UNBC's Global Friday Speaker Series

Thank Dr. Kenyon for your wonderful talk today.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Jean-Christophe Boucher on November 7th. His talk entitled "Digital Echoes from the Kremlin: Russia’s Strategic Narratives and Great Power Competition in the Global Information Space" will dive into his areas of research.

Abstract: The contemporary information environment has become a key arena for great power competition, with authoritarian regimes such as Russia leveraging embassy networks to advance their strategic narratives globally. The war in Ukraine has brought the information space to the forefront of great power rivalry, underscoring the strategic importance of shaping digital narratives to support national interests and challenge adversaries. Under Putin, Russia has increasingly used the social media presence of its embassies, particularly on platforms such as Telegram, META, and X/Twitter, to influence international perceptions and legitimize its policies. This paper examines how Russian embassies structure and disseminate strategic narratives across the digital sphere. Far from being ad hoc, these efforts are carefully coordinated to align with broader foreign policy objectives. Drawing on our ‘circle of interest-action’ framework, we show that embassies serve as key nodes in Russia’s global communication strategy, shaping the information environment to advance its geopolitical goals. To investigate these dynamics, we collected over 300,000 social media posts by Russian embassies worldwide since 2020. Using large language models (LLMs) and machine learning techniques, we systematically analyze these narratives to understand how Russia seeks to influence the global information space. Our findings contribute to research on strategic narratives, information competition, and international security in the digital age.

Speaker's Bio: Jean-Christophe Boucher is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Calgary and a Fulbright Scholar, specializing in civil-military relations, international security, and data science. He also serves as a Special Advisor and Deputy Director – Data Science in the Rapid Response Mechanism at Global Affairs Canada, where he focuses on detecting and analysing foreign information manipulation targeting democracies. His work bridges social sciences, computational methods, and defence policy, with a particular emphasis on how digital platforms shape political attitudes and influence operations. He co-directs the Canadian Defence and Security Network (CDSN) and leads several funded projects that apply machine learning and network analysis to the study of political communication.

Room: 7-152 or online on Teams
Teams Link: f856c5f4-881f-4025-890c-7cbc83772ec5@a7ee9abb-4885-492e-b331-a6fa051a39bb" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/f856c5f4-881f-4025-890c-7cbc83772ec5@a7ee9abb-4885-492e-b331-a6fa051a39bb
Meeting ID: 223 652 711 526
Passcode: 3QC3Wj2T

Global Friday gratefully acknowledges funding from the Faculty of Indigenous Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities.

Thank you Dr. Jennifer Allan for your great talk today.

Please join us next week on October 24th to hear a talk presented by Dr. Kristi Kenyon.

Monuments as Imperfect Human Rights Narrators: A Pedagogical Exploration

Abstract: Monuments recount particular historical and human rights narratives in our parks and on our street corners. And yet, as “we pass them every day,” they can fade into the background of our day to day lives. Contextualized by a growing public conversation around the appropriateness and representativeness of monuments, including the toppling of a prominent monument of Queen Victoria in front of the Manitoba Legislature on Canada Day 2021, I will discuss an assignment using monuments in the city of Winnipeg to spark discussion around which stories are told/untold, and how monuments reflect power and dominant narratives. With two colleagues, I used the assignment in 13 sections of a second year human rights course at the University of Winnipeg over a period of two years, with a survey administered before and after the assignment. We found that the assignment shifted student perspectives on their local built environment, increasing curiosity and interrogation of statues, landmarks and street names they had taken as given. By deconstructing narratives within the classroom through the examination of local monuments (and their destruction), students experienced how knowledge and narratives can be altered and restructured by real everyday people like themselves.

Speaker's Bio: Dr Kristi Kenyon is an Associate Professor and Program Director in the University of Winnipeg's Human Rights Program. She has a strong interest in participatory, experiential and interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning in human rights including exploring ways to bring human rights concepts that can seem distant or theoretical "home" to students in her classroom. Dr. Kenyon has been an Executive Member of the Human Rights Section of the International Studies Association since 2020, served two terms on the City of Winnipeg's Human Rights Committee, and is currently the sole Canadian representative on the Human Rights Cities Alliance (North America) steering committee. She served as the 2024-2025 Teaching and Learning Section head for the Canadian Political Science Association and, as co-Editor of the Journal of Human Rights Practice, is editing a forthcoming special collection on Activist Pedagogies in Human Rights Education.

