Graduate Student Profiles
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PhD profiles
Mathew Arthur (he/him)
Research areas: Feminist and Indigenous science and technology studies, multispecies studies, feminist material semiotics and figuration, methods and practices in affect studies.
Nadine Boulay
Reserach areas: History of lesbian-feminism in the Lower Mainland in the 1970s and 80s, with a particular focus on rural and island experiences, intentional women’s communities, and the ‘back to the land’ movement.
Leslie Brunanski (she/her)
Research areas: Women’s intersection with the criminal justice system and the accompanying issues related to women both as offenders and victims of crime.
Nerida Bullock (she/her)
Research areas: Nerida’s doctoral thesis explores how Canadian law has shifted dramatically to support the inclusion of same-sex couples, while adamantly excluding any reconfigurations of numeric possibilities that extend beyond the socially enshrined dyad.
Thuy Do (she/her)
Research areas: Gender politics and identity, migration, multiculturalism, economic development, and Vietnam culturalism.
Reema Faris (she/her)
Research areas: The intersection of popular culture and feminism fascinates Reema. In particular, her research work examines the relationships between women readers and the deluge of “happily-ever-after/happy-for-now” narratives they face. Another issue Reema grapples with is the coupling imperative in public discourse that amounts to an erasure of the single woman and obscures the potentials and possibilities of alternate social arrangements.
Cameron Michels (she/her)
Cameron is interested in exploring the intersection between sports, gender, sexuality, and bodies. Her research is concerned with the limitations and liberatory possibilities in women’s amateur contact sports.
Shanny Rann (she/her)
Shanny Rann is a gold-medallist Taijiquan artist and dance anthropologist. Originally from Penang, Malaysia, she grounds her artistry in the island way of living and intercultural collaborations. She has competed and performed internationally, and teaches at the unceded territories of Coast Salish peoples in Vancouver, Canada. Shanny completed her Bachelor of General Studies at Simon Fraser University and went on to obtain a Master of Arts in Dance Studies from York University and Erasmus Mundus Masters in Dance Knowledge, Practice, and Heritage (Choreomundus). Her previous research on ‘cham, a Tibetan Buddhist dance ritual, was conducted in the Himalayas with refugee monks and was published in ausDance and Recherches en Danse. She is happy to be back at Simon Fraser University and is completing her PhD dissertation on women and Taiji.
KJ Reed (they/them)
KJ's SSHRC-funded doctoral work explores privacy and disclosure decisions in the lives of trans, non-binary, two spirit, and other gender non-conforming youth.
Shahar Shapira (she/her)
Research areas: Shahar intends to explore the interconnections between Israeli culture and science, and the ways in which scientific knowledge making and science communication participate in social power relations along the lines of gender, race/ethnicity, nationality and bodymind difference.
Sharvesh L
Sharvesh is a MA student in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University and the Co-Founder & Editor of Minority Voices Singapore (@minorityvoices on Instagram), a social media platform that raises awareness about the ongoing racism and intersectional issues ethnic minority communities face in Singapore. His research interests lie in the intersections of sexual racism, inter-ethnic solidarity and emotional well-being. With a bachelor’s degree in guidance & counselling, and a foundational background in the performing arts, Sharvesh is motivated by the power of storytelling and how unearthing personal narratives of the lives and experiences of marginalized folk can be used to educate, motivate and inspire people to adopt anti-racist and anti-discriminatory attitudes to build a respectful community that acknowledges its differences, recognizes the power in diversity and celebrates its uniqueness without pushing for assimilation or integration in to a dominant way of being.
Spencer Lee (they/them/佢[keoi5])
Spencer is a master’s student studying Gender, Sexuality and Women Studies at Simon Fraser University. They are born and raised on the unceded territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), Stó:lō, and xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. They hold a BA in Media and Communications and Gender Studies from Trinity Western University. As a young educator and facilitator, they are deeply committed to integrating critical pedagogies, and anti-oppressive and decolonizing frameworks. Spencer is passionate about community building and youth empowerment among queer and BIPOC youth, with an emphasis on rest and collective care. Their research interests include reproductive healthcare, comprehensive sex education, and gendered violence in East Asia.
Yasmin Simsek
Yasmin is doing her MA in Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at SFU and has a BA in Theatre and Creative Writing. Yasmin has worked in the creative and charitable sectors, as well as having her first children’s book published, the first of (hopefully) many, focussing on representation and diversity. Her research interests include dismantling toxic masculinity, femicide and queerness in Turkey, and using art to create social change.
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