Tanya Aminataei, BA Hons (English), MA (Public Texts)
Supervisor: Margaret Steffler
Research: Indigenous literature as works of resistance
Alicia Carefoote, BA Hons (English), MA (Canadian Studies & Indigenous Studies)
Supervisor: Whitney Lackenbauer
Research: Canadian arctic prison system
Cynthia Clarke, BSW, MSW
Supervisor: Heather Nicol
Working Title: Intersection of Professional Healthcare and Victims of Sex Trafficking in Canada
Nicole Covey, BA Hons (Political Science) MA (Political Science)
Supervisor: Whitney Lackenbauer
Working Title: Canada and Its Alliances: A Case Study on the Evolution of NATO and NORAD in the Arctic
Kathleen Donovan, BA (Criminology & Psychology), MA (Critical Disability Studies)
Supervisor: Nadine Changfoot
Research: Intersections of Indigeneity and notions of learning disabilities - how social architecture shapes both the perception of disability and the experience of access
Sabrina Dourado-Jaffer, BA Hons (Arts & Contemporary Studies), MEd
Supervisor: May Chazan
Working Title: (un)Learning in the Canadian Academy: Co-Constructing Roles, Resistance, and Resilience in Graduate Live
Sabrina Dourado-Jaffer is a PhD candidate in the Department of Canadian Studies at Trent University, specializing in Feminist, Gender, and Women's Studies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Arts and Contemporary Studies with a concentration in Diversity and Equity Studies and a Minor in Sociology from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), as well as a Master of Education in Social Justice Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto.
Drawing on both lived and academic experiences, Sabrina's research is grounded in feminist, anti-oppressive, and trauma-informed approaches to education and social inquiry. Her work explores the intersections of gender, race, violence, power, and institutional systems, with particular attention to how experiences of marginalization shape educational and social realities. Her previous research has explored the intersections of race, gender, violence, and care, with particular attention to child welfare systems, violence against racialized women, access to support services, and the ways social and institutional structures shape experiences of marginalization.
Her doctoral research investigates how graduate students navigate the multiple and often competing roles of student, educator, researcher, and worker within the Canadian academy. Through an exploration of resistance, resilience, and institutional expectations, her work seeks to better understand how individuals negotiate academic life while managing difficult life experiences and broader systems of inequality.
As both a researcher and educator, Sabrina is committed to fostering inclusive, critically engaged learning environments that connect scholarship to social change. She believes education has the potential to challenge systems of oppression, amplify marginalized voices, and contribute to more equitable futures both within and beyond academia.
Shelley Hermer, BA (Psychology), MSW
Supervisor: Suzanne Bailey
Research: censorship in Canadian literature
Karen Hicks, MA (Public Texts)
Supervisor: Suzanne Bailey
Research: The creative life and times of a group of women artists in Quebec who were contemporaries of the Group of Seven.
Sarah Jessup, BA Hons (Anthropology) MA (Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies)
Supervisor: Joan Sangster
Working Title: Workplace Bullying, Gender, and the Continuum of Violence in Ontario Health Care
Sarah Jessup is a PhD candidate in Canada Studies at Trent University. Her research examines the relationship between policy, gender, and workplace bullying in Canada's health care settings. In particular, her doctoral project focuses on workplace bullying within the broader scope of workplace aggression and considers the connection between bullying and other forms of hostility in the workplace, including physical violence, domestic violence, and sexual harassment.
Kristin Jones, MA (Canadian Studies & Indigenous Studies)
Supervisor: Whitney Lackenbauer
Research: RCAP in the 21st century
Eric Lehman, BA (Music), MA (Public Texts)
Supervisor: Hugh Hodges
Working Title: Starving Artists: Negotiating musical work for a digital age under Canadian copyright reform
Jo Mrozewski, MA (History)
Supervisor: Finis Dunaway
David Newland, Bachelor of Fine Arts, MA (Public Texts)
Supervisor: Heather Nicol
Research: Urbanonyms in Cobourg, Ontario
Mike Perry, BA Hons (Political Science), LLB, LLM, MSW
Supervisor: Jonathan Greene
Working title: "Not so Fast": Exploring the Alleged Nexus Between Climate Change and Modern Slavery with the Voices of Survivors
Mike's background is in public leadership, law, and social justice policy. His work focuses on exploring any nexus between climate change and modern slavery. Mike is committed to using scholarship to help combat human trafficking, especially interrogating the economic root causes of modern slavery, human trafficking prevention, and innovative aftercare for survivors.
