Meet Our Graduate Students

Jen Amarualik-Yaremko

Research Interests: I'm looking at decolonizing Inuit education policy in Nunavut by examining how the current education system has been created and what policies go towards reinforcing colonialism at a federal and territorial level.

Sub-Fields: Indigenous Governance and Politics and Canadian Politics and Policy

Dane Braun

Research Interests: My research interests are political marketing, Canadian political party organization, and Canadian party systems. My specific research will be on the integration of private sector ideas and marketing strategies into Canadian political parties and the implications that this move towards commercialization within parties has for Canadian democracy.

David Buglass

Ava Crossett

Research Interests:  My research examines how conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) is framed in international relations and feminist scholarship, with a particular focus on the construction of victimhood. I am especially interested in how these constructions shape whose experiences are recognized, legitimized, or marginalized within feminist, legal, and policy frameworks. 

Sub-fields: International Relations, Gender and Conflict, Critical Feminist Theory 

Anesu Latmore

Nolan Long

Research Interests: My research focuses on the extent to which early Soviet foreign policy was motivated by the Leninist right of nations to self-determination, taking Finland as a case study. In short, was Soviet foreign policy under Lenin principled or pragmatic?

Sub-Fields: Marxist theory, Soviet studies, Islamic studies, social movements

Damaris Niziol

Jerod Orb

Research Interests: The modern Treaty making process and the importance of recognizing the spirit and intent of these binding agreements.

Sub-Fields: Canadian Politics, Indigenous Governance and Politics

Susan Shacter

Research Interests: My thesis examines the recently signed self-government agreements between Canada and the Métis Nation, considering how they offer a path to renew relations with the Crown and strengthen internal trust within the Métis Nation through constitution-building.

Sub-Fields: Democratic Theory & Provisional Leadership, Traditional forms of Métis Governance, Indigenous Governance and Politics

Federico Szechtman Pintos

Research Interests: My areas of interest are existentialism, psychoanalysis, and political ethics. I enjoy Rousseau’s concept of "pitié" and Freudian defense mechanisms 

Sub-Fields: Neurosis, eros and thanatos, the general will

Thomas Traves

Research Interests: The focus of my research is right-wing populism as a precursor to authoritarianism and the mainstreaming of right-wing populist movements within Canada, the United States, and Europe. In particular, I am examining how perceptions of persecution, fueled by changing societal norms, demographics, and values, have seen an increase in right-wing populist movements seeking to assert their views and positions through the promised or actual use of increasingly authoritarian means.

Sub-Fields: Human Rights, Social and Political Polarization, Social Construction of Gender, War and Violence, Canadian Constitutional Law, and Canadian Criminal Law.

Isma Zaamout

Research Interests: My research explores the complexities and dynamics of cyberspace interactions and their influence on public perception of truth and valid knowledge. Applying a Foucauldian analytical lens, I examine the narratives constructed by news media in the context of geopolitical conflicts and war. My research is motivated by the need to understand how these narratives or truths may work against dialogue and conflict resolution.

Sub-Fields: Political Theory, International Relations

Nishat Tasnim

Research Interests: My areas of interests are Migration, Human Rights and Indigenous Governance and Politics. Currently, I am working on my MRP titled "Towards Building Radical Empathy between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous People: A Case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh.

Sub-Fields: International Relations, Indigenous Governance and Politics.

Harrison Baile

Research Interests: National security policy and privacy. He is currently writing his thesis on the use of Canadian information by the Canadian government.

Sub-Fields: Canadian Politics and Policy

Soma Bidarpour

Research Interests: In my research, I adopt a critical approach to unravel the intricate and nuanced relationship between women's bodies and the identities of states. I delve into the ways in which state narratives and policies shape societal perceptions of women's bodies, examining the impact on gender norms and expectations. The central focus is on understanding the role of women's bodies as contested sites within the political landscape.

Sub-Fields: International relations, Gender and Politics

Simon McPhee

Research Interests: Care Ethics and relationality

Sub-Fields: Political Theory, International Relations

Oyuntuya Shagdarsuren

Research Interests: Interested in research about sustainability and development. Her thesis focuses on civil society and resistance to mining in Mongolia.

Sub-Fields: Comparative Politics, Canadian Politics and Policy.

Alex Camilo Duran Montano

Research Interests: My research is focused on security sector reform (SSR) in Latin America and the Caribbean, through a critical examination of the Salvadoran peace process and transition from conflict to post-conflict. My thesis is titled 'An Incomplete Peace: Shortcomings of Security Sector Reform in the Salvadoran Peace Process'.

Sub-Fields: International Relations and Comparative Politics