Room: 7-152 or online on Team
Teams Link: 1f64fdfb-4043-4176-9518-cc479492055b@a7ee9abb-4885-492e-b331-a6fa051a39bb" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/1f64fdfb-4043-4176-9518-cc479492055b@a7ee9abb-4885-492e-b331-a6fa051a39bb
Meeting ID: 231 374 742 157 0
Passcode: 2i9sA7d5

Global Friday gratefully acknowledges funding from the Faculty of Indigenous Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities.

Thank you, Dr. Crystal Fraser for your wonderful talk today. If you want more or wish to check out her new book please attend the book launch happening tonight at Books and Company at 7:00pm.

The next Global Friday talk takes place on Friday October 17th. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Jennifer Allan. A UNBC alumni, Dr. Allan is now a senior lecturer in International Relations at Cardiff UNBC.

Global Friday Presents
Dr. Jennifer Allan
Senior Lecturer in International Relations
Cardiff University
UNBC Alumni, BA in International Studies and Economics

Abstract
Global climate governance has gone mega. The annual meetings (called COPs) are the largest events convened by the United Nations. It’s unclear why so many people attend. In 2015, around 25,000 people watched countries adopt a new treaty. With the treaty in place, COPs focus on implementation and detailed rulemaking, which usually attract less attention. Yet, over 80,000 attended in Dubai (2023) and 60,000 in Baku (2024). A similar situation is expected in Belem, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. This talk will introduce the MegaCOP and the
unique political dynamics it generates that encourage shallow participation: many attend, few can meaningfully participate, and inequities continue to grow.

Speaker's Bio
In the context of global environmental politics, my research explores environmental and social movements, and how global rules are made and remade. My work engages with a wide range of environmental issues, including climate change, biodiversity, forest protection, and chemical and wastes management. I received my PhD from the University of British Columbia in May 2017.
Through contributing to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin – the de facto record of global environmental negotiations, I've attended roughly 40 UN conferences where states negotiate the rules of global climate governance, as well as chemicals and wastes management, and have published over 100 Bulletins with my ENB colleagues. I edit a yearly round of up the State of Global Environmental Governance for ENB. I also work with a range of international and UK-based NGOs on climate change and COP reform campaigns.

Room: 7-152 or online on Teams
Registration: 005d155c-8405-4b0a-a2c8-c20aab5f96cd@a7ee9abb-4885-492e-b331-a6fa051a39bb" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/005d155c-8405-4b0a-a2c8-c20aab5f96cd@a7ee9abb-4885-492e-b331-a6fa051a39bb
Meeting ID: 285 628 087 527 3
Passcode: To9Yo7Qj

Global Friday gratefully acknowledges funding from the Faculty of Indigenous Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities.

Thank you Meredith Preston McGhie for your talk today.

Please join us next week on October 3 for a presentation from Dr. Crystal Fraser. Their talk will not be recorded.

By Strength, We Are Still Here: Truth, Reconciliation, and the Path Forward

Abstract: Drawing from her awards-winning book By Strength, We Are Still Here: Indigenous Peoples and Indian Residential Schooling in Inuvik, Northwest Territories (University of Manitoba Press, 2024), Dr. Crystal Gail Fraser will explore the histories and legacies of Indian Residential and Day Schools in northern Canada. Situating community voices, oral histories, and archival sources at the center of her research, Dr. Fraser examines how policies of colonization and assimilation shaped everyday life in the North—and how Indigenous Peoples resisted, adapted, and survived. Her talk highlights the methodological, ethical, and relational dimensions of working with Survivors, while also considering what these histories mean for truth, reconciliation, and the future of Indigenous–settler relations.

