{"id":925,"date":"2021-11-12T10:46:45","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T15:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/?p=925"},"modified":"2025-10-29T16:13:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T20:13:31","slug":"congratulations-to-seetal-sunga-third-student-to-successfully-defend-ph-d-in-ethics-and-public-affairs-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/2021\/congratulations-to-seetal-sunga-third-student-to-successfully-defend-ph-d-in-ethics-and-public-affairs-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Congratulations EPAF Ph.D. Class of 2021 – Seetal Sunga"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Congratulations EPAF Ph.D. Class of 2021 – Seetal Sunga\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
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Many congratulations to Seetal Sunga on the successful defence of her Ph.D. in Ethics and Public Affairs on September 16, 2021.
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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. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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,<\/i> has been awarded with a Senate Medal<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We asked Seetal to reflect on her time in the EPAF Ph.D. program, and here\u2019s what she had to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did your thesis\/research include?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did you like most about your time in the EPAF Ph.D. program?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did you decide to pursue this program?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you think this program has helped you prepare for the world of work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A few messages to Seetal Sunga from her supervisors:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Christine Koggel, Associate Professor and Graduate Supervisor (Philosophy), Carleton University<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Congratulations Doctor Seetal Sunga! It has been an absolute pleasure to have worked with you from the beginning of your doctoral program right through to Co-Supervising your spectacular thesis, The Ethical Obligation of the State to Hear and Address Indigenous Claims for Justice<\/em>. At the core of your thesis are the interviews with a range of Indigenous voices on what justice means to them. These voices shape answers to your overarching question of what the state should do to address historic and ongoing injustices. The multiple and intersecting pieces of your thesis come together in a complex analysis of key concepts, of major state inquiries, and of what the state can and should do to address Indigenous claims for justice. The result cannot but be important and cutting-edge contributions to law, policy, moral and political theory, and to rethinking settler-Indigenous relations in Canada. I\u2019m so very pleased that you were awarded the well-deserved Senate Medal for Outstanding Graduate Work<\/strong>! I am excited to find out what great things you will go on to do with your PhD from the Ethics and Public Affairs program!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Kahente Horn-Miller, Associate Professor, School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies, Carleton University<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was a rewarding experience working with my colleague Christine Koggel as co-Supervisors on Seetal\u2019s doctoral thesis. Seetal brought a depth of knowledge and experience to her project that resulted in an exemplary study on how Canada addresses Indigenous claims to justice and assists in providing direction as we engage further in these issues. Congratulations Seetal on being awarded the Senate Medal! It is so very well deserved! I look forward to seeing what you do next!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":926,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1005,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925\/revisions\/1005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}