
Our Political Science Program
Political science is the study and analysis of possibilities for states and their citizens; the possibility of peace in a war ravaged country; the possibility of democracy in an authoritarian state; the possibility of economic equity in a capitalist system; and the possibility of harmony in a system of sovereign states.
Are you a college student? Visit the ONTransfer website to view more of our pathway agreements.
The study of politics has always been at the centre of an education geared toward sustaining and improving community life. The ancient Chinese, Greeks, and Romans regarded politics as one of the highest forms of human expression. Indigenous peoples all over the world have practiced unique and effective forms of politics for millennia. Whether you know it or not, we all participate in politics.
Algoma U’s four-year Bachelor of Arts in Political Science degree focuses on three areas of study: Canadian politics, public policy and government; comparative politics and international relations; and political theory, philosophy, and economy.
Our program works to incorporate Indigenous content, ideas, and methodology in its approach. It will help students to understand and identify important institutions, forces, and ideas that shape society, and permit change to occur or not occur. It will teach students how to systematically, rigorously, and analytically evaluate competing explanations of the same event or phenomenon, and gain an understanding of who or what exerts power.
Within the program, students will develop a wide range of skills that are in high demand in the public and private workforce. Some of the career paths our graduates have chosen include education, research, financial/economic analyst, foreign services, legislative analyst, diplomat, immigration and border services, museum and/or curatorial work, Indigenous research, civil service, lawyer, politics and policy, public relations, entrepreneur, journalist and many more.
What You Can Expect
Hands-on learning, a close-knit campus community, and caring faculty.
1 / 8
Examine the origins of Political Science and theory
Political science has ancient roots and can be traced back to the works of the great Greek thinkers, Aristotle and Plato. Students will compare their political theories and examine how their ideals still exist in the twenty-first-century.
2 / 8
Debate issues of citizenship, nationalism, and liberalism
Students in our program will examine issues of the past, but also current issues which plague today’s nations. Students will examine, discuss, and debate issues such as citizenship, nationalism, and liberalism, and will attempt to answer what binds citizens together in a shared political economy.
3 / 8
Study the rise and fall of great states and empires
Underlying governing bodies and the political economy often contribute to the rise, decline, and fall of great states and empires. Students will examine past empires and the status of current countries to understand the shift happening on the global political stage.
4 / 8
Do the ends justify the means?
Students will study historical works which shaped modern political science, including Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, which ultimately asks, “Do the ends justify the means?” Students will examine governing bodies and politicians and will use this question to decide if their actions are in fact justifiable.
5 / 8
Minor in a subject you love
Are you interested in minoring in Canadian Government, Public Policy, and Administration? Or maybe International Relations? Students can further enhance the quality of their degree and complement their studies by either doing a minor or double majoring in another area of interest.
6 / 8
CanAm Exchange
The CanAm Exchange happens twice a year, and allows Canadian and American students and faculty to gain an improved perspective on the challenges facing and approaches taken by neighbouring countries on domestic and international issues. Topics discussed in the past include: acid rain; nuclear war; Indigenous rights; the invasion of Iraq; the United Nations; gun control; and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
7 / 8
Model UN
The Model UN helps put into practice the knowledge, ideas, and concepts students have acquired in their political science and international relations courses. Students who attend the Model UN are broken up and placed on various committees where they have to work together with other university delegates to solve real past problems. For more information, please visit www.namun.org.
8 / 8
Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (SRSC)
Political science students can use the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre’s (SRSC) archival collection for research papers, since they hold one of the largest collections on the Canadian residential schools system.








Our Courses
For more detailed information on our courses, please visit our courses schedule section
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START NOWMeet our Faculty
Our Political Science faculty are experts in the field. Get to know them!
Dr. Julian Hermida
Associate Professor

[email protected]
705-949-2301, ext. 4317
Office: NW 206B
Credentials: BA (University of Buenos Aires), LLM, DCL (McGill University), PhD (University of Córdoba)
Areas of Expertise: Criminal law and criminology, comparative law, international law.
Dr. Trevor Tchir
Department Chair, Law and Politics, Associate Professor

[email protected]
705-949-2301, ext. 4388
Office: SH 415
Educational Background:
- PhD, University of Alberta
- MA, University of Ottawa
- BA, University of Ottawa
Areas of Expertise:
Classical and modern history of political thought, moral philosophy, Arendt’s theory of political action, Canadian political institutions.
Publications:
Hannah Arendt’s Theory of Political Action: Daimonic Disclosure of the ‘Who.’ Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
Book Chapters:
“Daimon Appearances and the Heideggerian Influence in Arendt’s Account of Political Action,” in Action and Appearance: Explorations in Hannah Arendt, eds. Charles Barbour, Philip Hansen, Anna Yeatman, and Magdalena Zolkos (Continuum: New York, 2011).
“Arendtian Action: Performative Disclosure of the ‘Who’” in Declensions of the Self: A Bestiary of Modernity, eds. Jean-Jacques Defert, Trevor Tchir, and Dan Webb (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008).
Edited Book:
Edited collection: Declensions of the Self: A Bestiary of Modernity, eds. Jean-Jacques Defert, Trevor Tchir, and Dan Webb (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008).
Book Review:
“Review of Karen S. Feldman, Binding Words: Conscience and Rhetoric in Hobbes, Hegel, and Heidegger,” H-Ideas, H-Net Reviews, January, 2007.
Selected Conference Presentations:
- “Arendtian Resources for Truth and Reconciliation,” Prairie Political Science Association conference, Banff (2017).
- “Reconciliation and the Fusion of Horizons,” Canadian Political Science Association conference, Calgary (2016).
- “Rethinking Sovereignty in First Nations and Canadian Crown Relations,” Canadian Political Science Association conference, Ottawa (2015).
- “Religious Pluralism and the Canadian Secular State,” Canadian Political Science Association conference, Edmonton (2012).
- “Aristotelian Practical Reason in Amartya Sen’s Idea of Justice,” Western Political Science Association, San Antonio(2011).
- “Daimon Appearances in Arendt’s Account of Action,” Western Political Science Association, Vancouver; Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago; New York State Political Science Association, New York; Canadian Political Science Association, Ottawa (2009).
- “Performative Self-Disclosure in Arendt’s Account of Action,” Canadian Political Science Association, Saskatoon (2007).
- “Aletheia and the Heideggerian Influence in Arendt,” Interdisciplinary Graduate Theory Colloquium, University of Alberta (2007).
- “Self-Disclosure and the State: Arendt’s Critique of Marx’s Socialized Humanity,” Rethinking Marxism, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2006).
- “Judging the Political Performance: Self-Disclosure and the Spectator in Hannah Arendt,” MLCS Declensions of the Self Conference, University of Alberta (2006).
- “Horkheimer and Adorno’s Dialectic of Enlightenment,” Talking Across Disciplines Colloquium, University of Alberta (2006).
- “Rationality and Language in Charles Taylor,” Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference, University of Ottawa (2006).
Dr. Kelly De Luca
Associate Professor

