Welcome Message from the Chair of Global Studies

I am delighted to welcome you to the Global Studies Department at Wilfrid Laurier University, a dynamic and research intensive liberal arts university in Waterloo, Ontario. The department has a history that dates back to 1990 and is easily one of the earliest global studies departments in North America and in the world. As one of the pioneers in an emerging field, it has a rich tradition of interdisciplinary research and teaching.

Our mission is to foster critical thinking and to train our students to employ a multidisciplinary range of concepts and analytical tools to explore socio-economic and cultural phenomena in both their local and global dimensions and also in ways that these dimensions interconnect. We accomplish this mission through a curriculum that is structured into three fields: comparative development, globalization and cultures, and peace and conflict. As students progress through their studies, they can select courses that integrate across two or more fields. Each year we offer no fewer than thirty-two courses distinctive for their commitment to interdisciplinary studies.

Among the most distinctive and innovative components of our program are the Global Studies Experience and the Research Specialization Option. The latter culminates with a full-year research intensive seminar, GS400, which combines the traditional seminar format with independent research. The Global Studies Experience consists of a well-funded experiential field placement, sandwiched between two courses. The GSE takes our students to various countries in all regions of the world, where they contribute in different capacities to international development and other initiatives related to the GS curriculum.

In any given year, we have an average of 340 declared majors. Our graduates have progressed into diverse career fields including the legal, academic, NGO, civil service, foreign service, and research and policy fields. Some are also graduate students in American, British, and Canadian universities. Examples are:

• Shayna Beeksma (formerly Walford) - Graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, Articling Student at the Toronto office of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP (Gowlings)
• April Cody – Research Analyst, RiskMetrics Group, Toronto
• Katie Colvin – Advancement Coordinator, Seneca College
• Teri Grant – Student Development Coordinator, University of British Columbia
• Thushyan Kayilasanathan – MA, Columbia University, New York
• Grace Gunah Kim - J.D., Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, New York; M.A., George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
• Shannon Kindornay – MA International Affairs (Carleton University), Researcher at The North-South Institute in Ottawa
• Adam Lewis - MA, Cultural Studies, Queen’s University
• Leah McMillan - Professor of International Development at Tyndale University
• Alikhan Popat – Youth Outreach Worker and Community Coach, Arsenal Football Club, London, England
• Lindsey Savage - MES (Planning) York University, Development Analyst at Millier Dickinson Blais, Toronto
• Sarah Smith – Business Development, Jantzi Sustainalytics
• Shafferan Sonneveld - Masters in International Laws at Maastricht University, The Netherlands
• Tracey Wagner-Rizvi – PhD student, Balsillie School of International Affairs
• Christina Woolner – MA, International Peace Studies (University of Notre Dame), Adjunct Professor in the Global Studies Department, Wilfrid Laurier University

Our vibrant department has an energetic team of 9 professors and 15 adjunct professors notable for their innovative and cutting-edge teaching strategies. The full time members are a combination of internationally established intellectuals and up and coming bright minds. They are frequently engaged in disseminating their research both through academic publications and via North American and International conferences, workshops and speaking engagements. They are:

• Tim Donais – Post Conflict Peace-building
• John Boye Ejobowah – Ethnic Identity Claims and Just Institutions
• Sheri Gibbings – Urban Politics and Citizenship in the Developing World
• Rhoda Howard-Hassmann – Canada Research Chair in International Human Rights
• Shahnaz Khan – Islam, Gender
• Alex Latta – Environment, Latin American Politics, Water
• Sara Matthews – Conflict, Memory and Aesthetic
• Edmund Pries – Global Ethics, War and Peace, Religion and Conflict
• Tanya Richardson– Postsocialist Societies, Environment, Urban space
• Alicia Sliwinski – Humanitarianism, Disaster and Reconstruction
• Ali Zaidi – Religion and the Globalization of Secular Cultural Modernity

We invite you to explore our distinctive program and, better still, to visit us in Waterloo, a thriving city under one hour drive from Toronto.

John Boye Ejobowah
Department Chair

Why not visit the Global Studies @ Laurier Youtube channel? Discover videos from faculty and students, and information about curriculum and the Global Studies Program in general.

Watch faculty members describe the ideal Global Studies graduate.

Watch Global Studies students talk about their learning experiences, both inside and outside the classroom.