Political ScienceNEWS - Dalhousie University

PoliticalScienceNEWSSPRING 2006Interview with Kristin GoodNUMBER 15INSIDEInterviews with KristinGood and Karen WattsNew Issue of The PodiumFaculty NewsBooks by Dal FacultyHonours Essays, Spring2006Graduate Society of PoliticalScienceSeminar SeriesThe National GraduateStudent SymposiumNews from the graduateprogrammeModel United Nations inOttawaNews from AlumniPrizes: Spring 2006News from the Centre forForeign Policy StudiesPolitical Science Newsis published periodically by theDepartment of Political Science.Made possible in part with supportfrom the Office of Alumni Relationsthrough national partnerships withMeloche Monnex, MBNA Canada andManulife Financial.www.politicalscience.dal.caHow did you become interestedin political science?I graduated from the University ofManitoba with a specialization inCanadian politics. I didn’t takepolitical science in my first year though- I took other classes that I didn’t findparticularly interesting. It wasn’t until Itook a summer class in political sciencethat I discovered what I wanted to majorin.So you decided then on a careerin political science?Well, not immediately. In fact likemany other students I was planningat first to go on to Law school. In myfourth year of university I realizedI didn’t want to do that. But I wasstill considering other options. Aftergraduating I spent a year at theUniversity of Iceland studying Icelandic.The Ministry of Culture and Educationin Reykjavik gives scholarships each yearto two North American students in thisprogramme. My family on my mother’sside is from Iceland - they settled in acommunity north of Gimli.It was after that experience thatI returned to the University ofManitoba for my MA. Geoff Lambertwas particularly influential in mystudies there, both undergraduate andgraduate and as my thesis supervisor. Ialso became very interested in otherliteratures as ways of understandingCanadian politics. For example, Imade use of the international relationsliterature on sovereigntyas one of the bases formy thesis on Canadianconstitutionalism.Did this lead to yourinterest in urbanissues?That arose more aftermoving to Toronto forKristin Goodmy doctoral programme.While I was taking thecore Canadian class there I realized thatthere was real lack of attention to thestudy of politics and governance at theurban level. It was also at that time thatI became more intrigued with issuesof race relations and multiculturalism,and the ways in which these issueshave a very specific and uneven spatialdimension in Canada. So it was reallythese questions that increasingly drewme into thinking about city politics.The shift from Winnipeg to Torontowas also a big factor – I’m thinking ofthe differences in size and diversitybetween the two cities, and in thelevels of engagement of people withcity issues. Among the professors there,Richard Simeon encouraged me topursue my growing urban interests, andlater my dissertation supervisor RichardStren was a major influence.www.dal.ca/alumnicontinued . . ./

Graduate Societyof PoliticalScienceBy Alex WilnerThe DalhousieGraduate Societyof Political Science(DGSPS) is astudent-run societythat supportsthe activitiesand interestsAlex Wilnerof DalhousieUniversity’s political sciencegraduate students.Our Society has five overarchingobjectives:Interview with Kristin continued. . .How did the research develop,and where will it go in the future?I got the main idea for my dissertationresearch on cities during the Universityof Toronto first-year doctoral class onCanadian politics. However it was inthe following year, in the comparativecore class, that I developed a longterm interest in the importance ofcomparison as a way of studyingCanadian and city politics. Even if youare concentrating on a single countryor a single city, comparisons revealimportant things about your focus ofenquiry. This perspective has continuedto shape my research interests incities. I also found the literature oncomparative politics a valuable meansof getting into important theoreticaldebates in the field, probably more sothan the literature on Canadian politics.- to enhance the academicexperience of political sciencegraduate students- to foster professional, academic,and social exchange amongstudents of political science- to act as a liaison between theDepartment of Political Science,the Centre for Foreign PolicyStudies, and political sciencegraduate students;- to promote political awarenessboth on campus and within thebroader community of Halifax- and, to have fun!Why do you find urban politicsand issues so fascinating?We have held many events sinceSeptember, including varioussocial gatherings betweenSociety members and faculty. Avery successful Graduate StudentSymposium on internationalsecurity themes was held March24-26 (see the separate reporton this).Why do you think they do this?The Society hosted an AllCandidates Debate for theHalifax riding in the federalelection campaign in January.The event attracted over 300participants from the universityand the Halifax community andthe media.Unfortunately the creativity andingenuity of urban governments is oftenneglected. These governments havebeen the most important innovators inmulticultural policies. Municipalitiesare often described as just the creaturesof provinces – but they are much morethan that. Many of the activities theyengage in are not specifically mandatedby provincial governments. In practicemany municipalities go beyond theirformally defined roles, even though ofcourse they are constrained in terms ofrevenues.Policy challenges, as in themulticulturalism area, are immediateat the local level. Leadership at urbanlevels is an important factor. So are thekinds of governance arrangements thatexist, and the various public-privatecoalitions that have emerged at locallevels. In some cases, these coalitionschallenge upper levels of governmentby advocating a ‘new deal’ – so theiractivities have profound implications forthe system as a whole.This has all been very evident inToronto, where the coalition pressingfor innovative multiculturalism policydevelopment has been linked with thecoalitions pushing for a new deal forToronto generally.Congratulations, by the way, onthe awards you have alreadyreceived for this research.Thank you! Yes - I was very pleasedthat my dissertation proposal won the2004 Byran Jackson Ethnic and RacialPolitics Dissertation Award, awardedby the Urban Politics Section of theAmerican Political Science Association.In 2005 the Urban Affairs Association inthe US presented me with its EmergingScholar Award.So after Winnipeg and Toronto, asecond move east brought you toHalifax.I wasn’t planning to leave Torontoso early, but I could not resist theopportunity of applying for this dreamjob at Dalhousie. The description ofthe position was a perfect match withmy own research and teaching interests.I didn’t know Halifax before I camehere – and since I have spent this yearfinishing the dissertation I have not hadmuch chance to get to know the city!But I do very much like Halifax and itsdowntown area, its character, beauty,the ocean, and the friendliness of thepeople. The word that most comes tomind is that it is an easy city - it’s easyto get places, to move around, do things.And after the dissertation?I’m planning to develop it into a book,and work on some articles. And Iwould like to bring a comparative andinternational slant to my research bystudying some of the world’s major citieson these questions, such as Toronto,London, Paris, New York and Miami. Inthese large cities the central challengeis how to accommodate large influxesof immigrants. Over the next few yearsI want to look more deeply into howCanada’s slow growth cities like Halifaxand Winnipeg could attract and retainimmigrants. I am also planning researchin the area of globalization and thehealth of Canadians as part of a projectfunded by the Canadian Institute ofHealth Research.Thanks for this, Kristin, and welcome to theDal political science community.

