>> Amanda Russell Beattie

When I swam at Olympium:

I swam at the Olympium for three seasons,1993/4 Season to 1995/6 inclusive.  I originally swam at the Hamilton Synchronized Swimming Club and moved to the Olympium under the guidance of Mary Jane Ling.  It provided me with may interesting and otherwise unavailable experiences for which I am very fortunate. 

My greatest achievement was the 1994/5 season.  I swam under the direction of Mary-Jane Ling and we interpreted the opera Carmena Burana by Carl Orff.  Not only did we place 3rd at nationals we had the opportunity to swim overseas in Germany at the 10th International Youth Cup and place 2nd.  But the entire year was memorable.  I was surrounded by amazing team mates and a lovely coach and always reflect happily on this time.

Since retiring from Synchronized Swimming I have gone on to coach at Hamilton Synchro for one year before attending University.

At McGill University I received a B.A. in Political Science and I have gone on to receive a Master degree from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland in Terrorism and Political Violence. 

In 2008 I received my Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland entitled Obligations of Love: the Natural Law Tradition and International Political Thought.  This work was initially motivated by the Rwandan Genocide and became a much wider project which looked at theoretical and actual instances of human suffering around the world.  I continue to be interested in the problem of human suffering and am involved in a research project at this moment which studies it further.      

I am currently a Lecturer at Aston University in Birmingham, UK in the School of Languages and Social Sciences.  I teach a wide range of courses to first, second and final year students which range from the History of Political Philosophy, Ethics and International Affairs, and Contemporary Political Theory. 

I am interested in a wide range of research topics, including, but not limited to International Political Thought, Political Theology, and International Security and Ethics and supervise students in a number of these areas. 

I have published on book entitled Torture, Terrorism and War: Rethinking the Rules of International Security (Routledge Press) which I co-edited with Anthony Lang, Jr. and I have another book Justice, Morality & Natural Law: The problem of Human Suffering due out with Ashgate Publishing House in June 2009. 

More details can be found at this link

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