Academic Teaching Staff
DR. GHADA AGEEL
Visiting Professor
Dr. Ghada Ageel is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta. She holds a PhD and MA in Middle East Politics from the University of Exeter (UK) and a BA in Education from the Islamic University of Gaza. Her PhD dissertation explored the historic and contemporary role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in addressing durable solutions for Palestinian refugees.
Dr. Ageel has received numerous awards and scholarships, including the Faculty of Arts Academic Teaching Staff Award (2024), the Phillips Grant (UK, 2013), the Jerusalem Studies Scholarship from the University of Exeter (2002 and 1999), and the Higher Education Award from the Ministry of Education in Palestine (1996).
Her research interests encompass rights-based approaches to Palestinian refugees, oral history, women's studies, decolonial and postcolonial studies, and the question of Palestine. She is the editor of Apartheid in Palestine: Hard Laws and Harder Experiences and co-editor of Women Voices from Gaza, a seven-book series documenting life in Palestine before and after the 1948 Nakba, as recounted by women who lived through these experiences. Three books from this series—A White Lie (2020), Light the Road to Freedom (2021), and Come, My Children (2023)—have been published by the University of Alberta Press.
Dr. Ageel's work has been widely featured in academic journals, magazines, and prominent media outlets, including Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Middle East Eye, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Hill, CNN, Al-Quds Journal for Academic Research Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Journal of Palestine Studies, among others.
Dion (Mark) Blythe, PhD
Full Lecturer
After completing a BA (hons) in political studies and MA focused on political philosophy at the University of Saskatchewan, I came to the University of Alberta in 1998 to pursue a PhD in political science. My teaching interests focus on multiculturalism, democracy, political theory and Canadian government and politics.
Adriana Rincón-Villegas, PhD
Assistant LecturerAdriana Rincón-Villegas, PhD [she/her/ella], is an Assistant Lecturer in the department of Political Science at University of Alberta. Her research explores issues related to gender, peace, and conflict studies in Latin America, utilizing critical approaches such as decolonial feminism and critical discourse analysis. Adriana holds a PhD in Global Governance & Human Security from the University of Massachusetts Boston, a MA in Geography from the University of Georgia, and a Bachelor’s in Laws from Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Colombia.
Angelia wagner PhD
Assistant LecturerDr. Angelia Wagner is an assistant lecturer and adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include gender and politics, political candidacy, political representation, political communication, and Canadian politics. Her first solo-authored book, The Candidacy Calculation: Challenges to Running for Elected Office in Canada, will be published by the University of Toronto Press in April 2025. She also co-edited Gendered Mediation: Identity and Image Making in Canadian Politics (UBC Press, 2019) and has published articles in journals such as the Canadian Journal of Political Science; Feminist Media Studies; International Journal of Press/Politics; Journal of Political Marketing; Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, Journalism Practice; Politics and Gender; Politics, Groups, and Identities; and Women Studies in Communication. She is the co-winner of the 2016 Jill Vickers Prize for the best paper on gender and politics at the previous Canadian Political Science Association conference. Wagner also spent more than 20 years as a journalist, working at newspapers in Alberta and Saskatchewan.