Current students

An opportunity to meet with the Political Science Chair and fellow students, graduate and undergraduate, to discuss current events happening on our campus, in our community, and around the globe. All are welcome! 

Gender, Peace, and Power Sharing

Dr. McCulloch will be speaking on her upcoming book Gender, Peace, and Power-Sharing (University of Toronto Press, June 2026), coauthored with Siobhan Byrne (University of Alberta). The book explores how power-sharing and the women, peace, and security agenda intersect in peacebuilding practices. It offers a feminist “alternative telling” that captures the tensions and potential of these frameworks

Join us in HH 341 or on MS Teams to hear from Political Science faculty members about their Winter 2026 undergraduate courses! This is your opportunity to learn about interesting PSCI courses running next term and ask all your questions on the first day of the open enrolment period. Light refreshments will be served in HH 341. This event is open to all undergraduate students! 

To join the meeting on MS Teams:

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 257 932 339 888 05

Passcode: kz2Qu73V

Lawless: Abortion under Complete Decriminalization

Canada is the only country with complete decriminalization of abortion: no gestational duration limitations, no parental consent obligations, and no waiting periods. In recent years, other countries (New Zealand, Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico) have made strides toward this, while the United States has notoriously lost ground. Amidst the tumult, nurse and scholar Martha Paynter uses historical context and contemporary issues to explain why experts advocate against laws governing abortion.

Obstructed Labour: A Century of (In)action on Maternal Mortality in Canada

Canada's official maternal mortality statistics are incomplete to the extent that the World Health Organization applies an amplifier of 60%. This problem has been known for at least 100 years with no lasting progress to address it at a national level. Through the lens of reproductive justice, this presentation chronicles the historical trajectory and interrogates the public policy failure to prioritize the critical issue of maternal mortality.

From Myth to Malice: Affective and Political Consequences of False Claims to Indigeneity

In this talk, Rowland will interrogate the phenomenon of false Indigenous identity claims and their corrosive effects on Indigenous communities. Drawing on personal experience, historical precedents, and critical Indigenous scholarship, he situates these practices within the broader logic of settler colonialism and its drive toward self-indigenization. In particular, he will focus on the drive to consume and assume historical Indigenous suffering in the effort to cohere false claims.

Join the Chair and faculty of the Political Science Department each week this fall for open discussions with undergraduate and graduate students on current events happening in our campus, community, and in the wider world. 

All are welcome! 

By Dr. Zoe Todd

Associate Professor; Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Governance and Freshwater Fish Futures

Drawing on various scholars, Dr Zoe Todd critiques the push to 'braid' Indigenous and settler paradigms in conservation. As a Red River Métis scholar, Dr Todd advocates for the radical refusal of systems based on white possession and individualism, urging western institutions to embrace Indigenous practices and global anti-imperialist solidarities.

By Rachelle “Māēyawekēsekōkiw” Besaw

PhD Candidate, Sociocultural Anthropology, Arizona State University

In this lecture, the speaker will discuss the marginal space she now inhabits as a linguistic anthropologist, indebted to the oftentimes cruel and violent history of anthropological and linguistic research inflicted upon Indigenous Nations, and her own Tribe, in the name of Science. She will discuss her own journey through an academic system built on the oppression and subjugation of her people, and how she has had to rely upon extractive and exploitative research on her path to reclaiming her Indigeneity.

As Canada prepares itself for a federal election, we can all expect to hear a list of promises from each political party that deep down we know will never be kept. Why can't political parties keep their promises?