US hegemonic power, Hollywood, and the production of knowledge and legitimacy
Dr Sebastian Kaempf is Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the School of Political Science and International Studies.
Dr Kaempf's expertise lies at the intersection between International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies, with specialization in the areas of international security, conflict transformation, ethics and the laws of war, and information technology relating to global politics and violent conflict. Specifically, his research focuses on two areas:
The first concerns the relationship between ethics and the laws of war in the context of the transformation of violent conflict. Here, he is interested in the ways in which historic and contemporary wars - waged under conditions of asymmetry - have impacted on the relationship between the norms of casualty-aversion and civilian protection.
The second area focuses on the role a transforming global media landscape is playing in violent conflicts. Here, his research focuses on how historic and current conflicts are being waged in and through media and information technology, with a particular emphasis on the geopolitics of cyberspace, embedded news reporting, mass surveillance and big data mining, non-state armed groups, and the influence of the Pentagon and CIA in the entertainment sector.
About School Research Seminar Series
POLSIS Research Seminar Series
Semester 1 2026
All sessions are held in-person, Friday 1 — 2:30pm, Room 537, Building 39A (unless stated)
Date | Event | Name | Title |
27 February | R2P/ Research Seminar | Jeff Sizemore | Atrocity Prevention in a Tough World |
6 March | Portfolio Event | Sarah Percy, UQ | Excellence in RHD Supervision |
13 March | Seminar | Haroro Ingram, UQ | The Promises of Revolutionary Violence |
20 March | Seminar | Sarah Percy, UQ | The History of War in Seven Weapons |
27 March | Seminar | Kristine Bowman, Michigan SU and UQ | Free Speech on US University Campuses |
17 April | Seminar | Sofia Ammassari, Griffith | Grassroots Women in the Populist Radical Right |
24 April | RHD Showcase | Aly Tkachenko; Adarsh Badri; Guidora (Julie) Kopong | Direct Action Tactics as Ecological Security?; Elite Discourses of Belonging in British India; Kinship Structures and Gendered Distribution of Resources in Timor-Leste and Indonesia. |
1 May | Seminar | Marshall Beier, McMaster University | Making and Unmaking Righteous War: The Work that Childhood Does |
8 May | IE/ Research Seminar | Madeleine Pugin, Griffith University | UNDRIP and Urban Aboriginal Cultural Recognition in South East Queensland |
15 May | Seminar | Owen Worth, University of Limerick | Rosa Luxemburg and the lost critique of IR |
22 May | Seminar | Jiye Kim, UQ | The Future of the South China Sea: Disputes and Negotiations |
29 May | Streams Meetings | Shahar Hameiri DB Subedi Nick Heron & Adam Hannah | International Relations Peace and Conflict Studies Political Science & Public Policy |
For further information contact Professor Matt McDonald, Director of Research: matt.mcdonald@uq.edu.au.