Ahmad Jalil
Hi everyone! My name is Ahmad Jalil. I graduated with honours in Health Science from ÂÜÀòÉäÇø and am now pursuing a Master's of Science in NRES. Under the guidance of Dr. Hossein Kazemian, I studied air quality in Prince George during my undergraduate years. Although my initial research leaned more towards environmental science, I was able to weave in my health science knowledge. I chose ÂÜÀòÉäÇø for its tight-knit community and the personalized interactions I had with professors, which was in stark contrast to my experiences at other institutions in BC.
Being involved in research has been a transformative experience for me. Unlike typical lab exercises where there's a predefined answer or outcome, research demands justification for every decision made, which has significantly broadened my perspective.
The supportive environment at ÂÜÀòÉäÇø and the myriad opportunities available to students make research involvement invaluable. While it may seem challenging to initiate, I assure you, it's more approachable than it appears. I hope to assist and inspire you as you embark on your own research journey!
Prapti Sarkar
Hello everyone! My name is Prapti Sarkar and I'm from the city of Kolkata in India. I moved to Canada in November 2022 and started my studies here at ÂÜÀòÉäÇø the following Winter semester. As a graduate student, I'm pursuing my Master's degree in Gender Studies. I've taken graduate-level courses in areas such as feminist research methodologies, feminist theories, motherhood, and gender and politics.
As part of my graduate thesis, I'm interested in the intersection between gender studies and critical film studies. Specifically, I wish to critically analyze and interpret South Asian popular cinema to understand the representation of genders and sexualities in said films. I also hope to understand the common narratives perpetuated by the films about gender, nationality, sexuality and masculinities.
During my very first semester here at ÂÜÀòÉäÇø, I had the opportunity to work for a professor in the English Department as a research assistant. As a new international student from India, I did not know what research meant, or what it meant to be a research assistant. The professor's research was about superhero comics and philosophy, and my responsibilities included looking for research materials and resources, and helping with the writing and editing of chapters. This experience got me interested in research, especially media criticism, literary studies and feminist research.
As a research ambassador and a graduate student in the FISSSH department, I want to encourage all students, but especially those in the field of social sciences and humanities, to consider what research means to them. Quite often, research can seem intimidating, or seem like something that only occurs within laboratories, conducted by people in white lab coats. I want to empower students to recognize other forms of equally important research, especially feminist research, and to think of their own areas of interest as valid research interests. If you're interested in research at ÂÜÀòÉäÇø, there's tons of opportunities available and I hope that I can help you get started! You can always contact me at sarkar@unbc.ca and we can have a chat over some coffee!