Executive Committee
Michael Buzzelli, Director
Associate Professor, Department of Geography
After completing graduate work at McMaster University in 2001, Dr. Buzzelli held academic appointments at UBC and Queen’s and has been a visiting scholar at the University of Melbourne, University of Glasgow, UBC and Universita di Bologna. He has led several national and international research projects on a range of urban issues as well as graduate policy training and consulting work across Canada. From 2018-21, he was appointed Western Teaching Fellow (Social Science) and developed a project on town-gown relations and experiential learning. In London, he has served on the Board of Directors of the London and Middlesex Community Housing, the largest social housing provider in the region (Member 2014-17, Chair, 2017-18). Since 2019 he has served on the City of London’s Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-oppression Advisory Committee (DIAAC). Visit faculty page
Godwin Arku, Associate Director
Associate Professor, Department of Geography
Dr. Arku’s research broadly revolves around the local impacts and community responses to global economic, social, and political change. Specifically, his research examines transnationalism and immigrant housing experiences, impacts of economic liberalization on housing markets, local impacts and policy responses to plant closures, municipal economic development policies, and economic reforms and built environment changes. Visit faculty page
Martin Horak, Associate Director
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
Dr. Horak’s research specializes in Canadian and comparative urban politics, with an emphasis on the dynamics of urban policy-making, multilevel governance, and the governance problems of large cities. He is currently working on a book-length manuscript that explores the connections between local patterns of social interaction in cities and macro-political norms and preferences. Visit faculty page
