Peter Hamilton is a recipient of a 2021 Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement was on the FPA Dean’s Honours List 2019-2020.
Peter Hamilton
The Bachelor of Global and International Studies (BGInS) program has had significant impact on my personal learning and professional development. On top of the foundational knowledge I gained from taking the core courses and specialization in Global Politics, I also developed a proficiency in French, which I am continuing to build upon, as well as quantitative and qualitative research skills that are critical to the studies of political science and international relations.
Two notable experiences I had during my time at Carleton were e-volunteering on a research team and participating as a contributing writer for a student-launched public policy journal and website, Kroeger Policy Review.
On the research team, my peers and I were guided through a project where we were networking internationally with nongovernmental organizations, as well as conducting and analyzing interviews in order to consolidate our findings in a final report and presentation. This project fulfilled my International Experience Requirement (IER) in the BGInS curriculum, which is a great asset of the program.
During my time with Kroeger Policy Review, I gained experience with the publishing process while participating in pitch meetings and writing articles with a focus on analyzing foreign policy and law. These experiences have deepened my perspective and equip me well to continue with both my informal studies and goal of attending law school.
I enjoyed nearly all of the courses I took in my degree because each presented an opportunity to learn something new. However, since I primarily took courses from BGInS and from the Department of Political Science, there were some that I particularly enjoyed.
In the BGInS program, I really liked the Global Literature and Global Ethics courses. Global Literature requires students to read a selection of books, short stories and other forms of writing that grant the reader diverse perspectives on some of the social, political and economic complexities that continue to influence the world today. Two of the works that stood out to me are The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami and Translations by Brian Friel.
In a different format, Global Ethics begins by presenting prominent ethical theories and philosophies, assessing their strengths and limitations, and then proceeds to apply them to various global and international dilemmas in order to discuss and analyze how they can be addressed. These discussions continue to influence my decision-making and behaviours today.
From Political Science, I really enjoyed the course on American Foreign Policy. Here, we were led through a historical timeline of the foreign policy of the United States from its inception until present. As the timeline entered the 20th century, we read a lot of the works from leading scholars and international relations theorists and we were even privy to two of these authors, Michael Cox and Daniel Nexon, making individual guest lectures.
This course, along with many others from Political Science, has been instrumental to my understanding of some of the critical junctures faced in domestic politics and international relations today, while also highlighting the importance of moral and ethical international leadership.
Friday, June 18, 2021 in 2021 Graduation, Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs, BGInS, Convocation, FPA Voices, Students
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