Emily Ferk

PhD Candidate Lana Gonzalez Balyk Successfully Defends Her Dissertation

The Balsillie School community extends warm congratulations to Lana Gonzalez Balyk, who successfully defended her dissertation, “Everyday Infrastructures of Negotiation: Borders, Xenophobia, and Belonging among Latin American Migrant Women in Portugal” on August 14, 2026. We extend thanks to Lana’s supervisor Dr. Suzan Ilcan, committee members Dr. Secil Dagtas and Dr. Kim Rygiel, internal/external examiner […]

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Dispatch from the UN Development Programme in Lao PDR: Prishaa Rajalathan’s Third Blog From the Field

Photo credit: Prishaa Rajalathan By Prishaa Rajalathan, MDP In my last blog, I wrote that mobilizing finance is a capability problem before it is a money problem, and that capability gets built one concept note at a time. This final dispatch picks up from there. Once the money arrives, or once a country decides to raise

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PhD Candidate Sarah Murray Successfully Defends Her Dissertation

The Balsillie School community extends warm congratulations to Sarah Murray, who successfully defended her dissertation, “Constructing Access: Canada and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” on August 7, 2026. We extend thanks to Sarah’s advisor Dr. Alistair Edgar, committee members Dr. Bree Akesson and Dr. Andrew Thompson, internal/external examiner Dr. Stacey Wilson

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Dispatch from the UN Development Programme in Lao PDR: Prishaa Rajalathan’s Second Blog From the Field

Photo credit: Prishaa Rajalathan By Prishaa Rajalathan, MDP I ended my first blog with the idea that a climate plan is only as strong as the communities it is built with. This blog explores what happens upstream of that, the point where an idea becomes a proposal, and a proposal becomes the investment needed to turn

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MIPP Student Named 2026 International Policy Ideas Challenge Winner

The Balsillie School is proud to congratulate Master of International Public Policy student Matthew Sunil, who has been named one of the winners of the International Policy Ideas Challenge 2026. Managed by Global Affairs Canada in collaboration with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, this annual initiative celebrates Canada’s emerging policy leaders by inviting

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PhD Dissertation Defence: “Everyday Infrastructures of Negotiation: Borders, Xenophobia, and Belonging among Latin American Migrant Women in Portugal”

Notice of Dissertation Defence: Lana Gonzalez Balyk August 14, 2026 Abstract Portugal has become an important destination for Latin American migrants. Yet its self-image as a “migrant-friendly” country sits uneasily alongside bureaucratic dysfunction, rising housing precarity, and persistent gendered and racialized exclusions shaped by colonial histories. While scholarship on intersectional migration in Western Europe has

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PhD Dissertation Defence: “Between Policy and Practice: Gendered Precarity and the Experiences of Syrian Refugees in Türkiye”

Notice of Dissertation Defence: Yazgulu Sezgin August 20, 2026 Abstract This dissertation examines the gendered experiences of Syrian refugees living under temporary protection in Türkiye, highlighting how legal frameworks, institutional policies, and humanitarian systems produce forms of precarity and inequality. Drawing on feminist, critical migration, and humanitarian scholarship, it emphasizes the importance of centering refugee

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The BSIA Remembers BSIA Fellow Malcolm McCulloch

The School community was saddened to hear of the recent passing of Malcolm McCulloch, one of its valued BSIA Fellows associated with the STEM for Global Resilience Research Cluster. Professor McCulloch was a pioneering engineer, entrepreneur, teacher and advocate for sustainable energy. He believed that climate change and social inequity were the big challenges facing

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Dispatch from the UN Development Programme in Lao PDR: Prishaa Rajalathan’s first blog from the field

Photo credit: Prishaa Rajalathan By Prishaa Rajalathan, MDP I had the opportunity to attend the Conference on Human Rights and Climate Change Adaptation in Vientiane, jointly organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lao PDR. It brought together government, UN agencies,

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PhD Candidate Jacob Benjamin Successfully Defends His Dissertation

The Balsillie School community extends warm congratulations to Jacob Benjamin, who successfully defended his dissertation, “Internal Conflicts within Asian Security Arrangements” on June 3, 2026. We extend thanks to his supervisor, Dr. David Welch, for his guidance and support throughout Jacob’s doctoral research.

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2026 Technology Governance Policy Challenge Anthology Now Available

The Balsillie School of International Affairs has released the 2026 Technology Governance Policy Challenge anthology, a collection of policy briefs developed by graduate student teams from the Balsillie School, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (Canada), Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (Canada), the American University School of International Service (U.S.A.), Tecnológico de

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The BSIA is closed Monday, January 26th due to severe weather and local travel conditions.