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
 Acting Associate Dean for Centre of Teaching and Learning 
 Associate Professor, Sociology

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

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

Research interests: 

• Homelessness
• Health care
• Public health
• Policy
• Service provision

 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

 Associate Professor, Sociology
 Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Community-Partnered Social Justice
 Director of the Interdisciplinary Social Research PhD Program

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

 Otonabee College 232, ext. 7822, 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 

 Assistant 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

 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

 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

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 Beatrice Anane-Bediakoh (She/Her)
Senior Lecturer, 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

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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