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Brief Biography

Mr. C. Alexander Olteanu is a PhD student at Queen’s University, Canada, where he also obtained his BA (with Distinction) in Political Studies and Spanish. He is currently working on the ‘New NATO Project’ investigating how NATO and the EU adapted to the post-Cold War environment during the critical 1989-1993 period and is completing the Public Leadership Credential at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is also a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Political Studies and a Researcher with the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen’s University.

 Previously, Alex completed a Masters (Research) with Distinction in Global Security Studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Alex has been active for over three decades in the legal profession and has taught business management, law, and social science courses at post-secondary institutions in Canada and Iraq. He appears regularly on British Columbia’s Rompost TV show as a political commentator for the local Romanian community is a former 2. Lieutenant in the CAF Reserves and is fluent in five languages.

Research Interests

Alex is particularly interested in social entrepreneurship projects focusing on the theory and practice of public and private organizational design, adaptation and change, and the emergence of post-sovereign structures of governance and citizenship, beyond the boundaries of nation-states. He focuses in particular on the history of and current developments in Europe, North America, and the Middle East. 

Teaching Assistant at Queen’s (2020-2022):

• POLS 332: Politics of Post-Communism
• POLS 261: Introduction to International Relations
• POLS 244: Comparative Politics: Democracy and Democratization
• POLS 243: Comparative Politics: Governing Difference
• POLS 242: Comparative Politics: Political Regimes

Brief Biography

Lori Oliver is a SSHRC doctoral scholar in the Department of Political Studies, specializing in Gender and Politics and Comparative Politics. She is particularly interested in the relationship between multilevel governance and social policy development. Her doctoral research focuses on how the implementation of Canada’s National Housing Strategy is impacting lone mothers and their families. This research builds on Lori’s previous community-based research work with ACORN Canada and Adsum for Women & Children. Lori is the current chair of PSAC 901’s Affordable Housing Working Group and a member of several tenant advocacy organizations. She was the 2022 Co-Chair of the Political Studies Graduate Student Association.

Brief Biography

Kaitie Jourdeuil (PhD, Queen’s University, 2025) is the 2025-26 Buchanan Postdoctoral Fellow in Canadian Democracy in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s. Her research, which sits at the intersection of Political Theory and Canadian Politics, is guided by two questions: (1) What does it mean to live well in community with others? and (2) How do we establish and maintain respect and mutual understanding between different political communities? Her doctoral research examined how Canadians might change their shared values and political practices in dialogue with Indigenous political thought and how Canadian political theorists can respond to calls from their Indigenous colleagues to decolonize political theory and Canadian politics. Her postdoctoral project explores how citizens can act in ways that promote mutual respect with Indigenous peoples and the land in their community.

Originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Kaitie joined the Department of Political Studies in 2019 as a Master’s student in Political and Legal Thought. She received her Bachelor of Humanities with High Distinction from Carleton University’s College of the Humanities, during which she completed a year of study at Cardiff University in Wales.

Selected Awards

• Stanley Drabek Graduate Award (2024)
• SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral (2021-2024)
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2020-2021)
• SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s (2019-2020)
• Queen’s University Tri-Agency Recipient Recognition Award (2019-2020)

Teaching Fellowships

Winter 2026 - POLS 401: Political Theory: Questions and Challenges

Fall 2025 - POLS 320: Indigenous Politics

Winter 2025 - POLS 320: Indigenous Politics

Winter 2024 - POLS 451: Topics in Political Theory – Settler Colonialism in Canada              

2023-2025 - POLS 590: Honours Thesis in Political Studies

Thesis 

The Critical Geopolitics of Waterscapes: The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Development of Gwadar Port

Teaching

POLS 464 Issues in Contemporary Security

POLS 484 Politics of Globalization

POLS 498 Topics in Political Studies

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

Linked In:

Twitter/X:

Brief Biography

Emma Fingler (she/her) is a SSHRC-funded doctoral candidate researching gender, disaster response operations, and regional governance in South and Southeast Asia. She is a Fellow with the Climate Security Association of Canada and is a Graduate Research Fellow with the Centre for International and Defence Policy (CIDP) at Queen’s University. Emma was the 2023 Graduate Scholarship recipient of Women in Defence and Security (WiDS). She was previously a Canada-Asia Young Professional Fellow with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and 2022-2024 Graduate Fellow with the Research Network on Women, Peace and Security. Emma has experience working abroad on humanitarian, development, and coordination issues. Prior to joining Queen’s, she was the Special Assistant to the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Kathmandu Nepal, and a Junior Professional Consultant with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Kathmandu. She holds an M.A. in Global Governance from the University of Waterloo’s Balsillie School of International Affairs and a B.A. Hons. in Political Studies from Bishop’s University.

