Undergraduate Scholars Shine at the 2025 Canadian Undergraduate Security Conference
- Gray Brogden
- Mar 28
- 2 min read
On February 15th, students from across the country gathered at Royal Military College Saint-Jean for the Canadian Undergraduate Security Conference (CUSC). CUSC offers a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to present their research to a wide network of peers, renowned scholars, experts, and practitioners on a variety of topics about security. This year’s conference saw 36 students from 15 universities with Chairs and Discussants from around Quebec and Ontario, including participants from Bishop’s University and St. Francis Xavier University.
CUSC provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to attend and experience an academic conference—an activity often restricted to students working at the graduate level. Additionally, CUSC brings together students and faculty from civilian and military institutions to help force connections across the sectors.
This year, CUSC accepted papers under four categories: Cognitive Warfare and Cyber Security, Intergovernmental Security Organizations, Economic Insecurity in the post-COVID era, and Security and Climate Change. Titles from the day ranged from “The High Stakes of the High North: Canadian Arctic Sovereignty in the Age of Climate Change” by Maxim Roy from Bishops’ University to “Post-COVID Economic Insecurity and Its Impact on Defence Engineering and Global Security Frameworks” by Haroon Yousaf from Royal Military College.
Moran Vitoria Wortman is a fourth-year Honours Political Science student at St. Francis Xavier University, concentrating in International Relations, with a minor in Economics, found CUSC to be an engaging and valuable experience. “Attending the Canadian Undergraduate Security Conference 2025 at Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean was a life-changing experience,” says Wortman. “As a fourth-year undergraduate student writing an Honours thesis, sharing my work and receiving feedback at the undergraduate level was incredibly rewarding.” Wortman presented her work on how countries signal military strategy through official declarations of war during a panel on Intergovernmental security organizations.
CUSC looks forward to returning for next year's conference. You can keep an eye out for more information on their socials below!