Many congratulations to Seetal Sunga on the successful defence of her Ph.D. in Ethics and Public Affairs on September 16, 2021. 
Seetal has a long-standing commitment to justice relating to Indigenous peoples. She has been a lawyer since 1994 and has worked in a number of different locations, such as with inquiries and commissions including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, in a legal aid clinic serving Cree communities in Northern Ontario, and in the provincial public service of 2 provinces. She is currently a lawyer with the Department of Justice Canada.
Seetal joined the Ethics and Public Affairs program at Carleton University in the Fall of 2015, after completing a BA in Philosophy at the University of Ottawa, a Bachelor of Law at York University, and a Master of Law at Dalhousie University. Her thesis, titled The Ethical Obligation of the State to Hear and Address Indigenous Claims for Justice, has been nominated for a Senate Medal.
We asked Seetal to reflect on her time in the EPAF Ph.D. program, and here’s what she had to say:
What did your thesis/research include?
My work explores the ethical obligations of the state to hear and respond fully to Indigenous claims for justice. My dissertation project was an exercise in listening in itself, as I had the opportunity to hear what justice means directly from Indigenous advocates themselves. I examined commissions and inquiries as state mechanisms for listening. I argued for different strategic moves to be taken by individuals within institutional structures to shift oppressive relationships, for the essential moves the state must take to address structural oppression, and for new ways of thinking that will open up possibilities for addressing challenges common to Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous people.
What did you like most about your time in the EPAF Ph.D. program?
There was a high degree of collegiality and support, and I was able to pursue my area of interest. I found that there was a lot of encouragement from supervisors and program directors. I had a very clear objective and so I felt I could pursue my lines of inquiry.
Why did you decide to pursue this program?
A few different reasons coalesced into a strong desire to complete graduate work in the Ethics and Public Affairs Ph.D. program. I prefer interdisciplinary academic environments. I have always loved philosophy, but I have always wanted to apply my thinking through work in the field. I wanted to develop and formulate my thinking into a single piece of written work and I very much wanted training and institutional support to do qualitative research.
How do you think this program has helped you prepare for the world of work?
As a professional, I am already immersed in the world of work. However, my doctoral studies have provided me with a solid foundation for a different level of work. I hope the Ph.D. will lead to new opportunities.
Carleton’s graduate Ethics and Public Affairs (EPAF) programs were founded in 2015, and combine ethical analysis with social science to gain a comprehensive understanding of the options for solving particular public issues. Possible research topics are as varied as the expertise of Carleton faculty, ranging from the environment, gender and other social inequalities, multiculturalism, health, social and economic development, global inequality, and more. The program is not so much ‘applied ethics’ as it is a collaboration between philosophers who research public issues and social science and public policy specialists with interests and expertise in the values underlying those issues.