September 2017: Founder-convenor of the international Oriel Colloquium, the inaugural theme being on Education, Security and Intelligence Studies to be held 21-22 September, 2017, Oriel College, Oxford.
The Oriel Colloquium was the culmination of several years of projects and publications, and an advance in the definition of a new sub-field of universities, security and intelligence studies. Keynotes included: Professor Christopher Andrew (Emeritus Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge, official historian of MI5), Professor Loch K. Johnson (Regents Professor of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia), Sir David Omand (former Director of GCHQ), and Professor John Ferris (Professor of History at the University of Calgary, and newly appointed official historian of GCHQ).
As well as a multi-disciplinary range of leading academics in security and intelligence studies, speakers included security and intelligence professionals, notably the former Senior Defence Economist to NATO and Adviser to the 12th NATO General Secretary; a speaker on national security resilience and counter-terrorism from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Whitehall; a Senior Officer of Military Intelligence at the United States Military Academy West Point; colleagues from Boston College talking on FBI university-intelligence service relations and cyber security; a former senior MI6 officer and Cold War diplomat (Berlin Station); a former CIA Intelligence Officer (on the International Association for Intelligence Education); the British Council; the Foreign Office; amongst others.
The Oriel Colloquium saw the Routledge launch of Gearon (ed.) (2017) Education, Security and Intelligence Studies and the notification of Gearon (ed.) (2019) Routledge International Handbook of Universities, Security and Intelligence Studies (London and New York: Routledge).
