Valerie Percival, Ph.D.

valerie.percival@carleton.ca

Carleton University

City: Ottawa, Ontario

Country: Canada

About Me:

Valerie Percival is an Associate Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University.  Her current research focuses on three areas:  the measurement and meaning of the suffering of civilians in violent conflict and humanitarian emergencies; the complexity of engagement in health systems; and the promise and perils of policy networks.  Prior to joining NPSIA, she held senior positions at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade as well as the International Crisis Group, where she headed their Kosovo Office.  She holds a Doctorate in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a Masters degree from NPSIA and an honours BA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Toronto. 

Research Interests

Health Politics and Policy

Conflict Processes & War

Gender and Politics

Public Policy

My Research:

My research agenda spans three inter-related areas: International Engagement in Health Systems, Civilian Deaths in Conflict, and Collaborative Policy Networks. These research areas are informed by my experience as both a practitioner and researcher. All three areas focus on civilians affected by conflict and/or fragile social, economic and political systems, and how they are affected by international and domestic institutions/actors as well as the efforts of policy networks and advocacy coalitions. At the heart of these diverse agendas is an effort to understand the context of decisionmaking, the complexity of decision making within a context of diverse actors and agendas, including governments, multilateral institutions, policy networks, advocacy coalitions. The objective of all three areas is to explain practices that enable outcomes that are cooperative and beneficial.