Jennifer M. Welsh is the Canada 150 Research Chair in Global Governance and Security at McGill University, and the Director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy. She was previously Chair in International Relations at the European University Institute and Professor in International Relations at the University of Oxford, where she co-founded the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict. From 2013-2016, she served as Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on the Responsibility to Protect. She currently sits as a member of the IDP Protection Expert Group, based in UNHCR.
Jennifer’s research has focused on contemporary challenges in global governance, conflict management, and Canadian foreign policy, including humanitarian action, collective responses to genocide and war crimes, the protection of civilians in armed conflict, and forced displacement. Her most recent academic books include three co-edited volumes: The Individualization of War: Rights, Liability and Accountability in Contemporary Armed Conflict (Oxford University Press, 2023); Civilian Protective Agency in Violent Settings: A Comparative Perspective (Oxford University Press, 2023); and The Afterworld: Long Covid and International Relations (University of Ottawa Press, 2024).
While at McGill, Jennifer has led several collaborative research projects with Canadian and international scholars, built a vibrant community of faculty and students interested in global affairs and Canada’s role in the world, and co-directed a Canada-wide research network on Women, Peace, and Security. She has frequently provided input into policy initiatives for the Canadian government and the United Nations, as well as for international NGOs. She is also a leading public intellectual in Canada, through her CBC Massey Lectures (published as The Return of History: Conflict, Migration and Geopolitics in the 21st Century), her op-ed writing for Canadian newspapers, and her role as co-host of the bilingual podcast, Tour de Table. Jennifer co-chairs the Advisory Board of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and the Committee on Security Studies for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her research and policy engagement have been recognized through her election as Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and as International Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Jennifer has a BA from the University of Saskatchewan in Political Science, and a M.Phil. and D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar.
Professor Welsh also co-hosts with Frédéric Mérand (Chair, University of Montreal, Department of Political Scienc) the Tour de Table podcast. Every episode they are joined by leading scholars and policy makers for a bilingual discussion of the political, economic, and security challenges confronting our world, and whether and how Canada is prepared to address them.
Les animateurs Frédéric Mérand (Directeur, Département de science politique de l’Université de Montréal) et Jennifer Welsh (Directrice, Center for International Peace and Security Studies) sont rejoints par des spécialistes et décideur.euse.s politiques éminent.e.s pour une discussion bilingue consacrée aux enjeux politiques, économiques et géopolitiques qui touchent le Canada.
Course offered:
Core Policy Course: The Global Political and Policy Landscape
Degrees:
Ph.D., University of Oxford (International Relations)
MA, University of Oxford (International Relations)
BA, University of Saskatchewan
