Laila Khoshkar

Laila is a PhD candidate in the Political Science Department at the University of Toronto. Through her dissertation, Laila seeks to uncover what conditions are required to make human rights meaningful. Her current research focuses on the relationship between human rights and social belonging, especially as experienced by resettled refugees in Canada. Laila's academic interests have always undulated toward the refugee question, spanning from the Canadian individual's moral responsibility to respond to the refugee crisis to the policy-level changes needed to adequately address refugees' mental health needs. Beyond academia, Laila volunteers with refugee-serving organizations in Toronto. She is committed to a vision of Canadian society that is genuinely inclusive and respectful of diversity.