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Associate Professor, Political Science

Jennifer Mustapha, PhD
My main task as a Liberal Arts professor is to help students build the tools they need to go out into the world as principled and thoughtful people. It all comes down to whether or not they have the critical thinking skills to question not only the world around them, but also to question themselves.

In studying politics, a lot of the questions we ask come back to the notion of the Good Life: What does it look like? How do we get there? Who is it for? It is a surprisingly central set of questions for any society, but one that contemporary political culture increasingly ignores as everyone clamours for clicks and votes, too often at the expense of truth and justice. Critical thinking skills have never been more important in this milieu, where we are constantly bombarded with information; where people are losing trust in their social, economic and political institutions; and where we are seeing a general decline in the quality of leadership at all levels of society. This is why young people need concrete skills to parse out the difference between facts and opinions, and to know the difference between a well-founded opinion and an indefensible one. And they need knowledge. Lots of it!

This is the recipe for young people to have the tools and fortitude to go forth as generally decent human beings- no matter what paths they choose or beliefs they hold. Huron has a really unique commitment to producing “Leaders with Heart,” and this motto aligns perfectly with my own beliefs about my role as an educator and the faith I have in my students that they will rise to this challenge in search of their Good Life.

Summary of Research:

  • International relations and security
  • The politics of counter-terrorism
  • Conceptions of citizenship and bordering practices
  • Critical approaches to state and non-state spaces
  • Gender approaches to IR
  • Pop Culture, media and politics
  • East and Southeast Asian regional politics
  • Global governance and international organization

VIEW DR. MUSTAPHA’S RESEARCH