Interpretation, Method and Critique (IMC) Network

A collaborative cross-disciplinary project of the ANU School of Politics and International Relations, and, the Department of Political & Social Change. We aim to raise the profile of Interpretive Social Science at the ANU, within Australia and internationally by organising our own events and promoting the events of others, through national and international partnerships and affiliations, through media initiatives like podcasts, and through graduate and undergraduate courses and capacity building initiatives.

Join the Network

Find out more about the IMC network here


Upcoming Activities:

Seminar Series:

The IMC hosts a Seminar Series which promotes and celebrates work in interpretive and critical methodologies and methods in the social sciences. It is interdisciplinary and welcoming of all research that places intersubjective meaning-making at the centre of social scientific inquiry, or that identifies with one or more traditions in critical theory and praxis.

The Seminar Series is among the activities of the IMC network, a joint initiative of the ANU’s School of Politics and International Relations, and the Department of Political and Social Change. The network also organises conferences and workshops, classes for undergraduate and graduate research students, podcasts, and more. 

IMC Seminars are on Fridays, 12 - 1pm, Australian Eastern Time (Standard/Daylight) unless otherwise indicated. For more information on the series and each seminar, visit the series page.

Want to stay informed? Join and contribute to the IMC mailing list.
For all upcoming seminars visit the IMC event page.


Conversations Over Coffee:

The Interpretivist Conversations Over Coffee are monthly gatherings for researchers and students at ANU and beyond. We discuss interpretivist methods, our research in progress, and collectively read emerging scholarship to advance our understanding of the interpretivist methodology. Meetings are held on the first Friday of each month on Zoom or in a hybrid mode (in person and Zoom meetings). For more information, please subscribe to the listserv or contact Heba Al Adawy or Christie Woodhouse.


Online Resources:

New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science
Podcast series on the New Books Network hosted By Nick Cheesman

Resource Bibliography of Interpretive Political Science and International Studies


Please contact April Biccum and/or Nick Cheesman if you would like to alert the network of any ANU activity that is methodologically interpretivist in orientation; submit proposals for seminars, working papers, master classes; or become a member or affiliate.

Updated:  27 October 2022/Responsible Officer:  Head of School/Page Contact:  CASS Marketing & Communications