I am Dr Jaime Selwood, a political scientist and Associate Professor at Hiroshima University in Japan. Originally from Northumberland in north-east England, I have spent over two decades teaching and researching in Europe and Asia.

I did my doctorate at Newcastle University because I wanted to understand how traditional institutions manage to survive, or collapse, when they face serious pressures internally and externally. My research focuses on the moments when a monarch steps down, is pushed aside, or faces challenges serious enough to potentially test the stability of the constitutional order. What I try to understand is how states manage those transitions, how legitimacy is maintained or rebuilt, and why so many modern political systems still rely on hereditary institutions to provide continuity and stability.

My research uses Comparative Historical Institutionalism and qualitative process tracing across European and East Asian governance systems. I am currently developing a broader comparative programme examining constitutional design in Asia, supported by an active grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

I also have a long-standing interest in how digital tools and AI shape the way knowledge travels across languages and cultures. I have served on the EuroCALL Executive Committee since 2023 and presented research at conferences across Europe, Asia, Australasia, and the Americas.

RESEARCH AREAS: Political Science
  • Research examines how governance frameworks manage structural transition and institutional adaptation under pressure, using Comparative Historical Institutionalism and qualitative process tracing across European and East Asian systems.
  • My other area of research centres on the elective monarchies  – focusing on UAE, Malaysia, and Cambodia. 
  • Current Research: Strategic Severance -- the administrative and institutional strain caused by the succession process. 
  • Future research is centred around the causes and remedies of legtimacy / institituional drift.
RESEARCH AREAS: Mobile Technology 
  • My primary research in this field has focused on the usage of mobile technology as a key learning tool – particularly podcasting and digital interactive posters. 
  • ​Podcasting has over the last decade become a popular medium for entertainment, yet remains underused as a learning tool.
  • Since 2011, I have been conducting research, individually and with fellow researchers, into the effectiveness of podcasting. 
  • Interactive posters are a new format that allows for embedded information to be contained with a digital format – and accessible through mobile devices. This is a radical departure from conventional top-down presentation styles.
  • An interactive poster allows for the attendee to engage with the material in a manner suited to their own needs. I have created and presented on this area, as well as designed courses for students. 
  • I have also researched the impact of online learning software as learning engagement evolved in the post-pandemic world  – specifically the HyFlex Learning model.

My publications & presentations
From 2011 – 2023 I created, researched, wrote and recorded 422 episodes of a free English learning podcast called ENGLISH NEWS WEEKLY. All episodes are still available to download from the following link by clicking on the logo!

ENGLISH NEWS WEEKLY DETAILS
  • A free weekly, English language-learning podcast for anyone, anywhere and anytime.
  • Each episode centres around an interesting and topical current-affairs news event from around the world!
  • Each episode is approximately 15 minutes long
  • A free PDF with all the activities from the audio podcast plus extra exercises is available to download with everyone ENW episode.
  • Special edition travel podcasts from fascinating locations around the world are also available. Locations include: Berlin, Paris, Hawaii, Abu Dhabi, Madrid, London, Venice, Milan, Edinburgh, Rome, Istanbul, Sydney, Santiago, Easter Island...and many more!
  • Special edition interview podcasts also available. 

COMING IN 2024!
  • The ENGLISH NEWS BITESIZE podcast!
  • ​Jaime Selwood & Kateryna Nykytchenko