Selected Awards:

Timothy C.S. Franks Research Travel Award, Queen’s University, 2023

Women in Defence and Security, Graduate Scholarship, 2023

SSHRC Department of National Defence MINDS Scholarship Initiative

SSHRC Doctoral Award, 2022-25

Research Network on Women, Peace and Security, Doctoral Award, 2022-24

Research Interests

• Humanitarian and disaster governance;
• Women, Peace and Security agenda, with a focus on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); and
• Global Governance structures and norms.

Field Affiliations

International Relations

Comparative Politics

Teaching

POLS 460: International Relations of the Asia Pacific (Teaching Fellow)

POLS 280, Introduction to Women, Gender and Politics (Teaching Assistant)

POLS 244, Comparative Politics: Democracy and Democratization (Teaching Assistant)

POLS 261, International Relations (Teaching Assistant)

Brief Biography

Admira Bužimkić is a doctoral candidate specializing in International Relations and Comparative Politics. She holds a Master’s in Globalization from McMaster University and a BA in International Relations (High Distinction) from the University of Toronto.

Admira has actively participated in panel discussions on global research methods and the influence of war, gender, and religion on democratization. As an editor for the Student Strategy and Security Journal (affiliated with the University of Glasgow), she oversees paper submissions and collaborates with reviewers and scholars to elevate manuscripts to publishable standards.

Research Interests 

Admira’s research, situated at the intersection of international relations, globalization, and political geography, explores several key themes. These include conflict and forced displacement, global mobility,  border control, and the practical implementation of policy in politically volatile regions. Additionally, her work explores post-conflict reconstruction and state building, offering critical insights into the evolving nature of border enforcement and state building. Admira has presented her work at various academic conferences, symposiums and workshops.

Additionally, Admira is interested in international water resource management and security. As part of the McMaster-UNU-INWEH program, she has conducted research on urban water sustainability and the impact of melting glaciers on local populations in Peru.

Awards

Ontario Graduate Scholarship 2022-23 

Ontario Graduate Scholarship, 2021-22         

Ontario Graduate Scholarship, 2020-21         

2020-2021 R.S. McLaughlin Fellowship – Queen’s University        

McMaster Graduate Scholarship 

Teaching Experience 

Teaching Assistant: 

POLS 262 International Political Economy (Winter 2023, 2022 and 2021)

POLS 261 International Politics (Fall 2022, Fall 2020) 

Head Teaching Assistant:

POLS 261 International Politics (Fall 2021)

Biography

Patricia is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Politics. Her research interests primarily lie in the area of mineral resource governance, specifically, how state-global mining company relationships historically and, at present, shape current local socioeconomic development outcomes in the resource-rich sections of sub-Saharan Africa.

Teaching

• POLS 347 - Summer 2020

• POLS 397 - Spring 2022

Research Interests

Global Political Economy, Environmental Politics, International Relations, Political Ecology, Just Transitions, Infrastructure, Social Movements, Resistance and Transformation, Environmental and Climate Justice

Brief Biography

Joshua McEvoy is a SSHRC Doctoral Fellow in International Relations in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University. Joshua’s research interests are situated at the intersection of political economy and environmental politics with a focus on the discourses and practices of resistance and transformation. His dissertation focuses on ‘just transition’ movements and their relationship to dominant socio-political and economic structures. Specifically, Joshua’s research examines the potential for transformation in community energy, transit, and ‘green’ labour movements. Joshua is also broadly interested in the relationship of material infrastructures to socio-political processes, especially the role of energy in settler colonialism and the building of a decolonized future.

Joshua completed his comprehensive exams in International Relations and Comparative Politics in 2017, receiving a mark of Distinction in both fields. Prior to arriving at Queen’s, Joshua was a Research Assistant at the University of Ottawa, and an intern at the Council on Foreign Relations. Joshua completed his Bachler of Arts (Highest Honours) at Carleton University with a double-major in Law and Political Science, and Minor in Economics, and his Master’s in International Relations Theory at the London School of Economics.