Interview with Karen WattsKaren, welcome to thedepartment! Could you tell usfirst about your life and work inIndia, and your decision to cometo Canada?I was born and spent my childhood inBangalore. This is now a big, bustlingcity. It’s the centre of the IndianInformation Technology industry – theSilicon Valley of India. But when I wasgrowing up it was much quieter. Itwas a place where many retired peoplelived because of its climate and relaxedlifestyle. In fact it was known then asthe “pensioners’ paradise”. All that haschanged of course with the rise of the ITindustry.Are there any similarities withHalifax?Well, in some ways Halifax reminds meof Bangalore. It is still a more laid backcity than places like Toronto or Mumbai.Some of the architecture is old andbeautiful, just as in Bangalore, whichhistorically was one of the cantonmentsof the British East India Company.What were your workexperiences there?My experiences were all with softwaredevelopment companies. I was oneof the first employees of Tata Elxsi, amajor multinational company which ispart of the US 17.6 Billion Tata groupof companies. I went there just aftergraduating with my BA and businessdiploma. When I left the company Iwas executive secretary to the chief ofResearch and Development.What next?I left to join another company inthe area, also in the area of softwaredevelopment. I was Officer in Chargeof the company. A lot of the workinvolved the recruitment of IT staff towork in the Gulf region. My husband,Philip, was working at that time inthe hotel industry. It was while Iwas working there that we decidedto immigrate to Canada. It took justover two years for the applications andpaperwork to be processed.Was it an easy decision to make?Looking back, the main reasons wereto do with our children. We thoughtthey would have a better future andmore options growing up in Canada.Amber is now 9, nearly 10, and Jason is7. We arrived at the end of 2003 andfortunately missed Juan! I knew thatthe Canadian winter would be cold, butI was not expecting anything like theblizzard we had in February 2004.So what brought you toDalhousie?I applied for a position as educationassistant in the Department ofPsychiatry. I began work there inSeptember 2004. I discovered thatI enjoyed working in a universitysetting. I had already decided thatI was not interested any more inworking in the business world. Myjob in Psychiatry was working withthe medical professionals teachingin the undergraduate and graduateprogrammes, and also with the researchfellows and with continuing education.This was a term position and would haveended in October 2005, but before thenI heard about the vacancy in PoliticalScience and put in an application. Ibegan working in the department inAugust.What do you think of thedepartment so far? Are youenjoying being the AdministrativeSecretary?Well, it has been a challenge andquite daunting at first as there is somuch to learn. It has been a biglearning experience. I really enjoy theatmosphere of the department and theuniversity - especially interacting withthe students. That is my favorite part ofthe job.When you were working inIT companies you probablydid not have much free time.What do you enjoy doing whenyou are not in the office?Since I came here, I’m trying myhand at gardening. I’ve discoveredthat gardening in Canada iscompletely different from gardeningin India. In India you just throwseeds into the ground, wateredand thenwatchedthemgrow! Hereyou haveto workhard andlearn a lotabout thedifferentsoil mixes,flowers andvegetables.We recently Karen Wattsbought ahouse in Dartmouth and it has beenexciting seeing the plants that werealready there starting to grow. I alsolove to cook and have been findingout about Canadian cooking andtrying my hand at BBQs and baking.Thank you for sharing your thoughtswith the Newsletter.