Faculty & Research

Click on each name to explore more about each faculty member.

 Momin Rahman

Chair of Sociology

 Professor, Sociology

 B.A., Ph.D. (Strathclyde)

 Otonabee College 221.2, ext. 7812, mominrahman@trentu.ca

Research interests:

• LGBT identities and politics
• Racialization and systemic racism
• Postcolonialism

Deborah White

 Professor, Sociology

 B.A. (Toronto Metropolitan University), M.A. (University of Toronto), Ph.D. (Carleton)

 Otonabee College 231, ext. 7865, deborahwhite2@trentu.ca

1998 Symons Award for Excellence in Teaching

Research interests: 

• Institutional responses to sexual violence, particularly medico-legal interventions and the role and nature of forensic evidence and experts in criminal justice systems
• Science and technology studies (STS)
• Critical research on sexual violence prevention initiatives, with an emphasis on anti-rape technologies

Peri Ballantyne

 Professor, Sociology

 B.A., M.A. (Western), Ph.D. (Toronto)

 Otonabee College 224, ext. 7813, periballantyne@trentu.ca

Research interests: 

• Sociology of health and the ‘social determinants of health’
• Poverty, food security, work and employment  
• Medicines access/use/outcomes;
• Qualitative methods, including grounded theory, ethnography, institutional ethnography

 Kristy Buccieri

Professor, Sociology

 B.Soc.Sc. (Ottawa), M.A. (Carleton), Ph.D. (York)

 Otonabee College 226, ext. 6382, kristybuccieri@trentu.ca

Research interests: 

• Trauma
• Trauma-informed pedagogy and knowledge mobilization
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Homelessness

 Jim Cosgrave

Associate Professor, Sociology

 B.A., M.A., Ph.D. (York)

 Durham Campus, DUR 174, ext. 5049, jimcosgrave@trentu.ca

Research interests:

• Gambling legalization and expansion
• The sociology of gambling
• Canadian national and cultural identity
• Cannabis legalization and state formation

 Naomi Nichols

Professor, Sociology
 Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Community-Partnered Social Justice
 

 B.A. (Trent), B.Ed.(Queen's), M.A. & Ph.D. (York)

 Otonabee College 232, ext. 7607, naominichols@trentu.ca

Research for Social Change Lab

Research interests:

• Social inequality; poverty; youth homelessness; youth justice; child welfare; education; "youth at risk"; youth mental health; higher education
• Research impact and community-academic research collaborations

Adwoa Onuora
 Associate Professor, Sociology

 Honors B.A (University of Toronto); M.A; Ph.D. (OISE/University of Toronto)

 Durham Campus, ext. 5268 DUR A169, adwoaonuora@trentu.ca

Research interests: 

• Black Studies of Gender/Sexuality and Health
• Health Equity and Social Justice
• Black and African Diaspora 2SLGBTQ+ issues
• Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
• Social Reproduction, Care Policies and the Care Economy
• Arts-Informed and Arts-Based Research  

 Elizabeth Torrens

Assistant Professor, Sociology

 B.A., M.A., Ph.D (Western University)

 Otonabee College 223, ext. 7822, elizabethtorrens@trentu.ca

Research interests:

• Gender and sexuality
• Bullying
• Education
• Social control and deviance
• Program and policy evaluation  

Erick Laming 

 Associate Professor, Criminology

  B.A. Hons, M.A. (Carleton), Ph.D. (Toronto)  

  Otonabee College 225, ext. 7856, ericklaming@trentu.ca  
 

Research interests: 

• Policing
• Police use of force
• Police oversight and accountability
• Corrections
• Criminal justice policy and reform
• Comparative criminal justice
• Race and the criminal justice system

 Mary Jean Hande

 Assistant Professor, Sociology

 B.A. (University of Saskatchewan), M.A. (York University), Ph.D. (University of Toronto)
 
Otonabee College 230, ext. 7824,  mjhande@trentu.ca

Research interests:

