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Tegan Harrison BSc, MA

Tegan Harrison

(she/her)

BSc, MA

Teams and roles for Tegan Harrison

Overview

Tegan Lily Harrison is a doctoral researcher in Politics and International Relations at Cardiff University. Her PhD explores the governance of space security technologies within the United Nations system, with a particular focus on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) agenda from 1981 to the present. Her research examines how legal frameworks, institutional dynamics, and geopolitical tensions shape multilateral approaches to emerging security risks. It also highlights the policy gaps that persist at the intersection of international law, humanitarian principles, and technological governance.

Tegan's work draws on qualitative documentary analysis and develops a novel analytical framework to interrogate the limitations and possibilities of global disarmament discourse. Her research engages with debates in international security, humanitarian policy, and global governance.

Alongside her doctoral research, Tegan teaches undergraduate modules in International Relations, Nuclear and Cold War Politics, International Security and Media and Journalism. She is committed to inclusive and critical pedagogy that supports students in engaging with the politics of global order, and the role of communication in political affairs.

She is also the Newsletter Editor for the Defence Research Network, where she coordinates public-facing communications, and supports the visibility of early-career researchers working on defence and security.

Research

PhD Thesis
Title: Martial Assemblages in the UN Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space Agenda (1981–2023)

Tegan's doctoral research examines the governance of space security technologies within the United Nations disarmament system. It focuses on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) agenda and investigates how global institutions engage with the risks posed by emerging technologies in contested geopolitical environments. The project uses qualitative documentary analysis (NVivo) to study decades of multilateral dialogue, state-level positioning and NGO input.

The research contributes a novel analytical framework that maps how legal, institutional, and technological dynamics interact across time. It addresses ongoing debates in international law, humanitarian policy, and security governance, with implications for future arms control agreements and global policy coordination.

 
The research is grounded in an interpretive documentary analysis of PAROS official documents and focuses on three key thematic areas: (1) space-strike in ballistic encounters and the nuclearized security space; (2) value and vulnerability in issues of targeting and thresholds of aggression; (3) sustainable security and environmental risk Each chapter critically reconstructs the formal processes of selection and dependency that underpin international diplomacy on space security. The analysis reveals how specific security issues, including military interactions and technologies, are selectively ordered and socio-technically constituted within the broader assemblage of space governance.
 
The thesis contributes to the field of critical security studies broadly, and to critical astropolitics specifically, offering insights into the evolving challenges of space warfare and security governance.

 

Teaching

PGR tutor in Politics and International Relations:

  • International Politics in the Nuclear Age 
  • International Relations of the Cold War 
  • International Security: Concepts and Issues 
  • Introduction to Globalisation 
  • Introduction to International Relations 

PGR tutor in Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies 

  • Introduction to Journalism Studies 

Associate Fellowship - Awarded August 2024

Biography

Co-convenor Astropolitics EISA ECR Workshop 2024. 

 

Academic Background:

MA Security (2020-2021) Loughborough University.

BSc Sociology (2017-2020) Loughborough University.

Professional memberships

British International Studies Association (BISA)

European International Studies Association (EISA)

Academic positions

PGR Tutor, Politics and International Relations, Cardiff University (2022-present).

PGR Tutor, Journalism and Media, cardiff University (2024-present).

Committees and reviewing

Defence Research Network - committee member, 'newletter editor'. 

Contact Details

Email HarrisonT8@cardiff.ac.uk

Research themes

Specialisms

  • Global Governance
  • Political Communication
  • Security and Disarmament