Candid Conversations

Welcome back to Candid Conversations where we explore the complex dynamics of demographic shifts. In our latest episode "Populations in Transition: Challenges and Opportunities,", we discussed France's efforts to address declining birth rates, India's surpassing of China in population, and the challenges and opportunities of youthful demographics in developing countries.

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Welcome to Candid Conversations, Catalyst McGill’s International Development podcast. In this episode, we will talk to Professor Bart Édes about his new article “What a world of difference a little foresight could make” and his research on strategic foresight in international development cooperation agencies. Professor Édes is a Professor of Practice at McGill University. He is also the author of Learning From Tomorrow: Using Strategic Foresight to Prepare for the Next Big Disruption.

Welcome to Candid Conversations, Catalyst McGill’s International Development podcast. On this podcast, we will explore current issues in international development around the world. This episode, we will be taking a deeper dive into the recent news of the United Nations’ approval of foreign intervention and peacekeeping missions in Haiti.

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We spoke with Economics Professor Sonia Laszlo about her recent study on gender norms in Paraguay. We discuss the process of running a lab experiment and the findings of the working paper. We also discuss the significance and challenges of women's economic empowerment. 

Professor Sonia Laszlo is an Associate Professor of Economics at McGill University who specializes on applied microeconomic analysis in economic development. Her work focuses on the microeconomics of social policies and their effects on women and women's economic empowerment. She also studies decision-making under uncertainty, namely concerning technology adoption among subsistence farmers. She is a cofounder and executive member of the Canadian Development Economics Study Group and directed this Institute for the Study of International Development between 2016 and 2019. Her most recent work, which we discuss in our conversation, is a behavioral study on norm shifting interventions and beliefs about gender in Paraguay. 

You can find professor Laszlo's work and more at https://sites.google.com/site/sonialaszlo. 

Candid Conversations is a series where we speak with professors and academics about their research and current topics in development related to their field of study.

Welcome back to the Candid Conversations podcast, supported by Catalyst McGill and the IDSSA. This week we're continuing with our series looking at the basics of development. On this episode we discuss how international development is measured and what steps the international community has taken to strive for sustainable development.

Welcome to the Candid conversations podcast, supported by Catalyst McGill and the IDSSA. This semester we’re starting a series where we look at the basics of development. What is the past, present and future of international development? And how does it interact with our society? On this episode, we’re looking broad and asking that big question, so what is international development?

We spoke with Professor Sarah Turner about her ethnographic fieldwork in Southeast Asia. We discuss the significance of and challenges facing the informal labor economy, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this market, and approaches and strategies to qualitative fieldwork and development practice. 

We spoke with Professor Manuel Balán about his research and work on democratic threats and corruption in Latin America. We discuss the variety of threats facing the region, centering Latin America within his research and the challenge of avoiding a deterministic process, the dynamics and persistence of corruption, anti-corruption mechanisms, and the relationship between corruption and development. 

Manuel Balán is currently the associate dean of student affairs in the faculty of arts. He previously served as the acting director of the Institute for the Study of International Development and as an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Development. His research addresses comparative politics with a regional focus on Latin America, particularly on issues of corruption and development, corruption scandals, political competition, media and politics, transparency and anti-corruption policies, and democracy and the rule of law. Prior to his academic career, he worked in Argentina on Transparency Policies at the National Anti-Corruption Office.

Candid Conversations is a series where we speak with professors and academics about their research and current topics in development related to their field of study.

We spoke with Professor Jon Unruh about his research and work on post-conflict land and property rights. We discuss the dynamics of post-conflict land redistribution, government involvement in restitution, the role of UN peacekeeping troops, fieldwork experience, and the weaponization of land rights by the Syrian government during the Civil War. 

Jon Unruh is a professor in the Department of Geography at McGill. His research focuses on war-affected land and property rights in addition to the peace process and recovery from armed conflict and the intersection between land rights and environmental change. He has conducted research, policy, and practice work in many countries including Syria, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia, and with the UN, World Bank, USAID, and other bilateral donors and NGOs.

https://www.genevacall.org/

Candid Conversations is a series where we speak with professors and academics about their research and current topics in development related to their field of study.

Juliana Malka is a second-year McGill Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Life Sciences. Her article "Canada's Approach to the COVID-19 Vaccine" touches upon the issues experienced during Canada's rollout. Juliana and Alex go deeper into what this means for education and the steps moving forward for our government bodies. 

Article: https://catalystmcgill.com/canadas-policy-of-inoculation-following-the-announcement-of-the-covid-19-vaccine/ 

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Join Alex and guest Helia Mokhber for a discussion on the Biden presidency, recent attacks on Syria, and whether this is the lesser of two evils.  

Article link: https://catalystmcgill.com/the-lesser-of-two-evils-in-u-s-foreign-policy-biden-and-the-middle-east/ 

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