The Canadian Studies Program is pleased to announce Nadia Almasalkhi as a new Edward E. Hildebrand Fellow for the Spring semester.
Nadia is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology. Her research focuses on political transnationalism in Middle Eastern diasporas and the phenomenon of political non-participation. Her dissertation seeks to understand why participation by out-of-country voters sharply increased in Lebanese elections between 2018 and 2022, and why this increase was uneven across destination countries where the diaspora live. Specifically, her project will compare the political engagement of Lebanese in Canada, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, examining how different integration frameworks affect levels of political engagement by overseas voters.
Nadia's Hildebrand Fellowship will support her fieldwork in the greater Toronto area, where she will be interviewing members of Lebanese community. These interviews will see how Lebanese citizens' awareness and interest in Lebanese politics change over time in each location. In Canada, Nadia hopes to understand whether the country's "assisted multiculturalism" paradigm influenced a lower rate of overseas voting.
Nadia holds a BA in international studies and a BA in modern languages (Arabic and French) from the University of Kentucky.