Bridges and Borders of Area Studies and International Relations

Jan Hornát and Mélanie Sadozaï are two scholars working across area studies and international relations. In summer 2024, they were in conversation, exploring the intersections, complementarities, and tensions between area studies and international relations (IR). This text reflects the outcome of their discussion that highlighted how these fields can mutually enrich each other while also addressing challenges in their integration. Jan Hornát is Head of the Department of North American Studies at Charles University, Prague. While often presented as an “Americanist”, especially in the media, he is following a trajectory leading to further intersections with IR, as his research focuses increasingly on US foreign policy. In July 2024, he was a visiting researcher at the Leibniz ScienceCampus in Regensburg. Mélanie Sadozaï trained in Persian language and civilization, before moving into international relations and war studies. Her current research as a postdoc at the Department for Interdisciplinary and Multiscalar Area Studies (DIMAS) at UR enables her to combine this expertise, adopting anthropological perspectives on Central Asia and Afghanistan within a border studies framework. Information and Acknowledgements: The interview was recorded on 25 July 2024 at the studio of the Center for University and Academic Teaching (ZHW) at the University of Regensburg. The discussion was moderated by Paul Vickers, coordinator of the Leibniz ScienceCampus. We are grateful to the ZHW team, especially Markus Meilinger and Dr. Regine Bachmaier, for the support with creating the recording. Christoph Kulzer, student assistant, at the Leibniz ScienceCampus worked on the transcription. The interview was edited for publication by Paul Vickers with Gresa Morina (Leibniz ScienceCampus).