�Ӱ�ԭ��’s journalism program celebrated the resurgence of “zines” at an event showcasing examples of the self-published, homemade mini magazines produced by �Ӱ�ԭ�� students.

Congratulations to the four FPGA educators who have received 2026 �Ӱ�ԭ�� Achievement Awards, administered by the Office of the Vice-President (Research, Innovation and International) as well as the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic). 

“We are proud and grateful to our colleagues for their dedication to meaningful research and outstanding teaching,” said Interim Dean Mary Francoli. “Their work exemplifies the role of FPGA in generating knowledge that matters and in preparing students to address complex challenges facing communities in Canada and around the world.” 

2026 Achievement Award recipients 

Research Achievement Award 

William Walters��(Political Science)����

Chancellor’s Professor William Walters is a globally recognized expert in the areas of borders and migration, Foucault studies, international political sociology and critical security research. In 2023 and 2024, he was listed as a top 2% most-cited scientist in the world by Elsevier/Stanford’s authoritative ranking. Throughout the past decade, he played a leading role in the development of secrecy studies as a new interdisciplinary field. Prof. Walters’ contributions have been recognized with a visiting professorship in the UK and a research post at the prestigious Institute for Advanced Studies in Amsterdam. His academic works have been translated on 17 occasions into nine different languages.  

Teaching Award 

Peter Andree��(Political Science)��

Enhanced mindfulness enables students to respond to ecological challenges with greater clarity, compassion, confidence and courage. Mindfulness offers a response to growing eco-anxiety, strategic insight, career-enhancing skills and a deeper connection with the more-than-human. This project will offer in-class mindfulness training for ecopolitics students. It will also stimulate further discussion among post-secondary educators and support staff at �Ӱ�ԭ��, in Ottawa and beyond, about how action on ecopolitical issues can benefit from the cultivation of mindfulness.   

Professional Achievement Award 

Katie Graham��(Journalism and Communication)��

Katie creates student-focused learning environments that foster autonomy and a sense of belonging. Through flipped classrooms, experiential learning, and alternative grading, she shifts focus from evaluation to experimentation. Students are encouraged to take creative risks in a supportive environment, becoming confident storytellers and critical creators. Beyond the classroom, Katie builds community and collaboration among students in the Media Production and Design program, extending learning through mentorship and shared creative practice.  

Contract Instructor Teaching Award 

Sujoy Chatterjee (Public Policy and Administration)����

While formally trained in law, Sujoy is fascinated by the moral philosophy behind public policy, a passion he actively explores with his students. Treating the classroom as a professional training ground, he coaches students to bridge the gap between abstract ethical theory and real-world implementation. His mentorship goes beyond traditional instruction, guiding aspiring leaders to build the critical judgment and practical skills needed to ethically shape tomorrow’s technology and governance.  

At a moment when executive authority is under renewed scrutiny, Philippe Lagassé is tracing the roots and limits of supreme military command. His work connects centuries-old constitutional ideas to modern debates on defence spending, procurement, and democratic accountability.

What are you focused on these days?

My academic research is focused on the history of supreme military command authority and contemporary powers of Commanders-in-Chief in liberal democracies. This is part of a new Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. I’m leading a multidisciplinary team of political scientists, legal scholars, and historians examining how supreme military command authority has evolved over time and what powers are considered inherent in the office of Commanders-in-Chief today.

In addition to my academic work, I write two newsletters, one on Canadian defence policy and procurement, called Debating Canadian Defence, and the other on the Westminster system, called In Defence of Westminster. The newsletters are more targeted at practitioners and focused on contributing to public debate.

Why is this work important right now?

As we’re seeing with the second Trump presidency, the powers of Commanders-in-Chief are considerable. Chief executives are expected to use these powers, and the discretion they provide, to protect national security. But these powers can also be abused. Our project on Commanders-in-Chief became especially important after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a President enjoys immunity when acting in their official capacity. Since the Commander-in-Chief is an official capacity, the stakes involved with uses and abuses of these powers became even greater.

