Amanda Klassen
PhD candidate
| Degrees: | Degrees: B.A. (Wilfrid Laurier University), M.I.P.P.(Balsillie School of International Affairs) |
| Email: | amandaklassen@cmail.carleton.ca |
Amanda Klassen is a PhD candidate in Political Science at Carleton University working under the supervision of Dr. James Milner. She wrote her comprehensive examinations in International Relations and Gender and Diversity. Using a critical feminist approach, her research focuses on the local implementation of global norms relating to the protection of refugee women and girls. Her research questions explore the embodied agency of refugee women within the social and political structures that shape norm implementation, as well as the factors that affect this embodied agency in the implementation of global norms in local contexts. Through her research she hopes to demonstrate that refugee women, who are the intended beneficiaries of both gender based norms, and recent global norms relating to refugee protection, must be included in the process of defining successful implementation for these norms to have positive impact on their lived experiences. Her other areas of research interest include feminist theory and policy making.
During her time at Carleton, Amanda has also worked as a research assistant with the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN). Through this position she has published a working paper alongside Dr. Milner “ From theory of change to SMART pledges: Lessons for pledges at the Global Refugee Forum and beyond”, written ahead of the Global Refugee Forum in 2019 to provide guidance on making funding pledges that will have meaningful positive impact. She also contributed to the LERRN blog series with a blog for International Women’s Day 2020 “ An Equal World is an Enabled World: Reflections on Gender Equality in Refugee Contexts” which emphasized the importance of including the voices of refugee women in the fight for equality and empowerment. Most recently, she had also co-authored a paper on the role of civil society in the global refugee regime as a contribution to the forthcoming “State of the World’s Forcibly Displaced” report by the UNCHR.
Amanda recieved a Masters of International Public Policy with a specialization in human security and global governance from the Balsillie School of International Affairs.