Dr Christopher Huggins

Course Leader and Associate Professor in Politics and Associate Dean for Learning, Teaching and Student Experience

Phone
+44 (0)1473 338034
Email
C.Huggins2@uos.ac.uk
School/Directorate
School of Social Sciences and Humanities
Christopher Huggins ORCID
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Headshot of Christopher Huggins

Dr Christopher Huggins is Associate Dean for Learning, Teaching and Student Experience and Associate Professor in Politics. As Associate Dean, he is responsible for the learning and teaching strategy and its delivery across both the School and wider University. As Associate Professor in Politics he is responsible for the delivery of learning and teaching in the social sciences, as well as engaging in research, where he has a strong research profile, focused on subnational politics and devolution, the role of local and regional government in European Union politics, and the UK-EU relationship. Christopher has a strong track record in knowledge exchange and public engagement, including extensive media and parliamentary engagement. Christopher is also an editor of the journal Contemporary European Politics. He is also external examiner for the Politics and International Relations programme at London Metropolitan University. Christopher was awarded his PhD from the University of Portsmouth in 2015. Before joining the University of Suffolk, he held positions at Keele University, the University of Aberdeen and the University of the West of Scotland.

Christopher supports a wide range of teaching across the politics and wider social science programmes at Suffolk, including Comparative Politics, Current Political Disputes, Political Argumentation and Persuasion and a range of social science research methods modules.

As Associate Dean for Learning, Teaching and Student Experience, Christopher is responsible for co-ordinating the school’s strategic approach to learning and teaching across its portfolio, as well as having oversight over the delivery of learning and teaching.

Christopher’s research interests are focused on sub-national politics and devolution, the role of local and regional government in European Union politics, and the UK-EU relationship.

Together with colleagues from the University of the West of Scotland, Christopher has recently completed work on an ESRC-funded project to understand the impact of Brexit on UK fisheries policy. This project, which is part of The UK in a Changing Europe, explored what lessons the UK can learn from other non-EU countries such as Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands, and also examines how the repatriation of fisheries policy from the EU will affect the UK’s devolution settlement.

Publications

Selected publications (see ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0108-7887 for full listing)

  • van der Zwet, A., Connolly, J., Huggins, C., & McAngus, C. (2023). Network resilience and EU fisheries policy engagement in third countries: Lessons for post-Brexit governance. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 25(1), 121-138. https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481211067146 
  • Connolly, J., van der Zwet, A., Huggins, C., & McAngus, C. (2022). The governance capacities of Brexit from a Scottish perspective: The case of fisheries policy. Public Policy and Administration, 37(3), 342-362. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952076720936328
  • van der Zwet, A., Connolly, J., Huggins, C., & McAngus, C. (2022). Brexit and the Common Fisheries Policy: opportunities for multi-level differentiated (dis)integration? In B. Leruth, S. Gänzle, & J. Trondal (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Differentiation in the European Union (pp. 310-324). Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429054136-22
  • Flinders, M., & Huggins, C. (2020). Modes of state governance, populist pressures and public sector reform. In J. Connolly and A. van der Zwet (Eds.), Public value management, governance and reform in Britain (pp. 87-114). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55586-3_4
  • Huggins, C. (2020). Channel Arc. In B. Wassenberg & B. Reitel (eds.), Critical Dictionary on Borders, Cross-Border Cooperation and European Integration (pp. 172-176). Peter Lang. https://doi.org/10.3726/b15774
  • Huggins, C., Connolly, J., McAngus, C., & van der Zwet, A. (2020). Brexit and the uncertain future of fisheries policy in the United Kingdom: political and governance challenges. Ocean Yearbook, 34, 20-42. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004426214_003
  • McAngus, C., Huggins, C., Connolly, J., & van der Zwet, A. (2019). Brexit, Fisheries and Scottish Devolution: An Intergovernmental Disruption. The Political Quarterly, 90(4), 802-807. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12772
  • Huggins, C., Connolly, J., McAngus, C. and van der Zwet, A. (2019). Brexit and the future of UK fisheries governance: learning lessons from Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands. Contemporary Social Science, 14(2), 327-340. https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2018.1516296
  • Huggins, C. (2018). Subnational Government and Transnational Networking: The Rationalist Logic of Local Level Europeanization. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 56(6), 1263-1282. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12740
  • Huggins, C. (2018). Subnational transnational networking and the continuing process of local-level Europeanization. European Urban and Regional Studies, 25(2), 206-227. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969776417691564
  • Huggins, C. (2018). Charting cross-border co-operation in the Channel / la Manche region: Successes and failures. In B. Wassenberg (ed.), Castle-talks on Cross-Border Cooperation: Fear of Integration? The Pertinence of the Border (pp. 137-152). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.

Christopher’s research has led to extensive knowledge exchange and public engagement, including evidence submissions to and appearance before UK Parliament Select Committees, briefing to and appearances before the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly and briefings to UK government departments, including Defra and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Erasmus+ Mobility to Maastricht University, The Netherlands, in February 2023.

Taught master’s programme in cross-border co-operation at Sciences Po in the University of Strasbourg, France in January 2020.

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AdvanceHE).

Member of UACES (committee member and member of Teaching Working Group).

Member of  the Political Studies Association.