I use my Debating Canadian Defence newsletter to critically analyse, and offer sardonic takes on, defence policy and procurement at a time when these issues are becoming increasingly important in Canada. Prime Minister Carney has outlined a significant increase in defence spending and the government is looking to speed up the acquisition of military capabilities, notably through the establishment of a Defence Investment Agency. Canada is also increasing military spending by tens of billions. My aim is to put these developments in context and make sure that readers appreciate some of the trade-offs Canada is facing.

What is a question you hope to answer with your research?

Our project on supreme military command authority aims to understand what powers are inherent in offices of Commander-in-Chief and similar positions in liberal democracies today. To do that, we’re going all the way back to the Roman Republic to look at the original concept of supreme command authority, imperium, and tracing how it evolved over time until the present. We want to see how these authorities have expanded or contracted, and we want to compare how the powers of Commanders-in-Chief vary between countries. Basically, we want to know what powers are viewed as essential to these offices and under what conditions they are allowed to act independently of legislatures and with deference from the courts. We want to understand the boundaries that Commanders-in-Chief should operate under in liberal democracies today.

On the defence procurement side, I’m aiming to inform people about why it’s so hard to buy military capabilities, even when there’s a push to simplify processes. I also try to show why it will be hard for Canada to distance itself from the United States militarily, and what it will actually take to build up a vibrant defence industrial base.

What is something people would be surprised to learn?

I’ve been asked how I came to research two fairly distinct subjects, defence policy and constitutional studies. I originally began working on the Westminster system as part of a project on Canadian civil-military relations. I saw that one could only understand the constitutional and legal frameworks behind Canadian civil-military relations by studying the Crown, Cabinet, and Parliament. My current research on supreme military command authority extends that thinking to liberal democratic regimes beyond those that are part of the Westminster system. The project is animated by the idea that military and political authorities are closely connected and that we can understand a lot about constitutional systems by studying how they empower and constrain the use of armed force.

What’s the biggest misconception about your research area?

Studying defence policy and procurement doesn’t necessarily involve focusing on specific military capabilities or equipment. Defence policy and procurement are more about public administration and governance than military operations and tactics. It’s not that different from studying, say, health policy. Those who research health policy aren’t focused on medicine per se. Like students of defence policy and procurement, they’re often more focused on things like process and organizational structures.

Any new projects you’re excited about?

Right now, I’m excited about a book I’m co-authoring with Emmett Macfarlane from University of Waterloo on Canada’s unwritten constitution. We’re nearly done and the book feels like the culmination of many years of research on the subject for me.

What’s your favourite class to teach?

My class on Canadian government is definitely my favourite. I love discussing the finer points of our system of government and why it matters for students who are embarking on careers in the public service.

Tracey P. Lauriault, Associate Professor, Critical Media and Big Data, School of Journalism and Communication, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, has been appointed as a member of the Expert Panel on the State of Citizen Science in Canada at the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA).

The Faculty of Public and Global Affairs will host The Honourable Chrystia Freeland for the 2026 Dick, Ruth, and Judy Bell Lecture on May 6.

Freeland served as a Member of Parliament from 2013 to 2026 and held several of Canada’s most senior cabinet roles, including Minister of Finance, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of International Trade. As Finance Minister, she guided Canada’s economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic and played a key role in the international response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She also led major international negotiations, including the renegotiation of NAFTA and the Canada–EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

Freeland currently serves as Economic Advisor to the President of Ukraine and is the incoming Chief Executive Officer of the Rhodes Trust.

The Dick, Ruth, and Judy Bell Lecture honours individuals who have made significant contributions to the political and public life of Canada and brings leading voices in politics and public service to �Ӱ�ԭ�� University.

Alexander McClelland, professor in the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, has received a Team Grant worth $982,541 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to create a national network of partners “to strengthen Canada’s response to HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs).” 

