GradCast

This week, hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Yousuf Hasan interview Ignacio Moya about his PhD work in philosophical pessimism. Our conversation touches on the views of Schopenhauer, anti-natalism, ancient Greek stories, and more. Life may be meaningless and full of suffering.. but "you're here, I'm here, let's make the best of it".. and listen to a podcast.    To find out more about Ignacio's work or t...

This week, join Amalie and Elizabeth as they talk with Alessia Servin (she/they) a master's student in the department of gender, sexuality, and women's studies. Alessia discusses her current research which looks at the experiences of first-generation students at post-secondary institutions and how they are constantly being left culturally homeless within these walls. She also shares her own person...

This week, Claire Bottini and Ariel Frame talked with Alyssa Moore, a PhD student in anatomy and cell biology. Alyssa explains how cells transform into the different tissue in our body and how pre-birth conditions such as alcohol exposure may affect the bone's structure. Alyssa also shared her experience as graduate Master and PhD student at Western University. To find out more from Alyssa, email...

This week, join Laura and Brittany as they interview Jordan VanderBurgt, a first year PhD student in biology. Jordan discusses Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), growing vaccines in plants, and the effects of both this disease and its research.  To find out more about Jordan, you can find him on twitter as jvand222 . Recorded on June 28, 2022. Produced by Laura Muñoz Baena. Them...

On this episode of the GradCast hosts Claire Bottini and Charan Mandur sit down with PhD candidate Sufyan Tahir to discuss the world of plant biology. Sufyan shares his research to improve drought tolerance in crops through plant genetics. Recorded on June 21, 2022. Produced by Amalie Hutchinson. Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.

In this episode, Elizabeth, Laura, and Rose talk with Eric Zwicker, a PhD candidate in Musicology. As part of his research project, Eric is working on creating an album of original music. Eric discusses how he uses Indigenous Research Methodologies throughout his process of music creation, and how that music can be used as a form of reconciliation.   To hear more about Eric's creations follow him...

If you have ever wondered what happens with insects during the winter, this episode will provide some answers. Hosts Ariel Frame and Laura Muñoz Baena chat with Alyssa Stephens, a student of the Biology department who just defended her Masters thesis on freezing tolerance in spring field crickets. More specifically,  Alyssa studied how crickets modify their metabolism to accumulate trehalose, a su...

Garth Casbourn speaks with Ariel Frame and Claire Bottini about his research on song sparrows he is doing for his PhD in Biology. Garth explains how his experiments will tell us how testosterone functions in male birds and what relevance this hormone might have for bird migration.  Recorded on May 31st 2022. Produced by Amalie Hutchinson. Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by Wh...

Recorded live at Radio Western 94.9 FM studio, hosts Ariel Frame, Elizabeth Mohler, and Brittany Melton discuss their grad life experience at different stages in their PhD programs. Recorded May 18 2022 Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.

This week, Carolynn Hare joins hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Ana Moyer. Carolynn is a PhD student in the department of psychology studying ADHD and multisensory integration. A person with ADHD herself, Carolynn has a unique perspective, and plans to use her position to study how kids with ADHD use sensory input to process their world, how that may differ from neurotypical kids. If you find yourself...

On this episode of the GradCast hosts Laura Muñoz Baena and Brittany Melton chat with Charan Mandur, a first-year PhD student in the Department of History. They discuss the Halifax Explosion, environmental history, and Charan’s aspiration to blend the two. Recorded on May 17th 2022. Produced by Laura Muñoz Baena. Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.

Join hosts Elizabeth Mohler and Amalie Hutchinson in their chat with Brigette Farrell, PhD student in history. Brigette shares about her interesting research into the history of science, medicine, and culture. We discuss shell shock in World War I soldiers, the impacts of eugenics on Canadian and French history, and how politics snuggles closer to science than we sometimes like to admit. Recorded...

In this episode, Erin Isaac explains to hosts Brittany and Laura how race and climate were linked by 18th-century beliefs about the body. They also discuss how migrants who came to Nova Scotia in the 1780s (along with the colony’s existing populations!) contended with an unusually hostile climate following a volcanic eruption in 1783, and how this environmental history impacted different communiti...

