Muzik Val, PhD Student | Teaching Assistant
Val Muzik
PhD Student | Teaching Assistant
Department of Political Science
Area(s) of Interest:
Biography
Val Muzik is a PhD student with a specialization in International Relations as well as an international correspondent for Arctic-focused media outlet High North News and intern at think tank The Arctic Institute.
My research draws largely from critical international relations, cultural studies, and poststructuralism. Much of my research is concerned with the impacts of digital media and virtuality on international politics especially where this bears on security, and my current project traces the implications of this for the Arctic region, an area of rising geopolitical importance.
Dissertation: Insecurity in the global Arctic: Virtual international relations, the identity economy, and the construction of politics in the age of digital media (tentative title)
Supervisor: Dr. J. Marshall Beier
Funding and Awards:
- Harry Lyman Hooker Senior Fellowship, 2017-2021
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship, 2017
- Graduate Scholarship, 2016-2017
- SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master's (York), 2016 declined
- Political Science Scholarship Award, 2016
- York International Mobility Award, 2016
- Best 4000-Level Essay, 2015-2016 Academic Session, 2016
- Best 3000-Level Essay, 2015-2016 Academic Session, 2016
- JSR Political Science Award, 2015
Research Interests:
- Arctic Politics
- Virtual International Relations
- Communications
- Climate Change
Education
MA, International Relations (McMaster), 2017
- Supervisor: Dr. Robert O'Brien
- Major Research Paper: Fear and Descartes in the Arctic: Security, ontological paradox, and the discursive construction of the Canadian climatological problematique
BA (Hons.) summa cum laude, Political Science (York), 2016
Non-degree coursework:
Governance in the High North: Implications for Arctic private and public sector. (PhD course) Nord University, Bodø, Norway. April 15-20, 2018.
Migration and Securitization of Europe: Views from the Balkan Corridor. Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey. July 16-20, 2016.
Teaching
Teaching Assistant
- Fall 2017-Winter 2018 - POLSCI 2O06: Political Theory
- Winter 2017 - POLSCI 1AB3: Politics & Power in a Globalizing World
- Fall 2016 - POLSCI 1AA3: Government, Politics, and Power
Research
Journal Articles:
"The Model Arctic Council: Simulated negotiations as pedagogy and embodied diplomacy." The American Review of Canadian Studies 49:1 (under review, 2019), with Leah Sarson, Robert Comeau, Glenn Gambrell, Brandon Ray, and Leehi Yona.
Selected News Articles:
"Canadian Arctic sovereignty exercise Nunalivut 2018 begins." High North News. February 23, 2018.
"Mental health support for youth, by youth in Canadian Arctic." High North News. August 14, 2017.
"Program on Arctic science diplomacy develops youth leadership." High North News. June 30, 2017.
Conference Presentations:
"The in/security of amnesia: Virtual politics, identity, and the alt-right." Canadian Political Science Association Annual Conference, Regina, May 30-June 1 2018.
"The aesthetic of the bomb: Awe, terror, control, and numinous bliss in the age of the climatological and Trumpian sublimes." Popular Culture and World Politics v. 10, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK, November 23-25, 2017.
"Fear and Descartes in the Arctic: Security, ontological paradox, and the discursive construction of the Canadian climatological problematique." Association of Canadian Studies in the United States Conference, Las Vegas, NV, October 18-21, 2017.
"Gaming the Northwest Passage: Arctic narratives in board games and foreign policy." Popular Culture Association of Canada 2017 Conference, Niagara Falls, May 4-6, 2017.
"Do words speak louder than actions? Sovereignty theatre in Canada's Arctic policy." Mapping the Global Dimensions of Policy 6, McMaster University, Hamilton, February 6-7, 2017.
Panel Presentations and Public Talks:
Panelist, “Roundtable: Strengthening Canada-US Relations via the Model Arctic Council.” Association of Canadian Studies in the United States Conference, Las Vegas, NV, October 18-21, 2017.
Panelist, “Keys to Experiential Learning Success from the Model Arctic Council.” International Congress of Arctic Social Science IX, Umeå, Sweden, June 8-12, 2017.
Panelist, “Trump Election, Three Weeks Out: Now What?” McMaster University, Hamilton, November 30, 2016.