The observatory will work directly with groups representing sex workers, migrants, people who use drugs, and those living with HIV, along with researchers, legal experts, and public health practitioners. The overall team is led by community organizations including the HIV Legal Network, Butterfly: Asian Migrant Sex Worker Network, Community Alliance for Accessible Treatment, HIV and AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario – HALCO, Maggie’s Toronto Sex Worker Action Project, Stella, l’amie de Maimie, and the Oasis Program at Ottawa’s Somerset West Community Health Center, among others. 

“Our Observatory draws together academic expertise with the expertise of lived experience,” wrote McClelland. “The justification for this work is clear. Public health surveillance plays a critical role in preventing HIV and STBBI transmission, yet trust in these systems is fragile. Concerns about consent, privacy, and data use persist, particularly among marginalized communities who face structural inequities, stigma, and criminalization.” 

The key outcomes for the project include: 

• Improving health equity by building trust and collaboration between marginalized groups and public health.��

• Strengthening relationships between public health and communities through ongoing dialogue and shared decision-making.��
• Expanding knowledge so communities can more confidently navigate and influence public health policy.��

In her graduate course Global Social Policy in the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Professor Lama Mourad offers a hands-on experience in international negotiation on an issue of global importance to social policy.  

Traditionally, this involved sending students off with an assigned role to do some research and then return with talking points that formed the basis of their negotiations with their peers. But there was something missing in that approach. 

“It’s relatively static: the information they come in with is the information that they have,” she explains. “I started thinking about how I could integrate AI into the classroom so there would be ongoing learning and feedback throughout the simulation process.” 

She created Protocol 97, a diplomatic simulation platform that immersed students in the 1997 Ottawa Treaty negotiations, which produced a ban on anti-personnel landmines.  

The platform includes different stakeholders (some human, some AI-generated), rapid scenario testing, counter-argument generation, and reflective prompts—all supported by the artificial intelligence model Claude. 

Mourad’s AI-assisted simulation earned her a 2025-26 Future Learning Innovation Fellowship from �Ӱ�ԭ��’s Teaching and Learning Services. The fellowship supports instructors who are “advancing innovative teaching and learning practices.” 

After piloting the simulation last summer, Mourad was encouraged by the student feedback. 

“Students in the summer pilot unanimously felt that it improved their understanding of the Ottawa Treaty. I think one of the things that was really interesting is that a lot of them really felt that the AI sped up the pace of negotiation and forced them to adapt to shifting positions much more quickly,” explains Mourad, who created a new simulation for the winter term. “Many of them highlighted that it felt more like real world negotiations. I also believe it helped them understand more clearly the positions of other stakeholders, including those not formally presented by groups in the classroom.” 

Mourad has been an early adopter of artificial intelligence in the classroom, and she encourages her colleagues to consider it, as well. 

The FPGA Excellence Awards highlight the talented and dedicated faculty, contract instructors, and staff in the Faculty of Public and Global Affairs.��

We are now accepting applications for the��2026��FPGA Excellence Awards��in the following categories:����

• Equity and Inclusion Excellence Award
• FPGA Community Engagement Excellence Award
• Public Commentary Excellence Award
• Research Excellence Award
• Staff Excellence Award
• Teaching Excellence Awards

All awards are decided by separate committees formed each year for each award and chaired by an Associate Dean. The awards will be presented at the FPGA Excellence Celebration on May 14, 2026. 

The application deadline for completed application packages is��March 18, 2026.��

Elly Alboim was like the Hollywood casting version of the crusty news editor with a heart of gold.

And across close to five decades as a journalist with the CBC and a journalism professor at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, he was a no-nonsense mentor to generations of young journalists.

Alboim died of heart failure on Saturday at the age of 78.

As global displacement reaches record levels and refugee support declines, the system is at a critical crossroads. Led from �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, LERRN is working with displaced communities to build a more inclusive and accountable refugee response.