Félicitations aux gagnants de la bourse John Peters Humphrey de l'année 2018
Godwin Dzah
Godwin Dzah
PhD Candidate
Peter A. Allard School of Law
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Master of Laws
Harvard Law School
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Qualifying Certificate in Law
Ghana School of Law, Accra, Ghana
Bachelor of Laws
School of Law
University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
Bachelor of Arts
School of Social Sciences
University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
Proposed Program of Study
Between International Law’s Universality and Epistemic Silences: Locating Africa’s Legal Contribution to the Law and Practice of Sustainable Development
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Godwin’s doctoral research explores the evolution of the concept of sustainable development within the global governance architecture. It interrogates the ways in which the concept is practicalised to conceal the contributions of African legal scholarship and African legal conceptions to its emergence and consolidation, as well as to the development-environment nexus. This project’s objective is not only to historicise African contributions to the law and practice of sustainable development, but also to elevate and scrutinise the peculiarities in the law and politics of Africa’s relationship with the concept. This inquiry thus showcases and invites an analysis of how Africa generally utilises environmental rights as the primary vehicle for operationalising sustainable development. While this project is undertaken within the context of a limited political geography, it is intended that the understanding elicited from the analysis will inevitably illuminate the blind spots in the global pursuit of sustainable development.
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Ryder McKeown
Ryder McKeown
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PhD Candidate
University of Toronto
Master of Arts, Politiccal Science
University of British Columbia
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science
University of British Columbia
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Proposed Program of Study
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Ryder is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto specializing in international law, emerging technologies and military strategy. His thesis, entitled "Weaponizing the Social: Emerging Practices of Strategy in Outer Space, Cyberspace and International Law", explores the challenges and opportunities of conducting strategy in shared global environments, including international law, where military priorities of war-winning and deterrence must be balanced against societal expectations of cooperation and restraint. It seeks to develop a theory of restrained conflict in shared environments, explore the normative implications of such conflict, and, ultimately, make recommendations to guide national strategy and policy.
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As part of this project, Ryder will treat international law as an environment (a 'lawspace') and explore how it is used as a non-violent means of 'harm', similar to emerging strategy in cyberspace and outer space. In doing so, he draws on previous publications such as "The Power and Perils of International Law: A Review on Lawfare, Constructivism and International Lawpower," International Politics Reviews (2017), "International Law and its Discontents: Exploring the Dark Sides of International Law in International Relations," Review of International Studies 2017, and "Legal Asymmetries in Asymmetric Warfare" (Review of International Studies 2015).
Ryder holds a BA and MA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia. Prior to returning to school, he worked for several years as a Policy Officer within the Government of Canada.
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