The Catalyst team met with Delphine Polidori to discuss her upcoming article “The Perception of Displaced Persons as Biological” in the upcoming Spring 2021 edition of Chrysalis. In her piece, she studies the intimate relationship between conservation science and immigration politics, notably by exploring the striking parallel that exists between the language and policies targeting the movement of human beings and non-human species respectively.
Delphine is a fourth-year student completing a Joint-Honours degree in Political Science and International Development with a Minor in Environment. Originally from France, she spent most of her life in Hanover, Germany where she studied at an international school. At McGill, she has been involved in student journalism, writing and editing for Catalyst McGill and The McGill Tribune. Last semester, she also interned at Alternatives Montréal, an international solidarity organization which advocates for social justice.
Through her interdisciplinary degree, Delphine became exposed to a number of academic fields. Specializing in international relations, she enjoyed learning about world history, the international political economy, and global governance. It was thanks to an international development seminar on forced displacement with Professor Diana Allan and a social work class on refugee policy with Professor Nicole Ives, however, that Delphine was introduced to migration studies: an interdisciplinary field which not only ties all of her academic interests together but also resonates with her personal inquiry into uprootedness, national identity, and belonging.
In her piece, she was able to combine insights from both her international development seminar and her wildlife conservation course with Professor Kyle Elliott, undertaking the kind of stimulating, multidisciplinary research that she rarely got the chance to do at McGill. After graduating, Delphine will be pursuing a master’s degree in migration studies in the UK. After that, she is hoping to gain a variety of experiences, from working with NGOs in the field, to policy building within international institutions, to actually funding projects as a donor within the government.
Video edited by Sena Lee.
Read the Spring 2021 issue of Chrysalis here.