Speaker's Bio: Dr. Crystal Gail Fraser is Gwichyà Gwich’in and of Scottish/English heritage, originally from Inuvik and Dachan Choo Gèhnjik in the Northwest Territories. She is an Associate Professor of History and Indigenous Studies at the University of Alberta and a leading voice on the history of residential and day schools, colonialism, and Indigenous-settler relations in Canada.
Her awards-winning first book, By Strength, We Are Still Here: Indigenous Peoples and Indian Residential Schooling in Inuvik, Northwest Territories (University of Manitoba Press, 2024), has been recognized with multiple national prizes, including the Canadian Historical Association’s Best Scholarly Book in Canadian History and the Clio Prize for the North and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Best First Book prize. She is also the co-author of the forthcoming book Talk Treaty to Me: Understanding the Basics of Treaties and Land in Canada (HarperCollins, 2025).
Dr. Fraser has served on the Governing Circle of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and was a founding member of the National Advisory Committee on Residential Schools Missing Children and Unmarked Burials. She is a trusted collaborator with Indigenous governments and Survivors, and is widely recognized for her ability to translate complex histories into accessible and meaningful lessons for organizations beginning their reconciliation journeys.

Room: 7-152 or online on Teams
Teams Link: 8245c419-fa60-457b-8305-da6288c68be8@a7ee9abb-4885-492e-b331-a6fa051a39bb" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/8245c419-fa60-457b-8305-da6288c68be8@a7ee9abb-4885-492e-b331-a6fa051a39bb
Meeting ID: 211 526 552 481 9
Passcode: ZS7FB3Hu

Global Friday gratefully acknowledges funding from the Faculty of Indigenous Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities

We open this semester's Global Friday Speaker Series with a joint talk with the Canadian International Council's Prince George Branch. Please join us in welcoming Meredith Preston McGhie on September 26th. The talk will begin at 12:00pm in room 7-152 or if you are unable to join in person this will be live streamed through Teams. Information below.

Global Friday Presents
Meredith Preston McGhie
Secretary General
Global Centre for Pluralism

Abstract
Sudan’s humanitarian and protection crisis is the worst in the world. The scale of the crisis poses risks stunning us into inaction against the scale of the catastrophe. Sudan is not only a battlefield – it has a deep history and capacity for leadership and dialogue. Civilians are working to bridge divides, to find spaces to engage across the extreme polarisation and to counteract the militarization of the two sides perpetuating this war.
The failure of the international community to come behind a real strategy for peace and a return to democratic civilian rule in Sudan is emblematic of the current fractures of the international system. But Sudan matters – it matters more than “just” as a crisis of violence of historic proportions – it is a war against democracy. The work of building a real peace process for Sudan is starting, with the leadership of Sudanese themselves, and Canada should be more involved.
The Global Centre for Pluralism has been supporting these spaces for dialogue – rooted in the conviction that pluralist approaches, embracing Sudan’s complexity and diversity, is necessary for a peace process and a sustained end to the violence and democratic transition.
With her extensive background in mediation in peace processes around the world and her current work leading the Global Centre for Pluralism, Meredith will discuss what it means to talk amid this war and reflect on the work of civilian leaders working to find spaces for connection and a path to peace.
As polarization and anxiety continue to rise, pluralism asks us to try to see our differences in a different light, as something with constructive potential, that can help us respond to the challenges we see in our communities, in our societies, and around the world. This is essential for civilian leadership for peace in Sudan, and for our own cohesion and connection in Canada.

Speaker's Bio
Meredith Preston McGhie is the Secretary General for the Global Centre for Pluralism. She leads the Centre in their work to advance action for belonging globally, through education, governance and peace and conflict initiatives. A peacemaker by background, Meredith previously served as the Africa Regional Director with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, including as an advisor to Kofi Annan during the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation. Through more than 20 years across the African continent, she helped to establish and facilitate peace processes in Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan and elsewhere. She contributes to policy discussions on peacemaking globally, including teaching on inclusion and peace process design. Meredith began her career working with the Naga in North East India and ethnic minorities in Myanmar.

Room: 7-152 or online on Teams
Teams Link: 706ca9d7-0ffd-42d8-afd5-d019db7b543e@a7ee9abb-4885-492e-b331-a6fa051a39bb" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/706ca9d7-0ffd-42d8-afd5-d019db7b543e@a7ee9abb-4885-492e-b331-a6fa051a39bb
Meeting ID: 253 409 133 464 7
Passcode: hn37go7g

Global Friday gratefully acknowledges funding from the Faculty of Indigenous Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities.