Professor: Marie-Eve Desrosiers
Unit: Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (Conflict Studies and Human Rights)
Number of Students: 5
Language: French, English (assignments can be submitted in either languages)

Research Description

The African continent has long been a battleground for foreign interest from a geostrategic standpoint, and has once again in recent years been shaping up to be a space of renewed international competition. Scholarly attention in recent years has predominantly focused on Western powers (the United States, France), as well as increasingly on China and Russia, including Russian proxies such as the group formerly known as Wagner. Yet a new group of actors are vying for influence on the continent, many authoritarian middle powers. These include Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, which have been increasingly present in some of Africa’s key geostrategic regions from the Horn to the Sahel.

The goal of the project is to take stock of the growing influence of these actors in Africa. In particular, it centres around four key questions: what are the motives and drivers of authoritarian middle power presence in Africa; what means and strategies are they using to increase their influence on the continent; to what extent are African actors (government, private actors, civil society); and finally what impact are they having in terms of national, regional and international stability.

Key Learning Activities

• Exhaustive Bibliography
  Compile a comprehensive bibliography of existing material on African geopolitics, 30% of final grade.

• Annotated Bibliography
  Identify the 15 most important resources from the exhaustive bibliography and provide annotations for each.

• Critical Reflection
  Write a critical reflection on the state of the literature surveyed, highlighting key themes, gaps, and perspectives.

Professor: Christina Clark-Kazak 
Unit: Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (Conflict Studies and Human Rights)
Number of Students: 3
Language: French, English (assignments can be submitted in either languages)

Research Description

This research aims to widen, deepen and institutionalize equitable access to education and research opportunities for people with lived experiences of forced migration in Canada.

Key Learning Activities

• Use of Zotero software

• Secondary research skills

• Secondary data analysis

• Knowledge mobilization

Professor: Elke Winter
Unit: School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies
Number of Students: 3
Language: French, English (assignments can be submitted in either languages)

Research Description

On Hailing “Skill” and Broken Promises: Immigration in Polarizing Societies:

In the fall of 2025, students will assist with the organization of an international workshop, as well as with the synthesis and analytical follow-up studies on the following topic: In the face of rapidly aging societies and acute labour shortages, many countries of Global North depend on a foreign-trained workforce. Many “skilled migrants” originate in the Global South. “Hailed” for their training/education, work ethic, and cultural adaptation abilities, they often end up feeling disillusioned and “trapped” in societies marked by multiple crises, such as the continuing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, shrinking and privatizing welfare states, rising food costs, a shortage of affordable housing, as well as the threat to democracy by populist and radical right parties whose constituencies have expanded from the margins to the center (Winter 2024). In this research project, we study what the hailing of “skilled” immigrants means for polarizing societies, what promises it holds, what risks it bears for the individuals at stake, how it is experienced and resisted, and what grievances it kindles within established populations, including among former (racialized) immigrants and their descendants. Please note: the workshop takes place 25-26 September, while we are a FR/EN bilingual team, the workshop language is English.

Key Learning Activities

Students will learn:

• To become a full member of an existing research team.

• To work relatively independently, yet collaborate and respect the timelines and goals of the collective project.

• To collect, summarize, analyze, and evaluate academic literature (how to do a literature review).

• To trace, identify, collect, and catalogue information materials such as statistics, grey literature from websites and think tanks, and academic journal articles using referencing software.

• To write up research findings and identify the limitations of their research.

They will also:

• Gain first-hand experience in how to execute a research project.

• Increase or validate their interest in graduate studies.

• Become experts on immigration and/or social inequality issues in a specific country (learn how to do a country case study).

Professor: Nicole Racine
Unit: School of Psychology
Number of Students: 2
Language: French, English (assignments can be submitted in either languages)

Research Description

Research in the Early Lab focuses on investigating the impact of early adversity on early childhood mental health, with a particular emphasis on social, emotional, and behavioral development. Our research aims to identify early prevention and intervention strategies that promote resilience and well-being in children and youth.

As part of this work, students will be introduced to an ongoing social prescribing research project an emerging and innovative approach in psychology that connects children and families to non-clinical, community-based supports. This project serves as the central focus of our current research efforts and provides students with a unique opportunity to engage with a developing area of applied psychological science.

Key Learning Activities

• Students will have the opportunity to explore scholarly literature focused on early adversity and its impact on child mental health and development, with particular attention to social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes. Through this exposure, students will gain a deeper understanding of how early life stressors shape children’s psychological well-being and developmental trajectories.

• As part of their experience, students will also be introduced to an ongoing social prescribing project an emerging and innovative approach within psychology that is just beginning to gain momentum. This project explores non-clinical, community-based interventions to support child mental health and well-being, offering students a unique opportunity to engage with a cutting-edge area of applied psychological research.

• Students will also participate in hands-on research activities such as data collection and analysis, while learning effective strategies for disseminating research findings, including preparing conference presentations, contributing to academic publications, and translating research for broader, non-academic audiences.

