The $BFCG$ Theory and Canonical Quantization of Gravity

This is a PhD thesis on a categorical generalization of the $BF$ model called the $BFCG$ theory. The new theory is equivalent to General Relativity at the classical level but, at the quantum level, seeks to address the problem of the coupling of spinfoams to fermions and, the question of the semiclassical limit of a spinfoam model. Please see enclosed abstract for further details.