Meet The Team

Alliah Alvarez is an undergraduate student at Memorial University of Newfoundland who has completed her Bachelor of Commerce degree with a major in accounting and a minor in political science.

Aneeta Johnson is a fifth-year undergraduate student at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, completing a Bachelor of Commerce (co-op) Degree and minoring in Political Science. She is also an undergraduate student tutor in the MUN Writing Centre and has completed three work terms with the Community Development branch of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), a federal regional development agency. Aneeta is pursuing a career in International Development, intending to focus her research on human rights and the impact of education and compassion on poverty cycles, specifically as they relate to women in the global south.

Celina Tuffaha is an undergraduate student at Memorial University of Newfoundland majoring in Communications; minoring in Political Science; and a Communications Manager Intern at Microsoft.

George Chakhunashvili has a MA in Political Science, and a BA honors in Political Science and Psychology from MUN. He is currently a Policy Analyst with the department of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills at Government of Newfoundland and Labrador . His research interests include migration, foreign affairs, political psychology and the anthropology of power.

Isabella Aung is a doctoral candidate in political studies at Queen’s University. She is also a graduate researcher at the Centre for International and Defence Policy. Her doctoral research studies how contemporary authoritarian power is both contested and sustained through social media. She is passionate about incorporating the voices and lived experiences of women of color into mainstream academia.

Isabelle Côté is an Associate Professor in Political Science and the Director of the Nexus Interdisciplinary Centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Her work examines the role of demographic factors in general, and (internal) population movements in particular, on intrastate conflict and contentious politics in Asia and beyond. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto, was a postdoctoral fellow in the Netherlands and held various guest researcher positions in China, Indonesia, Denmark and Sweden. She has published in numerous journals in Political Science and Security, including PS: Political Science and Politics; Democratization; Civil Wars; Ethnopolitics; Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. She was the recipient of numerous awards and grants, notably a SSHRC IDG for her project on Nativism and Opposition to Migration in Canada, as well as 2020 Canadian Political Science Association Teaching Award. She is currently on the executive board of Women in International Security– Canada.

Jared T. Hogan is a second-year PhD student and Per Course Instructor in the Departments of Archaeology and Sociology at Memorial University. His PhD research builds on his Master’s research by exploring the representation of Indigenous cultures at non-Indigenous-led museums across Newfoundland and Labrador. He is passionate about Indigenous-led research, blending Indigenous ways of knowing with Western knowledge systems, and teaching at the post-secondary level.

John Babb is a student of French, political science and religious studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. His academic interests encompass human migration, pluralism, ethics and globalization.

Liam Swiss is the Acting Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and a Professor in the Department of Sociology at Memorial University. He teaches courses on development, gender, globalization, and research methods.

Lingyu Jing is a PhD student in political science at McMaster University, and a MA in Political Science from the University of Victoria. He specializes in the intersection of international relations and political theory. His research interest covers critical security studies, historical IR, history of political thought, political rituals and symbolism. His current PhD project is on the concept of state sovereignty from the perspectives of political theology and international law.

Marta Pitino is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Peace & Conflict Research at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her research interests comprise violence against civilians in civil war with a focus on sexual violence, as well as international and communal-level responses to war atrocities.

Oghenemine Jatto is a fourth-year Political science major with a minor in French at the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Sadaf Saeed, a recent alumna of Memorial University, holds a degree in Political Science and History, with a focus on International Relations, European Politics, and Human Rights. Her academic journey also took her to Berlin where she furthered her education. Residing in Toronto, Sadaf's diverse interests go beyond academics. She immerses herself in music, dance, and architectural exploration in her spare time. Additionally, she's presently engaged in learning Italian and German, fuelling her passion for languages.

Sasha Steeves is a music and economics minor at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Sébastien Marcel MOUTOU - NKOUNKOU is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Ottawa. Prior to that, he has obtained a MA in Economics from Cheick Anta Diop University of Dakar, Senegal, and a MA in Political Science from UQAM. His research interests are: African politics, political economy, globalization and international trade, security and conflicts, migration, and geopolitics. Sebastien Marcel is a Junior Policy Analyst at the Government of Canada.