On March 14 and 15, 2014, the Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS; University of Ottawa) and the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies (CIPSS; McGill University and Université de Montréal) hosted the 5th annual Graduate Student Conference at the University of Ottawa.

The theme of this multidisciplinary and bilingual conference was “Strange Worlds We Live In: Challenges and Opportunities in Global Affairs.”

View all conference photos 

Organizing Committee

CIPS:

Coordinator: Adam Moscoe

Mariam Al-Shammari, Emma Bell-­Scollan, Ursula Bero, Caroline Dunton, Léane Gaumond, Stefanie Hodgins, Noelle Jaipaul, and Patricia Joy-­Crosby

CIPSS:

Kathleen Angers, Thomas Bernier-­Villeneuve, Benjamin Foldy, Émilie Noël, Sarah Saublet

Opening Panel

Co-presented by the Canadian International Council (University of Ottawa chapter)

MARGARET BLOODWORTH, Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and Former National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada

FERRY DE KERCKHOVE, Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, Former Canadian Ambassador to Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia

Moderator: ADAM MOSCOE, MA Candidate, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa

Student Paper Presentations

Panel I: National Defence and World Order

Discussant: ERIKA KIRKPATRICK, PhD Candidate, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa

MARC-ALBERT BOHÉMIER, PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology and Anthropology University of Ottawa “Studies on Cooperation and Competition over the Arctic Ocean”

ALICE CHESSÉ, PhD Candidate in Political Science, McGill University “The Politics of Rising Powers’ Participation in the Institutions of the Liberal International Order”

JOSHUA LIBBEN, PhD Candidate, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa “Developments in P5 Participation in Peacekeeping Troop Contributions: Recent Chinese Engagement”

TIFFANY SIROUX, MA Candidate, Département de science politique, Université de Montréal “De l’européanisation à la frustration ? La politique européenne de défense de la France”

Panel II: Development, Democratization and Human Rights 

Discussant: KIRSTEN J. FISHER, PhD, Researcher, Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa

LIAM MIDZAIN-GOBIN, MA Candidate in Political Science, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa “The Right Response: Investigating the Limits of a Rights-based Discourse for the International Indigenous Movement”

SHELAGH ROXBURGH, PhD Candidate in Political Studies, Department of Political Studies, University of Ottawa “The role and impact of Non-Governmental Organizations in addressing witchcraft-related violence in Africa: a comparative study of Ghana and Cameroon”

EMILY SAVAGE, MA Candidate, Department of Geography, McGill University “Independence 2.0?: Considering alternative oil pipeline routes in South Sudan”

CHRISTOPHER WADE, MA Candidate in Human Geography, McGill University “Land Use, Property Rights, and Conflict Resolution in Kenya’s Laikpia’s Rangelands”

Panel III: International Organizations

Discussant: JACK JABES, Senior Fellow, School of International Development and Globalization, University of Ottawa

SIMON BERTRAND, Étudiant de 2e cycle, Département de science politique, Université de Montréal “Le Mouvement des non-alignés et la persistance de l’identité collective issue de ‘l’esprit de Bandung’”

LAU BLAXEKJAER, PhD Fellow, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, and Visiting Pre-Doctoral Fellow, CIPSS, McGill University “Organisation of New Discursive Positions in Global Climate Negotiations: Six New COP Negotiating Groups, Their Storylines and Discourse Coalitions”

NATALIE FARKAS, Student of Political Sciences, McMaster University “Challenges of Combating Human Trafficking through Global Governance Structures”

AMANDA SHANKLAND, PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, Carleton University “Understanding Institutional Change at the WTO: A Theory Based Approach to the Agricultural Negotiations”

Panel IV: Reconceptualizing Security 

Discussant: Srdjan Vucetic, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa

EMILY ALDERSON, MA/JD Candidate, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, and Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa “Self-Defence and Non-State Actors: Emerging Interpretations of State Attribution”

NIROJAN KULENDRARAJAH, MA Candidate, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University “Just Rebels and Unjust Regimes: Just War Theory and the Ethics of Armed Rebellion”

CHRIS MASCIOTRA, MA Candidate in Political Science, University of Windsor “The Applicability of International Law to Cyber Warfare: An Analysis of the Stuxnet Cyber Weapon”