Graduate Students 2010-2011
Ashley Black, MA Candidate
I was born and raised in Penticton, B.C. and completed my BA in International Relations at UBCO in 2008. I first developed an interest in Latin America as an undergraduate, but fell in love with the region during 6 months spent traveling Central America after graduation. My research looks broadly at the many interactions between the United States and Latin America, focusing on questions of citizenship, identity, and transnationalism, and the ways in which international relations are reflected in society and culture. My current Master's thesis explores the involvement of Puerto Rican soldiers in the Vietnam War, examining the relationship between military conscription, citizenship, and national identity.
Hernan Moreano, PhD Candidate
I am interested in the international relations and national security studies. I have been interested in studying the evolution of foreign policy and defense agendas in Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and the United States. From the beginning of Plan Colombia in the year 2000 and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, every country has had to change its own definitions of threats. Therefore, my research has been about the current situation of foreign policy and security affairs in the Andean region after this critical juncture. I have taught at FLACSO, UIDE, IES Abroad, the National War College, and the National Intelligence College about the political economy of illegal drugs in the Andean region. I hold a BA in Journalism from the Universidad Central de Ecuador and an MA from the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO-Ecuador)
Claudia Donoso, PhD Candidate
My dissertation research topic is Conflict prevention and human security approaches in Ecuadorian borders: Discourses and practices. I am interested in the question: Does human security discourse at the Ecuadorian borders implement public policy with a focus on its citizens or a focus on its national interests? I examine how National Security views accept the fact of a permanent state of war where the state's own interests are seen as the main issues for international relations. Thus, not enough attention is given to the well-being of citizens. In contrast, human security can be defined as an instrument of conflict prevention in developing countries where public policy is directed at the good of the people.
Julian Esteban Torres, PhD student
MA University of New Hampshire
Research: political science; Colombian violentology; and all angles of the current Colombian conflict
Last reviewed 
3/21/2012 2:31:41 PM
