Mary Harper is a Master of Arts in Global Governance candidate at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. She is a recent graduate of the University of Waterloo with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Minors in Classical and Legal Studies. Throughout her undergraduate experience she explored and developed her interest in political economy, the Global South and social justice. This cumulated in the writing her final major seminar paper, “Narratives of Time-Power: ‘Erroneous’ Time, Waiting, and Permanent Temporariness”, on refugees, asylum seekers and forcibly displaced peoples’ experiences of time as a method of control.

During her studies at University of Waterloo she had the opportunity to expand her academic skills through a research apprenticeship and a RA position. Mary provided research support for a Dr. Sandra Biskupski-Mujanovic’s postdoctoral project on men’s engagement with gender equality in the Canadian military. She also assisted Dr. Shelly Ghai Bajaj’s work on a Public Safety Canada report investigating the diaspora’s information environment surrounding Indo-Canadian relations.

Mary’s undergraduate studies reflect an interest in the intersection of politics, law and history at the root of understanding social and policy issues, making BSIA’s interdisciplinary approach an excellent avenue to advance her studies. She hopes to centre master’s research around the increasingly disputed landscape of global political economy and its effects on the Global South.