Associate Professor, Sociology

Office: MCD 333
905-688-5550 x5381
mfrancis@brocku.ca

Education:
PhD, OISE, University of Toronto
MEd, OISE, University of Toronto
BA, University of Western Ontario

My research and teaching interests are in the areas of Indigenous resurgence through artistic and community mobilization, feminist, decolonial and anti-racist activism challenging sexual/racial violence; and queer and intersectional approaches to sexualities.  I use a range of approaches in my work from the study of cultural production (photography, theatre, performance, and film), to historical sociology to autoethnography.  I teach courses on sexualities, feminism, and Indigenous studies. I have three current research projects: a) in the Body/Land/Sovereignty project I am collaborating with Shelley Niro and Sherri Vansickle to reflect on the insights from a photography project with youth from Six Nations; b) secondly, I am exploring how BIPOC student activism and Haudenosaunee youth performance work on sexual violence re-map what might be considered anti-violence activism; and c) working with Hijin Park and Leela MadhavaRau, we are developing a structural analysis of the experiences of non-white international students with racial and sexual violence.  My research and community activism has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council, the Social Justice Research Institute and the Six Nations Community Development Trust as well as internal grants from Brock University. I hold a Ph.D. in Theory and Policy Studies from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto (2002).