Brown, Gillian

Gillian Brown

Gillian Brown

Doctoral Student

She/Her

BA, Political Studies (University of Manitoba); MA, Political Science (Acadia University)

Political Studies

Doctoral Student

gillian.brown@queensu.ca

Mackintosh-Corry Hall, B307

Supervisor: Dr. Jonathan Rose

Research Interests

Canadian politics; political communication; mass media; political leaders; political parties

Biography

Gillian is a doctoral student specializing in Canadian politics, working under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Rose. Her research interests focus on political communication, in particular the intersections between government, media, and democracy.

Awards

  • SSHRC Canada Graduate Research Scholarship - Doctoral (2026-29)
  • Outstanding Master’s Research Award (Acadia University, 2026)
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2025-26)
  • Stanley Drabek Graduate Award in Political Studies (Queen’s University, 2025)
  • Graduate Entrance Award (Queen’s University, 2025)
  • Jarislowsky Studentship in Political Leadership and Media Studies in Canada (Acadia University, 2024)

Teaching Experience

  • POLS 391 - Introduction to Electoral Systems (Fall 2025)
  • POLS 212 - Canadian Politics (Winter 2026)

Ragunathan, Anita

Anita Ragunathan

Anita Ragunathan

Doctoral Student

She/Her

BAH, Political Science and Peace Studies (McMaster University); MA, Political Science (McMaster University)

Political Studies

Doctoral Student

25tn4@queensu.ca

Supervisor: Dr. Yolande Bouka

Research Interests

Feminist political economy; social reproduction; gender and violence.

Gholami, Siavash

Gholami Siavash

Siavash Gholami

Doctoral Student

MA, Political Science (University of Toronto); HBSc, Psychology (major) and Philosophy (minor) (York University)

Political Studies

Doctoral Student

22gs4@queensu.ca

Mackintosh-Corry Hall, B300

Supervisors: Dr. Oded Haklai, Dr. David Haglund

Biography

Siavash's research focuses on Middle Eastern security and diplomacy, with a particular focus on Israeli national security, the Islamic Republic (of Iran) nuclear and missile program, Iranian restoration, and the evolving regional alignments shaped by the Abraham Accords.

Teaching Experience

  • POLS 242 - Comparative Politics: Contemporary Regimes

Political Studies Graduate Student receives Dean’s Excellence Award in Global Sustainability

Tehya Blake (PhD), a graduate student from the Department of Political Studies, received the Dean's Award for their work on Global Sustainability. 

The award was presented by Interim Dean Bob Lemieux at the recent annual Dean's Awards Reception, which honours graduate students from each department in the Faculty of Arts and Science for their academic excellence. 

Congratulations, Tehya! 

Article Category
Student Awards

7th Annual John Meisel Lecture in Contemporary Political Controversies

Date

Friday October 17, 2025
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Location

Kinesiology 100

2025: Canada's Economic and Fiscal Challenges in an Era of Trump

with Don Drummond, OOnt, and Kyle Hanniman

Established in 2017, The John Meisel Lecture Series celebrates Professor Emeritus John Meisel (1923 – 2025), one of Canada’s leading and influential political scientists, by providing a forum for addressing controversial major political issues facing scholars, policy-makers, and the public.

This year, the Faculty of Arts and Science is hosting a special Homecoming edition of the Meisel Lecture Series to honour the life and legacy of Dr. John Meisel, not only in the political landscape but as a member of the Queen’s community.

The Dr. John Meisel Lecture in Contemporary Political Controversies will feature two mini-lectures followed by a moderated Q&A discussion panel.

Headshot of noted Canadian economist Don Drummond

Don Drummond, OOnt

Adjunct Professor and Stauffer-Dunning Fellow at ³ÉÈË´óƬ, is a leading economist whose career spans Finance Canada, TD Bank and Ontario's public service reform commission.
Head shot of Kyle Hanniman, Director, Institute of Intergovernmental Relations at Queen's Unviersity

Kyle Hanniman

Director for the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations at ³ÉÈË´óƬ is a political scientist specializing in fiscal federalism, subnational finance, and the political economy of policy.

