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2026 Honours Thesis Colloquium

Date

Tuesday April 7, 2026
9:00 am - 3:15 pm

Location

Robert Sutherland Hall, Room 202
Event Category
Other Department Events

Please join us for the Department of Political Studies 2026 Honours Thesis Colloquium!

Students will present for 10-12 minutes, followed by a Q&A session led by a graduate student discussant. Lunch and light refreshments provided.

Please consider attending to support the excellent research conducted by our undergraduate students.

Schedule

Time Session Presenter Topic
9:00-9:05am Opening Remarks Jana Walkowski
9:05-10:30am Panel 1: Security and International Relations Henry Kerr
  • Supervisor: Dr. Surulola Eke
  • Discussant: Emmanuel Ampomah
 Praetorian Putsches: Tracing the Dynamics of Regime Change in West Africa from 2020 to 2023
Taylor Fountain
  • Supervisor: Dr. David Haglund)
  • Discussant: Kimberly Fawcett Smith
 An American Withdrawal from NATO in context: the question of Nuclear Proliferation
Dante Jorge
  • Supervisor: Dr. David Haglund
  • Discussant: Kimberly Fawcett Smith
 The Impact of the President on Foreign Affairs: How Unconstrained is the Executive?
Rosalyn Huang
  • Supervisor: Dr. Christian Leuprecht
  • Discussant: Sabrina Michel
 Beyond Finance: A FATF-Inspired Model for Effective Human-Rights Sanctions
10:30-10:45pm Break
10:45am-12:00pm Panel 2: Equity, Community and Human Rights Maya Al-Idrissi
  • Supervisor: Dr. Rachel Laforest
  • Discussant: Sabrina Michel
 Harm Reduction vs. Forced Treatment: Exploring Two Municipal Approaches

Errol Grimshaw

  • Supervisor: Dr. Dani Delaney
  • Discussant: Dr. Kaitie Jourdeuil

From Mosh Pitts to Protests:  Investigating how the Punk Community Motivates Punks to Participate in Social Movements

Greta Caroline Speidel

  • Supervisor: Dr. Kaitie Jourdeuil
  • Discussant: Inés Villanueva Pérez

Unsettled Law: The Impact of Colonial Legal Legacies on Contemporary Minority Rights Protections in Canada and the United States
12:00-12:30pm Lunch (pizza lunch provided)
12:30-1:45pm Panel 3: Social Policy in Canada Anjali Sookdeo
  • Supervisor: Dr. Rachel Laforest
  • Discussant: Claire Mountford
 The Overrepresentation of Indigenous Children in the Ontario Child Welfare System

Nathan Veysey

  • Supervisor: Dr. Rachel Laforest
  • Discussant: Claire Mountford

The Canadian Welfare State, Early Childhood Education and Care, and Pathways to More Egalitarian Social Policy Regime

Maxime Dalat

  • Supervisor: Dr. Rachel Laforest
  • Discussant: Gillian Brown

Gendered Colonialism and the Indian Act
1:45-1:55pm Break
1:55-3:10pm Panel 4: Democracy, Political Opinion and Policy in North America

Claire Dudley

  • Supervisor: Dr. Fan Lu
  • Discussant: Brendan Dell

Abortion Down the Ballot: How States Responded to the Dobbs Decision in the 2024 General Election

Rissa Wang

  • Supervisor: Dr. Boyoon Lee
  • Discussant: Brendan Dell

Ideal Immigrant or Not? A Vignette-Based Survey of Affordability Pressures and Hostility Toward International Students in Canada

Sofia Guido

  • Supervisor: Rachel Laforest
  • Discussant: Gillian Brown

Democratic Fragility in Canada: Trust, Crime Salience, Polarization, Social Capital, Media, and Inequality in a Platformed Democracy, 2019-2026
3:10-3:15pm Closing Remarks