Visiting PhD student | Fall 2025

Contact : valerie.kindarji@utoronto.ca 

Presentation

Valérie is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and a researcher at the University of British Columbia’s Digital Transparency Cluster. She specializes in international relations and comparative politics. Her doctoral research focuses on the effects of disinformation on democracy in North America, Scandinavia, and the Baltics. More specifically, she seeks to understand how disinformation impacts democratic institutions and processes, and how democracies respond to these growing threats. Her previous work on Canadian foreign policy and military intervention has been featured at WIIS Canada as part of the Emerging Thought Leaders programme. This research has also yielded a fellowship at the Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict & Justice. Her work has been featured in such outlets as The Globe and Mail, and in a forthcoming volume with University of Toronto Press. She has also provided expert commentary in various media outlets, including TVO, The Gazette, CP24, and the Vassy Kapelos show. Currently located in Montréal, her interests include horror movies, novels, dogs, and the great outdoors.

Areas of expertise

• Disinformation
• Digital democracy
• International security
• North America
• Baltics
• Scandinavia

Publications

Kindarji, Valérie. “Digital Subversion: Assessing the Indirect Effects of Foreign Disinformation Operations on Democracy.” In The Weaponization of Disinformation, edited by Bessma Momani and Shelly Ghai Bajaj. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, 2025 [forthcoming].

Kindarji, Valérie and Wong, Wendy H. “Digital Literacy Will be Key in a World Transformed by AI.” The Globe and Mail. March 11, 2023.

Burchell, K., Ross, J., Tolz, V., Yu, S., Amundson, J., Ding L., Forgacs, H., Kindarji, V., Korotaev, R., Markelov, M., Rodriguez, S., Scarff, S. & Zabalueva, A., with Hutchings S. and Conduit, D. (2025). Beyond Disinformation: Identarian Narratives meet Authoritarian Practices, Lawfare & Marketcraft. A Knowledge Synthesis and Policy Report. Universities of Toronto and Manchester.