovereign Democracy as a Discourse of Russian Identity’ in Philipp Casula and Jeronim Perovic (eds.): Identities, Discourses and Politics: The Foundations of Russia's Stability, ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart.

Engagement writing

Grants and Honours [selected]

2016-2019 

  • British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellowship at King’s College London

2014

  • Marie Curie FP7 International Staff Exchange – Institute of Europe (RAS) Moscow   
  • Recipient of ‘ASTONishing Academic’ award at Aston University for teaching quality
  • Grant from university’s School Research Fund to attend IPSA World Congress (£1,634.35). 

2013     

  • CEELBAS grant for international research visit for project with HSE in Moscow (£1,356)         

2011 

  • ESRC grants for fieldwork and language training in Russia and Ukraine (£3560+£2190)
  • ESRC-funded research visit to Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki (£3,160) 

2009            

  • CEELBAS / ESRC +3 Studentship for PhD studies (£50,000)

2002             

  • Studentship for Master’s Degree from the Department of International Politics at the University of Wales Aberystwyth (£4,000)
  • German Embassy Prize for the best graduation dissertation in German at Aston University
  • European Studies final year departmental prize from Aston University

2000           

  • DAAD scholarship for a German language course in Germany (€1,000)
  • Scholarship for Liberal Arts summer university at ECLA in Berlin (€3,000)

News

King's co-organises art exhibition on the transformative power of art in society

The exhibition at Redcar’s Kirkleatham Museum, which starts on the 28 June and runs throughout the summer, features artworks resulting from a unique...

PCD (l) and VH (r) BISA conference 2024

King's collaborates with Philippine cartoon collective to show the power of political art

Academics from King’s College London and The Open University have collaborated with a Philippines cartoon collective, Pitik Bulag to demonstrate world issues...

Pitik Bulag

Events

11NovTool against disinformation

The Art and Social Challenges Workshop

Join us for "Art and Social Challenges," a workshop with artist Joanna Mamede, and discover how to harness art to address pressing social issues while...

Please note: this event has passed.

27MarBook launch 'Russia's War' Jade McGlynn 27 March Bush House King's College London (780 × 440 px) (1)

Book launch 'Russia's War'

Join us for a discussion panel with Jane McGlynn, author of the book 'Russia's War' and researchers from the Department of War Studies.

Please note: this event has passed.

Features

How do Russians feel about the war in Ukraine?

VICTORIA HUDSON: It’s impossible to get objective and representative data on the attitudes of the Russian population towards the war in Ukraine, but the...

russian protester holding sign against war 2022

News

King's co-organises art exhibition on the transformative power of art in society

The exhibition at Redcar’s Kirkleatham Museum, which starts on the 28 June and runs throughout the summer, features artworks resulting from a unique...

PCD (l) and VH (r) BISA conference 2024

King's collaborates with Philippine cartoon collective to show the power of political art

Academics from King’s College London and The Open University have collaborated with a Philippines cartoon collective, Pitik Bulag to demonstrate world issues...

Pitik Bulag

Events

11NovTool against disinformation

The Art and Social Challenges Workshop

Join us for "Art and Social Challenges," a workshop with artist Joanna Mamede, and discover how to harness art to address pressing social issues while...

Please note: this event has passed.

27MarBook launch 'Russia's War' Jade McGlynn 27 March Bush House King's College London (780 × 440 px) (1)

Book launch 'Russia's War'

Join us for a discussion panel with Jane McGlynn, author of the book 'Russia's War' and researchers from the Department of War Studies.

Please note: this event has passed.

Features

How do Russians feel about the war in Ukraine?

VICTORIA HUDSON: It’s impossible to get objective and representative data on the attitudes of the Russian population towards the war in Ukraine, but the...

russian protester holding sign against war 2022