As an ARIA intern with Professor Levy I had the opportunity to wear many hats in the breadth of academic work I was able to do. I copy-edited chapters of The Oxford Handbook of Classics in Contemporary Political Theory which each centred on a key work of postwar poltical theory from 1950-2000. I edited chapters on works Hannah Arendt’s 1958 The Human Condition, Iris Marion Young’s 1990 Justice and the Politics of Difference, and Bernard Manin’s 1995 The Principles of Representative Government. I also edited Professor Levy’s newly published paper ‘World Without End’, which offers a critical analysis of Francis Fukuyama’s thesis in The End of History and the Last Man. I also did my share of classic political theory research, an example of which was my work on an upcoming article ‘An Ancient Constitution Built from Modern Materials: Montesquieu and the American Founding Father’s’, which examines the mis-characterization of Montesquieu’s argument in The Spirit of The Law in the works of the American founding fathers, particularly the Federalist Papers.
Doing political theory research has been a goal of mine since I started at McGill in 2019. In third year, I was given the opportunity to join The Research Group on Constitutional Studies (RGCS) student fellowship, led by Professor Levy, which brings together students from undergraduate, masters and beyond to conduct constitutional research. Through this wonderful program I was introduced to the realm of research at McGill. When the opportunity arose to apply to ARIA, I was already working with Professor Levy during the school year and was thrilled at the opportunity to continue my research into the summer. My transition into my ARIA work felt like a natural extension of the passion I had sparked in RGCS this past year.
As an ARIA intern, my primary learning objectives ranged from the process of publishing, to understanding more about the political theory research process, to understanding how different works in the political theory canon are connected to one another. I aimed to understand how political theory work follows a specific process of publishing, involving early preliminary research, drafting and editing the submission, responding to peer review comments, and conducting the final submission. This enabled me to learn more about how works within the political theory canon are interrelated, either implicitly or explicitly, as the research often involved correlating different theories to one another.
I am extremely grateful for my ARIA experience. Throughout my internship, Professor Levy helped to set up lunch sessions with different professors within the department as well as with other ARIA interns, so that I was able to make connections and further discuss my research. This opportunity was a large success for me, as it helped to build my confidence in discussing complex research topics. Additionally, as ‘World Without End’ was published, Professor Levy dedicated a specific section to thanking me for the work I had done. Seeing my name in a published article was a huge step for me, and further cemented the importance of this work.
Given the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic, much of the academic community that surrounds McGill Political Science had transitioned online for the summer. I was lucky enough to conduct almost all of my research in person, however when Professor Levy was away at conferences the empty wing is Ferrier could feel isolating. In order to combat this, Professor Levy put in contact with Professor Catherine Lu. Professor Lu invited me to join her workshop on Indigenous political theory once a week, which was both academically fascinating and a wonderful chance to socialize with other researchers.
This experience was truly an amazing one for me. As an undergraduate student in the Faculty of Arts, it can be difficult to find paid research opportunities, even though it is a large interest of mine. Being able to dedicate my summer to this project helped confirm my passion for political theory research, and my interest in continuing this research further. I am currently applying to law school in the upcoming year, and hope that I will be able to use my knowledge in constitutional studies within law school, as well as pursue a Master program or PhD program following law school, with a focus on constitutional studies. This would allow me to continue to pursue this research, with the goal of having my own published paper or even the opportunity to teach courses and seminars in the field of constitutional studies and political theory.
I would like to sincerely thank Mrs. Betty Maldoff, Mr. Eric Maldoff, Mr. Gerry Maldoff, and Mrs. Barbara Maldoff for generously supporting research through ARIA. This project would not have been possible without your contribution.