Olaitan, Zainab

Headshot of Zainab Olaitan

Zainab Olaitan

Post-Doctoral Fellow

She/Her

PhD (Pretoria University); MA (Pretoria University); BSocSci (Cape Town University), BSc (Lagos University)

Political Studies

International Relations

Post-Doctoral Fellow

zainab.olaitan@queensu.ca

Robert Sutherland Hall, 409

Biography

Dr. Zainab Monisola Olaitan is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for International and Defence Policy. Her research focuses on Afrofeminist thought, gender and representation, and the women, peace and security agenda in Africa. She holds a PhD and MA from the University of Pretoria, a BSocSci (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Cape Town, and a BSc (Hons) in Political Science from the University of Lagos. She is a Research Associate at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation (IPATC) at the University of Johannesburg. Dr. Olaitan is the author ofWomen’s Representation in African Politics: Beyond Numbers (2024) and the lead editor of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women in Africa and the Caribbean: Linking the Two Regions (2025), both published by Palgrave Macmillan. She is a 2022 Margaret McNamara Education Grants (MMEG) recipient in recognition of her impactful research on women, a 2021-2023 University of Pretoria Doctoral Research Scholarship recipient, a 2019 Mastercard Foundation Scholar and 2018 Mandela Rhodes Scholar.

Teaching

  • POLS 261 - International Politics (Fall 2025)
  • POLS 485 - Seminar in Women and Politics (Winter 2026)

For detailed information about political studies courses and instructors, please refer to the Undergraduate and Graduate pages.

Transnational capital and the scramble for land and profit: financialization, agrarian development, and resource conflict in Africa

Dr. Andrew Grant, Professor and Dr. Surulola Eke, Post Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Studies recently published an article in the journal, World Development, with research collaborators from McMaster and Carleton.

Abstract

Article Category
Faculty News

2025 Honours Thesis Colloquium

Date

Friday April 4, 2025
10:00 am - 3:20 pm

Location

Staff Learning Room at Stauffer Library

Please join us for the Department of Political Studies 2025 Honours Thesis Colloquium!

Friday, April 4, 2025

10:00am - 3:20pm

Staff Learning Room at Stauffer Library

Light lunch served

AGENDA

Opening Remarks – Rachel Laforest, Undergraduate Chair | 10 AM

Panel 1 | 10:05-11:05 AM

• Sydney Robinson: Stakeholder Influence and Policy Outcomes of Climate Legislation: A Case Study of Bill C-12

• Santiago Palacios: NATO’s Burden Sharing Dilemma: What Can Canada Learn from a Latvian Defence Doctrine

• Hugo Savoeda:  New Chains, Same Hands: The reshaping of the world system and South – South relations of dependence

Panel 2 | 11:05-12:05 PM

• Lauren Hood:  Sex: An Object of Desire and Mankind’s Greatest Weapon

• Julian King:  The Chicken or the Egg?: Strategic Culture under Authoritarianism Examined Through the Lens of Vladimir Putin and the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

• Cordelia Jamieson:  Roadblocks for Civic Involvement: Gender-Based Geographic Barriers to State-Level Political Candidacy in the Contiguous United States

12:05-12:30 Lunch Break (light lunch will be served)

Panel 3 | 12:30-1:30 PM

• Rachel Starkman:  The evolution of political debates in the United States

• Cara Mackenzie: Democratic Backsliding in India

• Ariana Wilson-Mcdermid: The Influence of Indigenous Cultural Practices on Marine Biodiversity Conservation: A Comparison Between Canada and New Zealand

• Rachel McNeil: HIV/AIDS and Climate Crisis in Africa: Disparities in Governmental Response Between the Global North and the Global South

Panel 4 | 1:30-2:30 PM

• Roan Szucs: A Debate Between Democracy and Her Alternatives

• Janica Arevalo: Combatting Violence Against Women in Canadian Politics

• Cameron Christie: Balancing Act: Canada’s Arctic Strategy and Responding to Great Power Competition

• Gaoxiang Fan: The discourse on Canadian skills: the process of middle-class nation-building and the social and political consequences of rapid immigration policies

Panel 5 | 2:30-3:15 PM

• Yamna Asim:  The Treatment of Hijras Before and After British Colonialization

• Pauli Jacobs: Evolution, Disparities and Service Delivery in Youth Mental Health: A Comparative Case Study of Urban and Rural Ontario

• Lizzie Liteplo: Canada’s Involvement in Overseas Conflict: Navigating International Engagement

3:15-3:20 - Closing remarks – Rachel Laforest

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