Biography
Dr Saunders completed an ESRC-funded PhD in International Relations in the School in 2015, after which she worked as an Associate Lecturer before being promoted in 2019 to Lecturer of International Relations. She is the Co-Director of the In addition to her work within the School, Dr Saunders is also a member of the University's Sanctuary Operations Group, which coordinates and supports activities relating to ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø' 'University of Sanctuary' status.
Teaching
Dr Saunders contributes to team teaching at Sub-Honours level, on:
- IR2005 Theoretical Approaches to International Relations
- IR2006 Studying International Relations
Her Honours teaching includes:
- IR3065 Refugees and International Relations
- IR3204 Migration and Global Politics: Ethics, Politics and Practice
- IR4565 Contemporary Political Theory
Dr Saunders teaches also teaches the following modules on the MLitt in International Political Theory:
- IR5401 Texts in International Political Theory
- IR5413 Topics in International Political Thought
- IR5046 Migration and Political Theory
Research areas
Dr Saunders' research sits at the intersection of global politics and political theory, focusing on contemporary social and political thought as a framework for analysing pressing global issues. She has a particular interest in issues of forced migration, human rights, and digital border control practices, and in conceptualisations of, and questions about, political responsibility, social justice, political subjectivity, and agency. Dr Saunders is currently in the early stages of a new research project exploing the Ethics of Border Controls in a Digital Age.
Dr Saunders' research has been funded by the ESRC, the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, and the Scottish Council on Global Affairs. Her most recent research project, funded by a Carnegie Trust Research Incentive Grant details the since 1999, with findings recently published in . Her research has been published in the , the , , and . Her book, , was published in 2018 as part of the Routledge Research in the Global Politics of Migration series. She has also contributed to two books on the thought of Hannah Arendt.
The Scottish Council on Global Affairs recently funded a project led by Dr Saunders, in partnership with Professor David Herd (School of English), on State of Asylum. The project produced a podcase miniseries exploring the lived realities of the UK asylum system. The four episodes - on Sanctuary, Detention, Housing, and Right to Work - can bee accessed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Pocket Casts under "State of Asylum".
Dr Saunders is the Associate Editor of the . She acts as a peer reviewer for a number of prominent journals in her field, including: Citizenship Studies, Refugee Survey Quarterly, Journal of Refugee Studies, Journal of International Political Theory, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Citizenship Studies, and Review of International Studies. In February 2025 she became Co-Director of the Centre for the Critical Reimagining of Human Rights, an interdisciplinary research centre focused on human rights from an arts and humanities perspective.
PhD supervision
- DavidÌýAnderson
- Manh TruongÌýNinh
- KieranÌýO'Meara
- SandraÌýPark
- TrumanÌýVenters
Selected publications
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Saunders, N. & Herd, D., 24 Mar 2026
Research output: Other contribution
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Open access
Saunders, N., 9 Nov 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Global Ethics. Latest Articles, 12 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Saunders, N., 8 Oct 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: European Journal of Political Theory. OnlineFirst, 21 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Saunders, N. & Sager, A., 13 Nov 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Global Ethics. Latest Articles, 9 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Saunders, N., 1 Mar 2023, London: UK Parliament. 4 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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Saunders, N., 9 Sept 2022, In: Border Criminologies.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
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Open access
Saunders, N. & Al-Om, T., 31 Jan 2022, In: Millennium: Journal of International Studies. 50, 2, p. 524-547 24 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Saunders, N., 27 Oct 2022, Contesting torture: interdisciplinary perspectives. Cox, R., Donnelly, F. & Lang, A. (eds.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 246-264 19 p. (Contemporary security studies).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Open access
Saunders, N., 1 Feb 2021, In: Journal of International Political Theory. 17, 1, p. 7-8
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Saunders, N. E. G., 1 Oct 2020, The Bloomsbury Companion to Hannah Arendt. Gratton, P. & Yasemin, S. (eds.). Bloomsbury Academic
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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