Professor: Nomi Claire Lzar 
Unit: Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (Conflict Studies and Human Rights)
Number of Students: 3
Language: French, English (assignments can be submitted in either languages)

Research Description

This project investigates how and why apocalyptic rhetoric has returned to its central place in contemporary politics. By apocalyptics I mean rhetoric that describes the inevitable approach of some massive, violent rupture ending our known world. The rupture cleanses, ushering in a new golden age for the elect, or else a dystopia of nihilism and despair. From the people’s perspective, apocalyptics seem at best irrational, and at worst insane. Why do people buy it? But from a leader’s perspective it looks little better. Apocalyptic success is always political failure since movements work toward their own obsolescence. What does a leader gain? And in the meantime, apocalyptics drive violence, disorder and instability. Why drive a crisis you can neither control nor use? If politics are reasonable, never mind rational, apocalyptics pose a puzzle. The book project on which students would assist with research support will aim to elucidate several aspects of that puzzle, including the role of apocalyptic rhetoric in movements which are not themselves strictly apocalyptic, and the internal politics of apocalyptic movements too, including the functions of charisma.

Key Learning Activities

• Literature reviews

• Case studies

• Discussions of the research process

• Discussions of the book production process

Professor: Benjamin Zyla
Unit: School of International Development and Global Studies
Number of Students: 4
Language: English 

Research Description

Students will be part of a research team to study (1) Local Peacebuilding interventions in the Central African Republic (CAR) and the UN’s role and engagement there through its peace operation, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic” (MINUSCA). Secondly, students will study how the UN responded through the crisis by looking at primary UN documents from the UN Headquarters in New York. The objective of this study is to gain a better understanding how the UN has increased local ownership in CAR (or why it failed to do so).

A more detailed description: Peacebuilding operations formally aim to help mitigate or resolve conflicts in the societies and states in which they are deployed. Detailed knowledge of local actors, histories, cultures, languages, geography and conflict dynamics is vital to successful peacebuilding. But the organizations that organize and manage these missions often do not know how to reach out to the local population. We will study how the UN actually engages with the local population in the CAR as our case study over the last twenty or so years.

Moreover and related, this project speaks to the changing role of international peacekeeping operations and the UN adapting to a new world order that is increasingly characterized by civil wars, humanitarian disasters, especially in the Middle East and parts of Africa. We will study this new changing context with the UN’s Agenda 2023 publication to then zoom into studying/exploring what role so-called Middle Powers like Canada, Australia etc. can play in helping to manage this new peacekeeping environment.

Students will join an existing research team with 1 post-doctoral student, 1 PhD student, and the professor.

Please send your CV along with your application. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact professor Benjamin Zyla at [email protected]
 

Key Learning Activities

General course objectives

This course allows students to participate in an ongoing research project and, therefore:

• To acquire knowledge through experiential learning.

• Increase their autonomy and professional capacity in their area of studies.

• Improve their knowledge of methodologies and the research process.

• Understand the limits of knowledge in research within the social sciences and to become familiar with scientific communication.

Specific objectives for this course

• Participate and be a full member of an existing research team that studies the United Nation’s (UN) role in the Central African Republic (CAR).

• Expand your research knowledge (methodologies, techniques, analysis, etc.) on UN peace operations, especially that in the Central African Republic, which is called the “United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic” (MINUSCA).

• Study the UN’s response to the conflict through MINUSCA and thus learn more about the peace operation.

• Gain an understanding of the conflict in that country and local initiatives how to solve it.

• Increase or validate their interests in graduate studies and gain a first practical experience of social science research.

• Learn how to analyze large amounts of data and secondary sources.

• Learn how to study primary UN documents and how to analyze them in a scientific research project and modern software tools.

Professor: Karine Vanthuyne
Unit: School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies
Number of Students: 5
Language: French, English (assignments can be submitted in either languages)

Research Description

Human rights literature highlights violence perpetrated, encouraged or tolerated by many Latin American states, including Guatemala, which allegedly targets citizens engaged in the defence of human, civil, political and environmental rights through the growing phenomenon of the criminalisation of collective action. Criminalisation facilitates violence against citizens through the adoption of new legislation or new legislative interpretations that consider them to be “enemies”. As part of this course, you will be invited to actively participate in a comparative and multidisciplinary study of five Latin American countries, contributing to the literature review and documentary research for the specific case of Guatemala. This investigation aims to analyse, based on accounts from defenders who have been criminalised, some of the significant consequences of criminalisation at two levels: 1) the consequences for the consolidation of democracy and respect for human rights in Latin America, since citizens most committed to democracy and rights are targeted2) the consequences for security in Latin America, since the problem of state violence persists and the solutions recommended seem to exacerbate it rather than resolve it, with new forms of violence resulting from criminalisation, such as the forced displacement of targeted communities, on the rise. Your review of the literature and your documentary research will inform the analysis of the accounts of criminalised defenders that the professor collected in 2024 during a field investigation in Guatemala.
 

