Carleton alumna Amanda Clarke has been awarded the prestigious Trudeau Foundation Scholarship, a $180,000 award given to only 15 doctoral candidates a year.
Clarke, who graduated from Carleton’s bachelor of humanities program in 2007, credits her success to Carleton’s small class sizes and innovative programs.
Clarke said that she benefitted from the guidance of Carleton professors who “always had the time to sit and chat about research ideas, and who encouraged me to think broadly about the opportunities that might accompany doctoral studies.
Clarke said that she aspires to be able to provide that same quality to her own students in the future.
She also credits Carleton’s great funding, supportive undergraduate and graduate programs and what she calls “really impressive students.”
“My positive experience as a university student at Carleton played a big part in my decision to complete doctoral studies and to pursue a career as an academic.”
Her doctoral work will evaluate how the Internet affects the relationship between public servants, political leaders and the people they serve, and consider what is necessary to foster legitimate online citizen participation.
She will also emphasize the cultural, institutional and behavioural changes that this model implies for public bodies.
“The need to rethink this relationship is especially apparent given the low rates of voter turnout and soured popular perceptions of politics that undermine the quality of Canada’s representative democracy today,” Clarke said in a press release.
According to the Trudeau Foundation’s website, it was through her work with food security advocacy groups, social housing projects and youth arts programs that Clarke learned first-hand how “well-intentioned government policies and programs can fail to meet their intended goals when those whom these policies and programs affect most are not invited to shape them.”
Since its inception in 2003, the scholarship has helped 100 students cover their tuition, living and travel expenses in order to further pursue their studies.
It is awarded to doctoral candidates who are pursuing research in a field of “compelling present-day concern” which touches upon one or more of the foundation’s four major themes: human rights and dignity, responsible citizenship, Canada in the world and people and their natural environment.
“Trudeau scholarships not only accelerate the careers of those who receive them, but also enable recipients to make a significant contribution to Canada and to Canadians,” said P.G. Forest, president of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, in a press release.
Clarke said that the scholarship will give her more freedom to think creatively about what she wants to accomplish with her doctoral research.
“Perhaps more important, though,” she said, “are the chances I will have to work with other members of the Trudeau Foundation. I’ve only been to one of the Foundation’s events so far, but I already know that it attracts some incredibly bright and interesting people that I will be lucky to get to know over the next few years.”
Clarke will attend the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute for her doctorate in philosophy in information, communication and social sciences.
“Our understanding of the social implications of the Internet is pretty shallow at this stage, and this Institute is producing some of the most innovative research in the area.”