Westminster is an early adopter of an evolving project designed to communicate more effectively about international relations concepts: the Visual International Relations Project (VIRP).
On Nov. 19, VIRP Director Dr. Patrick James, the Dana and David Dornsife Dean’s Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California, conducted a special workshop for the College’s Department of Political Science and Security Studies.
To date, Westminster is one of the smallest institutions of higher learning to receive James’ expertise. Other participating colleges and universities include Brigham Young University-Idaho, Virginia Military Institute, Kansas State University, Illinois State University, the University of Georgia, the University of Kansas, Texas Tech University and Georgia Southern University.
The recent event focused on teaching the small group to synthesize international relations concepts into quickly discernable diagrams, which is the primary focus of VIRP.
Participants included Drs. Tobias Gibson, Kali Wright-Smith and Joshua Holzer as well as 11 students: Adam Abuzaid, Teagan Collins, Madison VanDyke, Ailey Fields, Lulu Howser, Logan McCurly, Ginna Meisenheimer, Roman Phillips, Isabella Shelden, Isaac Thomas and Cooper Thompson.
“VIRPing is a way that students can organize large numbers of articles, which may benefit them, for example, on exams,” explained Gibson, who helped facilitate the event and was granted VIRP instructor status during the workshop. “It can also serve as a guide for how to think through the major components of articles and chapters, which is beneficial throughout the semester.”
Westminster’s work will soon be featured on VIRP’s website, aiding in future scholarly research and discussion in the rapidly evolving field of international relations.
“I am interested in ongoing VIRP efforts, including in my classes,” says Gibson, who works with James in various capacities. “I am excited about the possibility of another VIRP session taking place on campus in the future.”
The VIRP workshop was made possible by the Denehy Fund, which is generously funded by Marissa (Tyler) ’08 and Sam ’10 Denehy.
Sarah Rummel Backer is the Director of Media Relations and Senior Writer at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. A proud Westminster graduate, Sarah has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and strategic communications in the areas of higher education, medicine, agriculture, and the private business sector.
