Emily Ferk

PhD Candidate Naireen Khan Successfully Defends Her Dissertation

/ 1 minute of reading

The Balsillie School community extends warm congratulations to Naireen Khan, who successfully defended her dissertation, “Palestine in Westphalian Worldmaking: The Production of the Opt as a Place Through International Humanitarian-Developmental Governance” on May 26, 2025. We extend thanks to Naireen’s supervisor, Dr. Sara Matthews, committee members Dr. Timothy Donais and Dr. Jasmin Habib, internal/external examiner

PhD Candidate Naireen Khan Successfully Defends Her Dissertation Read More »

Dispatch from UNDP Fiji: Christy Lorenz’s third blog from the field

/ 4 minutes of reading

Photo credit: Christy Lorenz By Christy Lorenz, MIPP Working as a Programme Assistant in Resilience and Climate Change (RCC) for UNDP Pacific has been the culmination of many years of study and sacrifice, working hard to achieve good grades, to get into a good school with a good scholarship, to get better grades, to get

Dispatch from UNDP Fiji: Christy Lorenz’s third blog from the field Read More »

Dispatch from UNDP Fiji: Christy Lorenz’s second blog from the field

/ 4 minutes of reading

Photo credit: Christy Lorenz By Christy Lorenz, MIPP When I first received the news that I would be moving to Fiji to work as a Resilience and Climate Change (RCC) Programme Assistant for UNDP Pacific, my mind went wild with possibilities. Freshly equipped with a Master of International Public Policy degree and brimming with ideas,

Dispatch from UNDP Fiji: Christy Lorenz’s second blog from the field Read More »

Dispatch from UNDP Fiji: Christy Lorenz’s first blog from the field

/ 4 minutes of reading

Photo credit: Christy Lorenz By Christy Lorenz, MIPP Bula vinaka to family, friends, colleagues, and readers near and far! I’m writing to you from Suva, Fiji, where I work as a Programme Assistant with the Resilience and Climate Change (RCC) team at the United Nations Development Programme’s Pacific Office. As a recent Master of International

Dispatch from UNDP Fiji: Christy Lorenz’s first blog from the field Read More »

PhD Dissertation Defence: “Palestine in Westphalian Worldmaking: The Production of the Opt as a Place Through International Humanitarian-Developmental Governance”

/ 3 minutes of reading

Notice of Dissertation Defence: Naireen Khan May 26, 2025 Abstract This multiple manuscript dissertation examines the international governance of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)—a non-sovereign territory— undertaken by an assemblage of actors doing both humanitarian and development work. The study puts forward the theoretical and methodological framework of place-making to analyze the effects of the

PhD Dissertation Defence: “Palestine in Westphalian Worldmaking: The Production of the Opt as a Place Through International Humanitarian-Developmental Governance” Read More »

Two images of workshop attendees sitting at a board table.

Canada-Germany Virtual Workshop: Sustainable Energy Transitions, Individuals, and Communities

/ 2 minutes of reading

Top: Workshop participants at the BSIA in Waterloo, Canada. Bottom: Workshop participants at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) in Karlsruhe, Germany. By Nathalie Gatti and Ian Rowlands On 16 April 2025, academic researchers based at institutions in Canada and Germany connected for a half-day hybrid workshop. With groups of approximately 20

Canada-Germany Virtual Workshop: Sustainable Energy Transitions, Individuals, and Communities Read More »

Dispatch from UNDP Viet Nam: Madelyn Rawlyk’s second blog from the field

/ 4 minutes of reading

Photo credit: Madelyn Rawlyk By Madelyn Rawlyk, MAGG The root tasted like I thought it would: earthy but fresh, somewhat herbal (?), and reminiscent of rhubarb or raspberries maybe. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I had full confidence in the Dao woman who had handed it to me and motioned to eat.

Dispatch from UNDP Viet Nam: Madelyn Rawlyk’s second blog from the field Read More »

BSIA Students Awarded Best Delegate and Position Paper at Model NATO

/ 1 minute of reading

During reading week, students from our MAGG and MIPP programs proudly represented the BSIA at Model NATO at Carleton University in Ottawa. MAGG students Jacob Tuckey, Daniela Mendoza Ramirez, and Sameer Gupta, alongside MIPP students Josh Wright, Leonardo Lombardi, Hannah Barbero, and Fabrice Blais-Savoie, demonstrated their skills in diplomacy and strategic policy-making. A special congratulations

BSIA Students Awarded Best Delegate and Position Paper at Model NATO Read More »

Call for Participation: Canada-Germany Workshop – “Sustainable Energy Transitions, Individuals, and Communities”

/ 1 minute of reading

The Balsillie School of International Affairs is hosting a half-day hybrid workshop on Wednesday, April 16th, 2025, between Waterloo Region and German-based academic researchers. Focusing upon the ways in which individuals and communities advance a sustainable energy transition, the purpose is to share perspectives, with an aim towards transatlantic learning through comparative studies and exploring

Call for Participation: Canada-Germany Workshop – “Sustainable Energy Transitions, Individuals, and Communities” Read More »

Registration Open for BEI’s Executive Certificate in Governance and Innovation in the Age of Intangibles

/ 2 minutes of reading

  The Balsillie Executive Institute (BEI), the BSIA’s executive development branch, is pleased to announce that registration is open for its Executive Certificate in Governance and Innovation in the Age of Intangibles, which will begin in May 2025. This cutting-edge, five-week online program is designed for professionals in government, the private sector, and the not-for-profit

Registration Open for BEI’s Executive Certificate in Governance and Innovation in the Age of Intangibles Read More »

Dispatch from UNDP Mexico: Hannah Bacon’s third blog from the field

/ 4 minutes of reading

Photo credit: Hannah Bacon By Hannah Bacon, MAGG In the final month of my position at UNDP Mexico, I have started to reflect on my time here and what it has taught me about the world, the intergovernmental sector and myself. Now, in a particularly harrowing time for gender equality and women’s rights in global

Dispatch from UNDP Mexico: Hannah Bacon’s third blog from the field Read More »

Balsillie Case Studies unpack the intersection and challenges of tech-governance across sectors

/ 3 minutes of reading

The Balsillie School of International Affairs has launched the Balsillie Case Studies, a repository of evidence-based true stories of technology-related governance dilemma across various sectors globally. The case study series is one of the flagship programs of the Technology Governance Initiative that the BSIA launched in 2023. The cases present a wide range of the

Balsillie Case Studies unpack the intersection and challenges of tech-governance across sectors Read More »

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

Learn More