Selected Awards

• SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (2019-21)
• Timothy C.S. Franks Travel Award (2019)
• Dean’s Travel Award (2019)
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2017-18, 2018-19)
• The Donald S. Rickerd Fellowship (2017-18)
• Queen’s Graduate Award (2016-17)

Teaching

Teaching Fellowships

• POLS 463 – International Relations Theory (Fall 2021)
• POLS 405 – Global Environmental Politics (Winter 2021)

Teaching Assistantships

• POLS 262 – International Political Economy (Winter 2018)
• POLS 261 – International Politics (Winter 2017)
• POLS 243 – Comparative Politics (Fall 2016)

• Professor 1955–2015
• Queen’s University Principal and Vice-Chancellor 1974–1984

From the ����ֱ�� Gazette:

Ronald Lampman Watts, the 15th principal of Queen’s University, died on October 9, 2015. He was 86.

Dr. Watts, who served as Queen’s principal from 1974 to 1984, was also one of Canada’s leading experts on federalism.

“On behalf of the entire ����ֱ�� community, Julie and I extend our deepest condolences to Dr. Watts' wife Donna and the entire Watts family,” says Principal Daniel Woolf. “Dr. Watts was a beloved and respected member of the Queen’s community, and will be sorely missed. He was also an enormously influential figure in the debates on federalism in Canada over several decades, a greatly respected international consultant on governance, and a fine teacher, many of whose students went on to successful careers in academe, the private sector and the public service.”

Born in Japan to Canadian Anglican missionary parents in 1929, he was educated at the University of Toronto (BAH’52) and attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship (BA’54, MA’59, PhD’62).

He arrived at Queen’s University in 1955 as a lecturer in philosophy, but moved to the Department of Political and Economic Science in 1961. Dr. Watts took an interest in the administration and students of Queen’s, serving as a residence don in McNeill House and helping to plan the many residences built during the 1960s.

He was appointed Dean of Arts and Science in 1969 before becoming principal five years later. At 45, he was the youngest principal since George Monro Grant assumed the office nearly 100 years earlier.

During his time as principal several buildings were expanded including Botterell Hall, a nine-story medical sciences building located next to Kingston General Hospital.

Faced with reductions in government funding Dr. Watts also launched a campaign to cut costs, such as reducing energy consumption, while also maintaining the quality of teaching and research at Queen’s. His second five-year term was highlighted by laying the plans for the ����ֱ�� National Scholars program to attract outstanding young faculty members as well as starting the planning for the establishment of the School of Policy Studies.

Dr. Watts’ main academic interest was the comparative study of federal political systems. After retiring as principal, he served as director of Queen’s Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, senior adviser to the federal government on constitutional affairs, and consultant to governments all over the world, including Canada, Kenya, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom.

He also published a number of books, including New Federations: Experiments in the Commonwealth, Multi-Cultural Societies and Federalism, Administration in Federal Systems, and Comparing Federal Systems.

Dr. Watts received five honorary degrees and became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1979 and a Companion in 2000.

Brief Biography

Dr. Hugh Garnet Thorburn (1924-2014 ) was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He entered Victoria College at the University of Toronto in 1942 but left the next year to join the Canadian Army, where he was seconded to the British Army Intelligence Corps. Throughout the rest of the Second World War, he served with the Army, rising to the rank of Captain by the time he was discharged in 1946. He returned to Victoria College, where he completed an honours course in Political Science and Economics in 1949. From 1949 to 1952, he continued his studies at Columbia University where he was awarded a PhD.

He was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Political Studies at ����ֱ�� in 1956. He rose through the academic ranks to Associate Professor in 1963, Professor in 1964, Head of the Department from 1968 to 1971, and most recently to the distinction of Professor Emeritus, after nearly 40 years of teaching in the department. He was President of the Canadian Political Science Association, the author of numerous books, and the editor of Party Politics in Canada. Dr. Thorburn passed away in Kingston on June 3, 2014, at the age of 90.

To honour Dr. Thorburn's legacy, The Hugh Thorburn Memorial Award was established in the Department of Political Studies. It is awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need and academic achievement to students in any year of a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree program in the Faculty of Arts and Science with an academic plan in Political Studies. Those who wish to honour Dr. Hugh Thorburn with a contribution to this award, may do so .