Office: CC 3031
Credentials: BA Hons, LL.B (University of Toronto), MA, M.Phil, PhD (Columbia University), of the Bar of Ontario
Areas of Expertise: Legal history, legal theory, constitutional law, international law
Dr. Monika Thakur
Assistant Professor

Email: [email protected]
Office: CC 3039
Website: https://m4monika.wordpress.com/
Education
PhD, International Relations (London School of Economics and Political Science/LSE)
MSc, International Relations (LSE)
BA Hons, Political Science (University of Toronto)
Areas of Expertise
International Relations, Comparative Politics, Critical Security Studies, decolonial approaches, Peace and Conflict Studies, the Global South, national security and intelligence
In-country Research and Work Experience:
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Jordan, Egypt, Myanmar, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Bangladesh, India, Nepal
Selected Publications
Book
Militias and the Challenges of Post-Conflict Peace: Silencing the Guns (co-authored with C. Alden, M. Arnold), (London: Zed Books/Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).
Articles and Book Chapters
“Cruelty and Violence in the Global South,” Global Studies Quarterly, 2, 2, 2022.
“Navigating Multiple Identities: Decentering International Relations,” International Studies Review, 23, 2, 2021.
“Transitional Justice in Chad.”, in Encyclopedia of Transitional Justice, Lavinia Stan and Nadya Nedelsky, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2021.
“Somalia-China Relations: China Claiming its Place as a Global Actor?,” in Emma Leonard and Gilbert Ramsay (eds.), Globalizing Somalia: Multilateral, International, and Transnational Repercussions of Conflict (New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014).
“Fragile States: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice,” Global Policy, 3, 3, September 2012.
“Building on Progress? Chinese Engagement in Ethiopia,” SAIIA Occasional Paper No. 38, July 2009.
“Demilitarizing Militias in the Kivus, eastern DR Congo,” African Security Review, 17, 1, 2008.
Selected Academic Conference Presentations
“Exclusion and Erasure of the Global South in Critical Security Studies” (to be presented, International Studies Association Annual Conference, March 2023, Montreal)
“Women and Violent Extremism in the Global South” (presented, International Studies Association Annual Conference, March 2022, online).
“Navigating Multiple Identities: The Self and Global IR” (International Studies Association Annual Conference, March 2020, Honolulu, USA). *Cancelled due to Covid-19*
“Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Paradigms: What IR Theory Can Learn from Area Studies” (International Studies Association Annual Conference, March 2019, Toronto, Canada).
“Women in Terrorist Organization: The Case of Boko Haram”; and “Rise of Violent Extremist in the Global South” (International Studies Association Annual Conference, April 2018, San Francisco, USA).
“Fragility and Resilience in the Global South” (International Studies Association Annual Conference, February 2017, Baltimore, USA).
“‘Post-Conflict’ Peacebuilding: Conceptual Discussion on Meaning and Practice” (International Studies Association Annual Conference, March 2016, Atlanta, USA).
“A Dialogue between African Area Studies and International Relations Theory” (International Studies Association Annual Conference, February 2015, New Orleans, USA).
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“With its location on a former residential school, I was able to focus my research on various aspects of cultural and identity politics. The dialogues on identity, nationalism, diaspora and reconciliation helped me come into terms with my own identities while teaching me to be a better advocate for various marginalized populations. The program equips you with a better understand of governmental and international relations which you can utilize to pursue careers in various professions.”
Bushra Asghar
Graduate of Political Science (2018), Former President of Algoma University Students Union

“I can’t imagine having gone elsewhere. It might sound cheesy, but this really is the best place to go to school! What they promise you – small class sizes, interactions with professors, personalized attention, and living in a friendly community – is all so true. After having gone here, I can safely say that I am better prepared going to UWO, and am ready for what the future holds. It really has been the best decision I have made.”
Meagan Delfre
BA, Political Science and Law and Justice

“Being from Northern Ontario I saw the need for change. Everyone who lives [here] recognizes that we need to take more leadership over our own destiny…if we don’t know the reality of what is happening to us, then we aren’t going to have good policy…that is why it is really important that we have awareness across Ontario about the importance of research.”
Dr. Gayle Broad
BA, Political Science and English and Film
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