Jayanti Jerath (she/her) is a Master of Arts in Global Governance candidate at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, affiliated with the University of Waterloo. She recently graduated from McMaster University with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (Summa Cum Laude), specialization in Global Citizenship and a minor in Global Peace and Social Justice. As part of completing the specialization, she researched the critical issues surrounding the European Union’s (EU) response to the refugee crisis in 2015 and the securitization strategy’s impact on the EU’s identity as an intergovernmental and supranational organization. During her undergraduate studies, Jayanti actively participated in the Social Sciences Internship program. She completed six internship terms with the Federal Public Service, gaining valuable insights into federal government operations and policy-making processes.
At McMaster, Jayanti worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at the Digital Democracy Research hub within the Department of Political Science. Her work primarily focused on investigating the long-term legal, policy, and security implications of government surveillance technology used in Southeast Asia after the end of COVID-19 as a public health emergency. Through the development of reports, annotated bibliographies, and literature reviews, she analyzed the rise of digital authoritarianism, the challenges and opportunities digital technologies create for democracies. She also had the opportunity to co-write a paper in East European Journal of Psycholinguistics exploring the conditions for neighbouring nations to live in peace following a conflict, focusing on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The research offered insights into the perspectives of reconciliation and coexistence to end hostility between countries sharing national borders.
Jayanti was also involved in student associations throughout her undergraduate program. As an Educational Awareness Intern at HanVoice McMaster, she contributed to raising awareness and advocating for the human rights of North Korean refugees. Additionally, serving as the Newsletter Committee Lead for McMaster Students in Support of the UNHCR, she led the development of newsletters to raise awareness of challenges experienced by refugees and to mobilize support for refugee causes within the McMaster community. As part of the executive team of the McMaster Political Science Student Association, she facilitated connections between students and the Department of Political Science through various events.
In her graduate studies at BSIA, Jayanti aspires to focus research on the impacts of refugee crises born out of conflicts on global governance, global security and the compliance (or lackthereof) of international law by Member Sates of the EU in the context of securtization of borders. While completing her studies, Jayanti will work as a Policy Analyst at the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
She envisions a career in foreign affairs where she can leverage her experiences in government operations and knowledge of global governance to contribute to solving global issues.
Outside academia, Jayanti likes to read non-fiction books and memoirs, particularly those centred around political figures and historical events.