Political Science at UWindsor

Tania Hernandez

Tania Hernandez International Relations Political ScienceTania Hernandez earned her Honours BA at Windsor in 2013, graduating with distinction from the International Relations and Development Studies program.

Tania states that she most enjoyed "the variety of courses offered in the IR and Poli Sci programs, which is a reflection of the diversity in the faculty."

She also found her professors supportive of extracurricular activities on campus, and in summer 2011 she spent four months in Ghana as a Junior Fellow with the university's chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB). Tania worked in northern Ghana interviewing farmers and conducting an assessment of EWB's Agriculture As a Business (AAB) strategy, which was designed to help rural farmers switch from subsistence to market-oriented agricultural production.

This experience sparked her interest in agriculture and food security issues and gave her valuable hands-on research experience and first-hand knowledge of international development to support her classroom experience at UWindsor.

After earning her BA, Tania continued her studies in the MA program in Environment, Development and Peace, with a Specialization in Sustainable Food Systems, at the United Nations Mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) in San José, Costa Rica. At UPEACE, she built on the coursework and field experience she had gathered at Windsor and participated as a research team leader on a project exploring whether farmers' markets can achieve the dual goals of food and farm security in urban San José. While the final report will be submitted in the near future for publication, Tania has already secured a 2-month internship with the Mexico City subregional office of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC), where she will complete her MA while working on a project focused on food security, agricultural development, and climate change in central Mexico.

Tania states that her "major takeaways from my time at UWindsor in the IR program were a definite improvement in my writing capabilities and the ability to analyze and think critically. The Political Science Department at the University of Windsor, in my opinion, is a great place to be challenged and to learn."