Minor gets bigger and better: New director, Ali Bhagat invites all SFU students to add Public Policy to their degree

Dr. Ali Bhagat joins SFU’s School of Public Policy this fall, bringing with him a background in the political economy of labour, finance, and racial capitalism. “SFU’s School of Public Policy is cutting-edge,” says Ali Bhagat, “and an incredible opportunity for students interested in employment with government and non-governmental organisations.”

Bhagat will take on two new roles with the school, as an assistant professor and as director of the school’s new minor program, which opens up, for the first time, studies in public policy to undergraduate students.

SFU School of Public Policy Director Professor Genevieve LeBaron says, “With his expertise in racial equity, refugee and immigration policy, Dr. Bhagat is a brilliant addition to our School. We are thrilled to have him leading our new Minor in Public Policy, which builds on the longstanding strengths of our Masters in Public Policy Program and is an exciting expansion of our student offerings at SFU .”

The minor in Public Policy is collaborative and interdisciplinary, allowing students to explore various issues and implications for public policy. Open to SFU students in any area of study, it pairs perfectly with undergraduate majors in Economics, Political Science, Criminology, History, Philosophy, Labour Studies, and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. Additionally, this minor opens doors for graduate studies in fields including public policy, criminology, public health, and business. Beyond employability and graduate-level training, students learn valuable critical thinking skills to address local, national, and global challenges. “You have to work within real-world constraints,” says Bhagat, “It's a very exciting and practical hands-on type of program.”

Bhagat will also be teaching two courses in the master of Public Policy Program. In fall 2023, Advanced Qualitative Analysis for Public Policy (PLCY 817), and in spring 2024, Race and Equity in Public Policy, a new course direction for PLCY 812.

PLCY 817 is a course in field work, diving into the entire research process including ethics review and qualitative interviews. Students gain the professional research skills required for exceptional capstone projects, final policy reports, and skills that will carry on into their future careers.

PLCY 812 asks questions such as, What is meant by racial equity? and How can public policy best promote racial equity? Students will be engaged in real-life policy which affects everyday people, whether it's houselessness, environmental toxicity, or immigration and refugees.

Students in Bhagat’s classes are sure to have their minds expanded and their academic paths opened up. He brings his research to the classroom—the lived experiences of marginalized people in urban settings. Bhagat’s interests concern refugee and migration policy. His extensive field work in South Africa, Kenya, and France focuses on marginalized people, sexual minorities, and racialized minorities.

Bhagat‘s forthcoming book, Governing the Displaced, examines the questions, “How are refugees governed?” and “How do refugees survive when they appear in other countries or cities of relocation?” The book places Paris, France, in conversation with Nairobi, Kenya, the two sites of Bhagat’s research inquiry. He demonstrates that in global capitalism, even in divergent places, refugee experiences converge. Bhagat discusses housing access, work access or survival related work, global belonging, and what he calls “political belonging,” which goes beyond citizenship to belonging within communities themselves.

It’s no surprise that Bhagat is building community at SFU. “First and foremost,” he says, “I want our students to feel welcome, safe, supported, and intellectually stimulated.” He will offer advising sessions, student engagement opportunities, and speaker-based events, and in conjunction with the School of Public Policy, students will network with industry professionals and engage with a range of faculty members at SFU with public policy-related research interests.

With his deep understanding of global issues coupled with a keen ability to distill topics to be locally applicable, Bhagat’s introduction at SFU is exciting and full of potential. “Our work should have significance to the wider world,” says Bhagat, “and SFU’s School of Public Policy has an excellent reputation in Canada, and increasingly internationally as well, for research that affects policy change.”