OH:SS S02E01 A Conversation with Ovi Kulkarni, 4th Year Political Science and GLE Student

In this year’s first episode of Office Hours: Student Spotlight, Olivia chats with Ovi Kulkarni, a fourth-year International Presidential Scholar pursuing an Honours Specialization in Political Science and a major in Governance, Leadership, and Ethics.

One of the threads that emerges throughout their conversation is how research can move beyond abstraction, how it can become something lived, relational, and, at times, transformative. For Ovi, this shift is most clearly embodied in her experience in Rwanda as part of POL3395: Rwanda’s Recovery: Experiential Learning in Peacebuilding and Reconciliation, taught by Dr. Lindsay Scorgie.

What begins as academic inquiry quickly becomes something more complex when encountered in place. Ovi reflects on what it means to engage with these issues not just through texts, but through conversations, environments, and communities, and how that encounter reshaped both her understanding of the subject and her sense of responsibility as a researcher.

Olivia and Ovi also discuss Ovi’s work supporting Dr. Scorgie’s ongoing research and the development of the course website, offering a glimpse into how undergraduate students can contribute meaningfully to larger research initiatives while continuing to develop their own questions and interests.

As with many of our Student Spotlight conversations, this episode highlights the ways opportunities, especially those that push us outside of familiar contexts, can deepen curiosity and sharpen intellectual commitments. Research, in this sense, is not just about finding answers, but about learning how to ask better, more grounded questions.