Assistant Professor
Global Development Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies
Abbotsford campus
email KirstenAcademic, Professional and Community Leadership
Academic Leadership
Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (2024-)
Norman Paterson School of International Affairs Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (2020-2022)
Relevant Professional Experience
Global Partnerships Coordinator South-East Asia and southern Africa – United Church of Canada (2021-2022)
Global Partnerships Coordinator Palestine and the Philippines – KAIROS Canada (2019-2020)
Parliamentary Assistant – Hélène Laverdière, NDP Critic on Foreign Affairs (2018-2019)
Project Coordinator: Social Condition as a Prohibited Ground of Discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act – University of Ottawa Human Rights Clinic (2017-2018)
Methodological and Public Health Lead on a Review of Humanitarian Assistance – OCHA/UNOPS (2017)
Communications and Research Consultant – IMPACT and Publish What You Pay Canada (2014-2018)
Peace and Conflict Officer – Canadian Cooperative Association/ the Uganda Cooperative Alliance (2011-2012)
Kirsten Van Houten holds graduate degrees in International Development Studies from the University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University. She also holds a B.A. Combined Honours in Human Rights and Law from Carleton University. She recently completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Winnipeg and the University of Guelph and holds adjunct faculty appointments at the University of Guelph and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. Her research focuses on the contributions of local actors to peacebuilding and human rights in policy and practice. She is currently the Principal Investigator on a SSHRC Insight Development Grant that explores the contributions of women with disabilities to peacebuilding.
Kirsten also has extensive professional experience working in international development and human rights with Canadian civil society organizations and political parties. Through this work she has collaborated with local peacebuilding, development and human rights leaders in South Africa, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Philippines and Palestine.
Ph.D. International Development Studies, the University of Ottawa (2019).
M.A. International Development Studies, Dalhousie University (2011).
B.A. Combined Honours Human Rights and Law, Carleton University (2008).
Finding Their Place: The Contributions of Women with Disabilities to Peacebuilding
This project received a SSHRC Insight Development Grant from 2024-2026
This study seeks to better understand how women with disabilities are engaged in peacebuilding processes within different spaces ranging from the international to the local level. It will focus on how this engagement has evolved alongside broader inclusivity norms in peacebuilding practice and explore how women with disabilities have contributed to this evolution in policy and practice through advocacy efforts.
Canada, Local Peacebuilders and Human Rights Defenders
This long-term ongoing project explores how Canada engages with local peacebuilders and human rights defenders. It has collected data on the implementation of Voices at Risk: Canada’s Guidelines on Supporting Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines and inspired an edited volume on the human rights and peacebuilding nexus. In the future, additional research will be undertaken that explores how both the Government of Canada and Canadian civil society organizations engage both groups more broadly.
Translating Interests and Negotiating Hybridity: The Contributions of Local Civil Society Organisations to Peacebuilding in South Kivu
This project received a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship from 2014-2018
This doctoral thesis project explores the role of three local civil society organisations in representing and addressing local needs in hybridized peacebuilding processes in South Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To do so it examined how local CSOs contribute to peacebuilding efforts, as well as who and what influence those contributions. Further, it considered the potential reach of such interventions at the community, provincial and national levels.
Edited Volumes
Book Chapters
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Popular Publications
Board Member – Propeller Dance (2023-)
Food Bank Volunteer – Dalhousie Food Cupboard (2020-)
Member-McLeod Group(2020-2023)
Student Member – Human Rights, Research and Education Centre (2016-2020).
National Campaign Coordinator – The Just Minerals Campaign (2014-2016)