In 2022, Mike was elected Councillor for Ward 3 in his home community in the City of Kawartha Lakes.
During his Ph.D. studies at Trent, Mike has been an Honourary Research Associate at Oxford University and a teaching fellow at Harvard.
Mike is proud citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario.
Brenda Quenneville, BA Hons (Political Studies & Psychology), MSW
Supervisor: Heather Nicol
Research: methodologies of practice for de-colonizing psychotherapy
Cynthia Rankin, BA Hons (English), BEd, MEd, MA (Public Texts)
Supervisor: Suzanne Bailey
Research: Gendered narrative patterns adopted to impart stories and representations of Canadian girls and women who accidentally died in Northern Ontario winter settings
Christopher Rooney, BA Hons (Indigenous Studies), MEd
Supervisor: Karleen Pendleton Jimenez
Research: CFL as test site for Canadian masculinity
Juanita Spears, BMusic Hons, MA (Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies)
Supervisor: Karleen Pendleton Jimenez
Research: diverse picture books in Canadian schools as tools for inclusion
Luka Stojanovic, BA (Philosophy), MPhil (Film Studies), MA (Canadian Studies & Indigenous Studies)
Supervisor: Nadine Changfoot
Research: Queering Mental Health: Disability Studies, LGBTQ+ Futurities, and Mental Health-User Activism in Canadian Audio-Visual Media"
Luka Stojanovic holds an Honours B.A. in Philosophy (University of Ottawa), an MPhil in Film and Screen Studies (University of Cambridge), and an M.A. in Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies (Trent University). He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Canadian Studies (Trent University) funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship (SSHRC) and Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Fellowship (PETF). His doctoral research spans across the domains of cultural theory, public health, and research-creation to consider the epistemic and systemic barriers surrounding the diagnostic process for those living with medically contested illnesses, specifically myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Working with key patient advocacy groups across Ontario, his research advances a community-informed approach striving to both advance insights into how the biomedical sciences construct categories of disease and how bureaucratic institutions coordinate patient care, collectively informing the regulation and governance of epistemic uncertainty. Drawing on lived experience navigating comorbid chronic illnesses, Luka explores questions of health, care, and embodiment through poetry and visual media, with work published and exhibited across both academic and public-facing contexts. These explorations and insights extend into his advocacy and community-organizing work, notably as the lead convener of the Aging & Disability Studies Reading Group and Collage & Conversations: Building Community Connections Speakers Series.
For any inquiries or to discuss collaborative opportunities, feel free to reach out: lukastojanovic_at_trentu.ca
Ramesh Thapa, BA (Humanities), MA (English), (Political Science), M Phil (English), MA (Social Science)
Supervisor: Bharti Sethi
Research: phenomenon of deskilling from an intersectional perspective of race, gender, and citizenship status in the Canadian labour market and how it impacts skilled South Asian (SA) immigrants' mental health and well-being
Jackson Walling, BA Hons (Political Science), MA (International Affairs)
Supervisor: Whitney Lackenbauer
Research: Security, Sovereignty & Infrastructure in the Canadian Arctic
Jackson graduated from Laurentian University in 2020, where he was awarded the Gord Dickie Political Science award, earning his Honors Bachelor of Arts specializing in Political Science. In 2023, he completed his Masters of Social Science in International Relations at the University of Glasgow. His master's dissertation focused on the public opinion surrounding Canadian Arctic security, and the foreign policy orientations Canadian’s emulated when it pertains to Canadian Arctic Security. In addition to how people shape their foreign policy beliefs all together. Currently, Jackson is pursuing his PhD in Canadian Studies researching Canadian Arctic security and how infrastructure within the Canadian Arctic can be multi-purpose as well as dual purpose, with the specific notion of conjoining traditional national security and sovereignty concerns with human security perspectives and outlooks. Jackson’s other research interests include, Canadian foreign policy and defense, public opinion and survey research, international relations theory and Great Power competition within the Circumpolar north, and defense spending