• Care policy, work, and politics
• Aging, disability, and mad studies
• Im/migrant and precarious work
• Critical consciousness/social movement learning
• Community-engaged research and learning
• Critical theory and qualitative methods

Eugena Kwon

 Assistant Professor, Sociology
 Associate Chair of Sociology for Peterborough Campus

 B.A., M.A., Ph.D. (Western University)
 
Otonabee College 227, ext. 6053,  eugenakwon@trentu.ca

Research interests:

• International migration (e.g., post-migration integration and settlement experiences of immigrants and international students);
• Sociology of work and occupations;
• Gender and professions;
• Population health and well-being

 Nadiya Nur Ali

 Assistant Professor, Sociology
 Associate Chair of Sociology for Durham Campus

 B.A. (University of Toronto), M.A. (Carleton University), Ph.D. (York University)
 Durham Campus, DUR - A186

nadiyaali@trentu.ca

Research interests:

• Black Studies
• Race, Racism & Racialization
• Critical Muslim Studies
• Community-Engaged Research

Stephanie Ehret

 Assistant Professor, Criminology

 Hon.B.A. (Toronto), M.A. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Ottawa)   

 Otonabee College 228, ext. 6020,  stephanieehret@trentu.ca

Research interests:    

• Gendered violence 
• Intimate partner violence  
• Autism, disability, and justice 
• Social (extra-legal) anti-violence interventions 
• Policy 

  Greg Yerashotis

  Assistant Professor, Sociology

  B.A. (Hon)., M.A., Ph.D., (University of Toronto)

Otonabee College 221.9 , ext. 7750, gregyerashotis@trentu.ca

Research interests:

• Sport and Social Inclusion
• Immigrant Integration
• Gender Equity in Sport
• Urban Ethnography

 Beatrice Anane-Bediakoh (She/Her)
Assistant Professor, Sociology & Criminology

B.A. (Hon) (Wilfrid Laurier University), M.Ed. (University of Toronto), Ph.D, ABD. (York University)
 Durham Campus, B334, Ext. 5257

Bananebediakoh@trentu.ca

Research interests:    

• Black Studies
• Critical Criminology/Carceral Logics
• Sociology of Race and Racism; Racialization
• Community-Engaged Research
• Black Geographies

Kadija Osei

Tenure Track Lecturer, Sociology

B.Sc. Hons (University of Toronto), M.A (University of Toronto), Ph.D, ABD. (University of Toronto)

Otonabee College 225, kadijaosei@trentu.ca 

Research interests:

• Critical Criminology

• Corrections/Carceral Studies

• Black Canadian Studies

• Policing 

• Criminal Justice Policy and Reform

• Race and the Criminal Justice System

• Community-Engaged Research

 Valerie Damasco

 Assistant Professor, Sociology

  Honours B.Sc., M.A., Ph.D. (University of Toronto)

 Durham Campus, B335, valeriedamasco@trentu.ca

Research interests:

• Migration, work, and racialization
• Transnational migration histories of Philippine-trained nurses
• Professional and social mobility in nursing and inter/intragenerational inequality
• Social organization of work and labour in healthcare, public health, and community health
• Interprofessional labour of regulated fields (i.e., nursing, medicine, teaching)
• Mental health services for foreign-trained nurses
• Social and public policy, community development, and public sociology

 Mandi Gray

 Assistant Professor, Sociology

  B.A. (Hon) (University of Winnipeg)., M.A., Ph.D., (York University)

 Otonabee College 228, ext. 7340,  mandigray@trentu.ca

Research interests:

• Structural violence and resistance
• Inquests and inquiries
• Institutional and government responses to sexual violence
• Indigenous health data sovereignty

David Rapaport

 Adjunct Professor, Sociology

 B.A. (Concordia), PhD (Trent)
 

drapaport@trentu.ca
 

Research interests:

• Labour
• Unions in Canada
• Collective Bargaining
• The Politics of Technology
• The Public Sector in Canada