This week we met with Justin Robar, a PhD student in Sport Management Graduate Program. In this episode, Justin tells Elizabeth Mohler and Claire Bottini about his research on how sport can positively impact player’s life and community. He describes his MA experience on how sport development programs impact rural African communities. Justin also elaborates about his PhD working on improving knowle...

Join hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Michelle Krasovitski as they sit down with Tedi Ramaj, PhD student in applied mathematics. How can math help with understanding invasive species proliferation, cancer cell growth, or COVID trajectories? Tedi shares with GradCast all that and more, introducing us to the power of simulations, some helpful advice for grad school and life, and his love of the simple be...

Amanda Suko, a PhD student in Anthropological archaeology, joins hosts Ariel Frame and Ana Moyer this week to discuss Indigenous Ontarian pottery and the people who made it. Working with a collection located near what is now known as Arkona, Ontario, Amanda investigates the production of pottery and how they reflect community and shared knowledge. To find out more about Amanda, check out her profi...

In this episode, Jessica Novial shares a fantastic medieval story with hosts Ariel Frame and Laura Munoz. As a PhD Candidate in French Studies, Jessica's work entails a critical analysis of the 13th-century French romance called "Le Roman de Silence" - (The Romance of Silence), written in old French. Listen in to hear Jessica explain the twists and turns of this novel tale and how it touches on ge...

Nyasha Nyereyemhuka is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education. In this episode, Nyasha tells Claire Bottini and Yousuf Hasan about her research on how Black females principals construct their professional identities and the difficulties they face in their work. Nyasha also talked about her path from business into education and her role as graduate student representative. To hear more about Ny...

Alex Prong, a media studies MA student, joins hosts Laura Muñoz-Baena and Brittany Melton this week to discuss queer literature in its many forms. Join us as we prod the Prong about their inspiration, book recommendations and how they go about researching indigiqueer literature to find alternative paths to chrono and homonormativity.  Recommended books: Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead and A Hi...

This week, we interview one of our own, Brittany Melton, PhD student in media studies! Brittany tells hosts Ana Moyer and Amalie Hutchinson about her research into some interesting communities on Reddit, and shares how dating and gender are represented, posted, and discussed online.  To hear more from Brittany, check her out on Twitter @realbritmelton or Instagram @britfitmeltfelt Recorded on Marc...

This week, Rosemary Giles and Laura Munoz-Baena buckle up in with Joel Welch, a first year PhD candidate in Law. Joel dives deeply into what is space law, serious gaps in the law, and how literature, namely science fiction, can bring insights to legal and policy decision makers through speculation, predictions, and imagination. And no, he personally does not want to go to Mars. He enjoys the Grad...

This week we are joined by our very own Michelle Krasovitski, an MA student in Education in the field of Applied Linguistics, who not only shares with us her research interests but also the story behind them. Michelle also shares with us her work outside of school, where she works as a freelance journalist covering culture and media. Tune in to hear her give us a crash course on linguistics, Wordl...

Maggie Prenger is a student in the MD-PhD program. In this episode Maggie tells Claire Bottini and Ariel Frame about her research plans studying humour processing in Parkinson’s disease patients. Listen in to find out what parts of the brain are involved in this disease, why patients watching Seinfeld in a scanner might teach us more about them, and all about humour generally. To hear more from Ma...

Do you believe electric guitar has no place in classical music? Think again! Hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Michelle Krasovitski are joined by PhD candidate Andrew Noseworthy, who introduces them to the field of music composition. Andrew challenges the notion that Mozart and Jimmy Page exist in two separate worlds, explaining how classical instruments find harmony with their electric counterparts.  T...

Patrick Huang delights Ariel Frame and Laura Muñoz with a tale about the history of music. As a Master in Ethnomusicology, Patrick is beginning his PhD in the music program and shares with us his insights on ancient western and non-western music theory that form the foundation for his ongoing studies.    To hear some of Patrick's music, check out his Soundcloud Recorded on February 2nd, 2022. Prod...