Alumni profile | Karina Sangha

Having received her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Victoria, Karina then came to uWaterloo for her MA on the recommendation of her undergraduate professors. “uWaterloo’s partnerships with the Balsille School of International Affairs (BSIA) and Wilfred Laurier University definitely contributed to my decision to attend. The partnerships meant so many more opportunities of a very broad nature,” Karina explains. As for the Political Science department here at uWaterloo, Karina describes it as relatively small, but with a wide range of fields and outstanding professors. The 20, or so, MA students are very close and receive excellent support and resources.

Karina focuses on security studies broadly, but her specific area of interest is the ethics of unmanned weapon systems. “I am looking at armed drones and evaluating them in terms of Just War Theory,” she explains, “can their use ever be ethical or are they an unjust weapon whose use in war can never be acceptable?” Karina had the opportunity to attend the International Studies Association Annual Conference in San Francisco this year to present on armed drones. “This was a slightly different topic than that of my MA research. I have done a lot of work on this broad area of study for both my Major Research Paper as well as external opportunities.”

“There are so many opportunities here – both on campus and on partner campuses.” Karina has participated in the uWaterloo graduate conference and has been a contributor to the graduate journal, Inquiry & Insight, within the Political Science department. In addition, she was a Research Assistant for Veronica Kitchen, the department’s expert on security and counter-terrorism institutions. Karina also cites the BSIA for playing a significant role in providing important opportunities for Waterloo Political Science students. “They bring in speakers from all over the world and often run events and public presentations.”

After graduation, Karina moved back to the West Coast. She currently lives in Vancouver and works as a Research Analyst for Global Public Affairs. In her spare time, Karina volunteers as the Chair of Communications for a local political candidate. Though her current employment is fairly removed from her MA research, Karina feels very privileged to be working in an area so closely related to Political Science and credits the program at uWaterloo with preparing her for the workforce.

Karina obtained a Master of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of Waterloo in 2013.

text by Megan Scarborough, Dean of Arts