PhD Students
The School of Political Studies is pleased to showcase some of the approximately 80 Ph.D. students currently completing their dissertations. Our students are completing exciting research in a range of areas, from critical security studies to Canadian Politics to contemporary political theory through to comparative politics in developed and developing countries. Fieldwork has taken many of them around the world, including Tibet, Ghana, the UK, Tajikistan, and China.
Many of these students have a personal website on which you may find other relevant information.
Political Science
Juan Gualberto Melara Pineda [e-mail]
Thesis topic: I examine the dynamics of
ethnicity and ethnic identity in El Salvador, while attempting to
understand the process of narrative formation of ethnic identities; that
is, how ethnic identities are constructed, how they are reproduced, how
they change (or persist) and the political implications.
Areas of
specialization: International Relations, Comparative Politics
Supervisor: Cédric Jourde
Dan Furukawa Marques
[e-mail]
Thesis topic: I will conduct an ethnographic study of everyday practices of inhabitants of rural communities of the Landless workers movement (MST) in the south of Brazil. My investigation will attempt to seize how economic activities such as agricultural peasant cooperatives re-actualize the question of justice through an original living together. I will thus try to understand the normative signification of practices and narratives that structure peasant communitiesthe way they problematize the question of justice and politics through the organisation of everyday life.
Areas of specialization: Political Theory
Supervisor: Gilles Labelle
Helaina Gaspard [e-mail]
Thesis topic: The aim of my research is to
provide an account of the implementation of language legislation in the
Canadian federal bureaucracy since the adoption of the Official Languages
Act in 1969. My research seeks to uncover key moments of the
implementation process, principal actors, the mechanisms used and how
they were monitored. Using these empirical findings, the project will evaluate the way bilingualism has been institutionalised since 1969.
Areas of specialization: Canadian and Quebec Politics, Public Administration
Supervisor: Linda Cardinal
Christopher C. Leite [e-mail]
Thesis topic: Co-supervised by Michael C. Williams and Mark B. Salter, my research looks at Rapid Reaction Crisis Management initiatives in the EU since 9/11, particularly focusing on the resulting new public and private security actors and the focus on risk-driven logics in the EU’s security practices. My more general research interests are in International Relations theory, security studies, and modern political thought.
Areas of specialization: International Relations, Political Theory
Supervisor: Michael Williams
Modeste Mba Talla [e-mail]
[personal website]
Thesis topic: The classic image of war as
an organized act of violence between states is no longer
adequate for the analysis of contemporary major armed conflicts. This
project investigates the emergence, ³fragmegration² and perpetuation of
armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Other
research interests include Armed groups and political violence,
international conflict and natural resources, transitional Justice,
peacebuilding and security sector reform, the media and International
development, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Areas of specialization: International Relations, Comparative
Politics
Supervisor: Stephen Brown
Rosalind Raddatz
[e-mail]
Thesis topic: My dissertation examines the
relative influence of power and resource sharing among former
belligerents, third-party intervention (as peacekeepers, negotiators, and
as parties to the conflict), civil society, and mediation in Sierra Leone
and Liberia¹s negotiated peace agreements. Other research interests
include mass violence/genocide, peacebuilding, institutional
accountability, transitional justice and post-conflict gender issues,
primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Areas of specialization:
International Relations, Comparative Politics
Supervisor: Stephen Brown
Public Administration
Yousif El-Ghalayini [e-mail]
Thesis topic: The Effects of High Performance Work Systems on International Organizations: A Case Study of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
Areas of specialization: Public Administration
Supervisor: Eric Champagne
Aaida Mamuji [personal website] [e-mail] [c.v.]
Thesis topic: Canada’s Disaster Relief in Haiti and Pakistan: Ideas, Discourse & Institutions in Implementation Decision-Making
Areas of specialization: International Relations, Public Administration, Public Policies
Supervisor: Eric Champagne
Karla Matias
[e-mail]
Thesis topic: The social construction of public policy issues: a study of the representations of sexual violence against children and adolescents in the campaigns to prevent child sex tourism in Brazil from 2003 to 2012
Areas of specialization: Public Administration, Public Policies
Supervisor: Nathalie Burlone
Joshua Jebuntie Zaato
[e-mail]
Thesis topic: Autonomization, Decentralization and Contractualism - A Critical Analysis of Value for Money and Democratic Governance in SOE Reforms in Ghana
Areas of specialization: Public Administration, Public Policies
Supervisor: Christian Rouillard