Global Ideas Institute  

Archive 2012-13

About | Challenge | Symposium | Participants | Organizing Comittee | Sponsors | Photos

Advisory Committee  

JANICE GROSS STEIN is the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science and the Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her most recent publications include Networks of Knowledge: Innovation in International Learning (2000); The Cult of Efficiency (2001); Street Protests and Fantasy Parks (2001), and Canada by Mondrian (2006). She is the co-author, with Eugene Lang, of the prize-winning The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar. She was the Massey Lecturer in 2001 and a Trudeau Fellow. She was awarded the Molson Prize by the Canada Council for an outstanding contribution by a social scientist to public debate. She has received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Alberta, the University of Cape Breton, and McMaster University. She is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario.

JOSEPH WONG is a Professor of Political Science and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Health and Development. He is also the Director of the Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs. Wong is the author of many academic articles and several books, including Healthy Democracies: Welfare Politics in Taiwan and South Korea and Betting on Biotech: Innovation and the Limits of the Asian Developmental State, both published by Cornell University Press. Professor Wong has been a visiting scholar at major institutions in the US (Harvard), Taiwan, Korea and the UK (Oxford); has worked extensively with the World Bank and the UN; and has advised governments on matters of public policy in Asia, the Americas and Europe. Wong’s current research focuses on poverty and health, as well as state management of disease and epidemics. Wong was educated at McGill and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

EILEEN LAM is Associate Director of the Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. She is an award-winning administrator (Dean’s Faculty of Arts and Science Student Life Award 2011 & Stepping Up Recognition Award 2008) and has been with the University in various capacities. Prior to that, she was Partner at Shianlin & Associates, an international marketing consulting firm specializing in working with developing countries. She has an interest in fundraising and has coordinated events to benefit community organizations, such as Second Harvest, Nellie’s, Mon Sheong Home for the Aged, and CARE Canada.

Organizing Committee  

BEV BRADLEY is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, and holds an NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship for doctoral studies. As a member of the Centre for Global Engineering (CGEN), Bev’s research aims to improve medical oxygen delivery systems for hospitals in low-income countries. Oxygen is an essential medicine for treating illnesses such as childhood pneumonia, which is the leading cause of death in children worldwide. Her country of focus is The Gambia, West Africa; she has spent over a year living and doing research in this country since 2009. Before joining CGEN, Bev completed a BASc in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo (2006) and an MASc in Biomedical Engineering at Carleton University (2008). Bev has worked in several other healthcare and research settings, including the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre, and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Bev was a mentor for the 2011–2012 Global Ideas Institute, was on the organizing committee for the Social Change and Youth Leadership Conference at U of T in 2012, and has been a member of Engineers Without Borders since 2003. Bev enjoys travelling, volleyball, and yoga.

ANDREW DO is a first-year graduate student at the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance (SPPG), pursuing a Master of Public Policy. He is currently one of the mentor coordinators for the Global Ideas Institute. Previously, he was a mentor and research assistant for the GII. Andrew has always been interested in issues of international development. Specifically, he is interested in alternative models of service delivery, public-private partnerships, and civilian-military relations. He has been involved with a variety of initiatives designed to engage students in dialogue on issues of international development. In addition to being involved with the Global Ideas Institute, Andrew has also been responsible for helping to found the University of Toronto Model United Nations, a high school simulation of the United Nations, where he is currently an advisor. Aside from international development, Andrew enjoys reading, writing snarky semi-autobiographical essays, and playing video games.

ALLISON CARROLL GOLDMAN is a PhD student at the University of Toronto, studying Political Science. She focuses on comparative political economics of China and India, looking specifically at the sources of innovation in these economies. Allison has spent time in both China and India and speaks Mandarin. She holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied the political economics of development.

CARMEN HO is the Manager of this year’s Global Ideas Institute on food insecurity and malnutrition in the Global South. She is a PhD student in the University of Toronto’s department of Political Science and is the Co-Chair of the Interdisciplinary Society for International Development (ISID). Her doctoral research focuses on sustainable solutions to food insecurity and poverty in low- and middle-income countries. She holds an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and an MSc in International Public Policy from University College London (UCL), and has studied on exchange at the National University of Singapore. She also has experience as an Economic Development Officer in the Philippines, working to scale up sustainable rice production on a CIDA-funded project, and as a Local Food Procurement Assistant with Parkdale’s West End Food Co-op, supporting community initiatives to improve access to food.

ZACHARY PRONG is a second-year undergraduate student pursuing a degree in contemporary Asian studies and social anthropology. His primary area of interest is political economy in China and Southeast Asia. Before moving to Toronto he lived and worked in China for several years as an English teacher. He plans on returning to China for a year in the summer of 2013 to study Mandarin. In addition to working with the Global Ideas Institute, Zac is currently an executive member with the INDePth Conference (Interrogating Notions of Development and Progress), an annual conference organized by students that explores development issues in Asia. The focus of this year’s conference is China. When not studying or working, most of his free time is spent playing with his son Oliver or listening to music.