Political Science professor and alumnus reunited to present research

Dr. Ben Muller, Associate Professor of Political Science and King’s alumnus, Mathew Harker ’10 were co-presenters at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Muller generously arranged for his former undergraduate student to present his graduate research at the conference.

“I had some collaborative research work to do with a colleague at Villanova University, so I managed to use my own research grant and I used the funds that Perry World House at UPenn would have used to bring me to the conference to support Matthew Harker to present his dissertation research,” said Dr. Muller.

Matthew Harker ’10 is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Theory and Criticism at Western. He credits King’s faculty as helping him on his journey: “the Department of Political Science at King's University College was instrumental in developing my ability to think critically about global politics. Instructors such as Dr. Muller and Dr. Erin Hannah helped foster my intellectual curiosity and provided the foundation for my future academic endeavours.”

Harker presented his dissertation research during the graduate student panel with four other panelists from Harvard, UPenn and ETH Zurich. His presentation was entitled “Creating (in)secure life at the biometric border.” 

“My research presentation focused on how surveillance technology at the border is altering how sovereignty is perceived and explored the implications of creating a network of digital bodies,” said Harker.

 Dr. Muller presented research that is part of the Borders in Globalization SSHRC Network on the Politics of the Global Visa Regime. This included comparative work on the biometric visas and regional visa free zones, including the European Union and the Economic Community of West African States, as well as the Office of Biometric Identity Management in the U.S.

During the 2017/18 academic year, Dr. Muller will teach International Relations and Critical Security Studies.  This spring, he is an instructor in Arezzo, Italy with SJPS 3211G (Global Networks for Justice: Migration, Borders, Violence and Peace).