Key Learning Activities

The course will include two main research activities. These activities may be completed in teams or individually, depending on student preference.

• Literature review: students will review scientific literature (e.g., articles in academic journals) to identify the state of analysis on the phenomenon of criminalisation of human rights defenders in general, and in Guatemala in particular.
• Documentary research: students will analyse the phenomenon of the criminalisation of human rights defenders in Guatemala in greater detail by examining reports published on the subject by organisations (e.g. Amnesty International), articles in the Guatemalan press, etc. Based on these documents, they will identify: who are the actors being criminalised? How are they being criminalised? And what exactly is being done to denounce or combat this criminalisation, locally and globally?

Professor: Christine Gibb
Unit: School of International Development and Global Studies
Number of Students: 4
Language: French, English (assignments can be submitted in either languages)

Research Description

This research study - Everyday experiences & mobilities of children, teens and older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic - explores the lived experiences of children, teens and older adults in several sites in Canada and the U.S., examining vulnerability, mobilities, and capacities. The results of this study will contribute to better disaster preparedness, responses, and policies and support systems that address the specific challenges and resilience of these potentially vulnerable and highly diverse groups. The study, which brings together an international team from three social science backgrounds, also explores the potential for digital communication between generations during disasters. The study uses mixed methods that are both child- and older adult-centric and pandemic-appropriate, including journals, interviews, research workshops, podcasting and surveys.

As part of this directed research course, students will contribute to multiple aspects of the study, including participant recruitment, data construction, data cleaning, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, knowledge mobilization, and presentation of preliminary results. The research activities will include both online and in-person tasks. The in-person activities will take place in the Ottawa-Gatineau area.
 

Key Learning Activities

As part of this directed research course, students will contribute to multiple aspects of the study. Most research activities are being carried out remotely. The research activities will include one or more of the following:

• Participate actively in biweekly research meetings in English with the research team (over Zoom).

• Assist in planning the logistics and running in-person “listening parties” with research participants.

• Support the creation of presentations.

• Support the research community partner (National Community and Campus Radio Association) with producing knowledge dissemination materials.

• Assist in conducting podcast recording sessions, interviews and research workshops with research participants in English and/or French.

• Recruit study participants, including through emails and phone calls to organizations and through social media.

• Transcribe interviews.

• Assist in the implementation of the social media strategy (proficiency in Canva or experience creating social media posts is an asset).

• Assist in the implementation of the equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) strategy.

• Assist in the production and launch of the research podcast.

• Collaboratively, conduct qualitative analyses of the journals, interviews, research workshops and podcast recording sessions (proficiency in Dedoose or other qualitative coding software is an asset).
   

The research activities for the FSS 4150 - Directed Research in Social Sciences course aim to:

• enrich your university education as well as learning experience and engagement;
• benefit from direct supervision with a faculty member;
• participate immersively in the acquisition of research knowledge and skills;
• enhance the interests and autonomy for higher education;
• increase knowledge of research methodologies and processes;
• become aware of the knowledge limitations inherent in any social sciences research;
• learn about scientific communication.

This course requires a minimum of three evaluations in line with the professor's guidelines and course outline. Work schedule, as well as research activities, shall be confirmed with the professor. The expected number of hours for the course is 120 to 150 hours.

All regulations and deadlines governing progress at the University apply in this case.

Students enrolled in their 4th year of a specialized program of study at the Faculty of Social Sciences that meet the following eligibility criteria are eligible. Please note that the selection process takes place in two parts: the first selection round is made by the Faculty according to the basic eligibility criteria, and the final selection is completed by the professor responsible for the chosen directed research.

Note: 3rd-year students with 51 credits and a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 9.0 can apply.

Basic eligibility criteria

• Have completed at least 81 credits.
• Have a CGPA of 8.0 or more.
• FSS 4150 may be repeated if the topic is different.

Additional evaluation criteria

• Justification of the relevance of the learning activities for your program of study and your career objectives;
• Letter of motivation: language quality, clarity, and coherence;

Only applications accepted by the Faculty and the professor will receive by e-mail an official confirmation of acceptance. We strongly encourage students to register for another course pending the official notification. You will be able to modify your registration within the applicable deadlines.

Please follow the steps below:

1. Submit One Application Form per Course
   Complete a separate application form for each course you are interested in.
2. Write a 200-Word Essay
   As part of your application, you must include a short essay (maximum 200 words) explaining how this research opportunity will:
   • Enhance your student experience
   • Support your professional development
   • Align with your career goals
3. Wait for Faculty Review
   The Faculty will review all applications based on eligibility criteria, academic progress, and course availability. If your application meets the requirements, it will be forwarded to the supervising professor, who will make the final selection. The Faculty will contact you with the outcome and next steps.

Important Notes:

• The application deadline is August 11, 2025. No decisions will be communicated before this date.
• This course will not have a set schedule, appear in uoZone, or be listed on Brightspace. Your research schedule will be developed in collaboration with your supervising professor.