I would be grateful if you could please pass this on to students who
might be interested. The opportunity is open to Canadian students as
well as to those from elsewhere.
Eugene McCann
Opportunity to pursue a Master’s degree in Geography at Simon Fraser
University
Topic: Urban policy mobilities, with an emphasis on harm reduction
drug policy and global networking among legal supervised drug
consumption rooms.
Supervisor: Eugene McCann (http://www.sfu.ca/~emccann)
General description: I am looking to take on a top-quality, motivated
student who will enter our program in September 2011 to pursue a two-
year Master’s degree. She or he will work on a topic related to my
current Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council funded project
analyzing the relationship between global policy networks and the
character of policy-making and urban neighbourhoods. It uses the case
of legal supervised drug consumption facilities that have been
established since the 1980s in cities in eight countries (Australia,
Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland).
Their purpose is to reduce the harms of illicit drug use by providing
clean needles, a supervised space to consume street drugs, medical
assistance, ‘low threshold’ entry into treatment, and to restore
‘public order’ in surrounding neighbourhoods.
The objectives of the research are to analyze: (1) how consumption
facilities operate in each country and how they impact their
neighbourhoods; (2) the key actors, agencies, organizations, and
relationships that constitute global networks of drug policy transfer
and advocacy; (3) the role of specific practices, places, and
representations in the dissemination of knowledge about consumption
facilities; (4) how social and spatial relations influence the
politics of drug policy transfer; and (5) the local conditions in
which the adoption of the consumption facilities has been successful.
Studying this ‘harm reduction’ policy’s diffusion across eight
countries and how it has impacted neighbourhoods permits analysis of
how the global transfer of policies shapes and is shaped by urban
geographies. A general introductory statement on my approach to
policy mobilities can be found on my web page, under ‘Research
Interests’ here, two papers on drug policy mobilities are here and
here, and a more general research agenda for work on policy mobilities
and global circuits of knowledge is here.
Details of the SFU Geography MA program: A Master’s student in our
program spends the first year taking a small number of courses and
working on a proposal. The second year is dedicated to researching and
writing a thesis. The application deadline is January 15th. Full
details of the program, including general information about admissions
requirements and procedures as well as about funding, can be found at http://www.sfu.ca/geography/GraduateStudies.html
. I expect to be able to provide a good amount of Research
Assistantship funding for the student as well are appropriate travel
funds. This will be combined with the other sources, as outlined on
the web page above.
SFU & Greater Vancouver: The Department of Geography at Simon Fraser
University (http://www.sfu.ca/geography/index.html) is vibrant,
dynamic and internationally renowned, with a demonstrated commitment
to excellence in teaching and research in all areas of the
discipline. Our faculty and graduate students are active and engaged
researchers. Our graduates are successful in securing positions in
academia, non-profits, government and the private sector. SFU is a
progressive, interdisciplinary institution, set in one of the world’s
most attractive and fascinating urban areas, surrounded by ocean,
mountains, and forest.
Interested? I am happy to answer questions about this position. If
you are interested, please contact me by email at emccann [at] sfu
[dot] ca. It would be great if you could give me a little information
on your academic background and research interests when you contact me.
_______________________________________________________
Dr. Eugene McCann
Associate Professor
Graduate Program Chair
Department of Geography
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6
Canada
Email: [email protected]
Phone (Direct): 778.782.4599
Phone (Departmental Office): 778.782.3321
Fax: 778.782.5841
http://www.sfu.ca/~emccann
