People

Roberta Rosina Gerevasi is a PhD Candidate in Political Science. She explores the intersection between digital technologies and security. Her research examines how countries navigate and respond to peaceful and violent conflict fueled or enhanced by digital platforms, with a focus on the causes and consequences of censorship and surveillance. Relatedly, her dissertation explores why the application of information controls varies in similar settings. Her broader interests include research methods and international security issues, such as the study of conflict contagion through survival analysis.

Alireza “Mani” is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of Toronto, specializing in international relations and comparative politics. He is particularly interested in great power politics and global democratization and autocratization waves. His dissertation project examines how great powers influence contemporary democratic backsliding around the world, unpacking the mechanisms through which external actors shape domestic political trajectories. Mani’s work contributes to broader debates about democracy promotion, authoritarian diffusion, and the evolving nature of international influence in the 21st century.

Jacob Winter a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto. He studies the political economy of development, tracing how the intersection of money and power shape social outcomes in the poorest countries. In particular, his research explores how global financial flows enable different kinds of political coalitions. His research uses a variety approaches, including interviews, quantitative analysis, and computational methods.