Alumni

Tasia Alexopolous

BAH WMNS 2007, LGBT Certificate 2007, PhD GNDS 2020

"The opportunity to take a class with Dr. McKittrick after so many years (I completed my undergraduate at Queen’s over a decade ago) was such a unique and priceless experience."

Winter 2022 update
Since completing my PhD, I have continued my work as the Social Media Coordinator/Spokesperson for the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada and am currently the Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Coordinator at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick.

Read more about Tasia

Sarah Brenner Miller

BAH WMNS/DEVS 2003

"Activism and critical thought were alive and well among my instructors and peers, and I was mentored by the best of them."

Winter 2021 update
I just finished a Master of Social work and am working with young people experiencing and at- risk of homelessness and their families. I'm also parenting my two young daughters and doing disability advocacy and justice work.

Read more about Sarah

Taylor Cenac

MA GNDS 2020

"My research and community work centers how radical loving and caring spaces are fundamental to dreaming toward queer futures."

Fall 2020 update
I recently completed a diploma in social service work at St. Lawrence College.  I believe youth are central to doing this work because young people dream queer and radical dreams, and this is the vision of community that I seek to cultivate.

Read more about Taylor

Mel Côté

BAH GNDS 2016

"My classes in Gender Studies helped to contextualize my unease with some of the practices I was observing in my career in the non-profit sector and gave me the language to critically engage with the injustices I was witnessing and experiencing in my life."

Fall 2020 update
I have spent time working in non-profit management, funding and grant oversight, and university administration.  I am delighted to be returning to Gender Studies again as the Undergraduate Assistant.

Read more about Mel
Conely de Leon

Conely de Leon

BAH WMNS & ENGL 2006

"I had the incredible honour of learning from Dr. Dina Georgis and Dr. Katherine McKittrick whose teaching and mentorship had a profound impact on my academic trajectory.'

Winter 2021 update
Currently, I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Toronto Metropolitan University where I get to learn from a growing interdisciplinary community of scholars, scholar-activists, and students. Most recently, I co-founded the Pahinga (Rest) Collective with Filipinx/a/o graduate students, community organizers, and service providers representing migrant, queer, and feminist grassroots organizations in Tkaronto.

Avery Everhart

MA GNDS 2016

"Gender Studies at Queen's was a safe haven, and a reprieve, not only for those students seeking an environment where they could name the injustices they witnessed without being told to pipe down, but also for myself."

Read more about Avery

Maha Faruqi

MA GNDS 2021, BAH GNDS, SXGD Certificate

"My educators guided me to build a critical analysis at the roots, to creatively work through complex topics, and to explore my personal/social engagements with the world."

Read more about Maha

Angie Fazekas

MA GNDS 2014

"My time at GNDS completing my MA from 2012-2014 was instrumental in shaping my work and research. My time in the program not only transformed the way I understand and exist in the world but also set me off on a research path I'm pursuing today."

Winter 2021 update
I am currently working as an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream at the Women & Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto. I teach cultural studies and pop culture, two topics that I first explored during my time at GNDS.

Read more about Angie

Daisy Fraser-Boychuk

BAH GNDS 2020

"I truly found a sense of direction with Queen's GNDS as my propellor. I learned what it meant to be a compassionate, dedicated, and committed member of a community."

Fall 2021 update
I am currently completing my MA at U of T's Women and Gender Studies Institute

Read more about Daisy

Amal Haroon

MA GNDS 2020

"My time at Gender Studies enabled me to see the intersections between gender and domestic violence in my own community and in the larger Canadian community."

Fall 2021 update
I am working as Crisis Counsellor for Government Assisted Refugees with a nonprofit organization and as a Site Supervisor for one of the largest shelters in the City of Toronto working to address homelessness, addiction and mental health in the community.

Read more about Amal

Rhea Hoskin

MA GNDS 2014

"I had the privilege of being mentored by the incredible faculty of Queen’s department of Gender Studies during my formative graduate years. [They] struck the perfect balance of guidance and freedom that allowed me to forge my own path, and gave me the confidence to do so. "

Winter 2021 update
I am currently an Ontario Women’s Health Scholar and an AMTD Global Talent postdoctoral fellow at the University of Waterloo where I am cross appointed to the departments of Sociology & Legal Studies and Sexuality, and Marriage & Family Studies.

Read more about Rhea

Zoya Islam

MA GNDS 2012, BAH GNDS, SXGD Certificate

"A highlight from my time at GNDS was working as a Teaching Assistant for the department. I loved facilitating tutorials and seeing 'lightbulbs go off' when students made connections between the course materials and their lived experiences."

Summer 2022 update
I am the Manager of Communications at Samuel Family Foundation

Read more about Zoya

Danny McLaren

BAH GNDS 2021

"I have always been encouraged by my professors to pursue my more unconventional and creative ideas in the classroom, and these have been received with an openness and warmth I have rarely found outside this department."

Fall 2021 update
I am a gender studies MA student at Queen’s University

Read more about Danny

Emily Macgillivray

MA GNDS 2011, BAH GNDS

"During my time in the Gender Studies Department at Queen's, I worked closely with faculty who are internationally recognized in their fields and who are also generous and supportive mentors. This mentorship was integral to my development as a scholar."

Summer 2022 update
I am an Assistant Professor of Native American Studies and Women and Gender Studies at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin.

Read more about Emily

Aarzoo Singh

MA GNDS 2014

"The work I completed during my Masters in Gender Studies gave me the theoretical backbone necessary to conduct my doctoral work and continues to influence my own pedagogical and scholarly practices."

Fall 2021 update
I am currently working as an Assistant Professor, teaching stream, at the University of Toronto Scarborough at the Department of Historical and Cultural Studies.

Read more about Aarzoo

Hannah Smith

MA GNDS 2021

"My time in my MA, working with this fantastic department, allowed me to not only work on a degree but explore my interests and strengthen my sense of self. The academic and personal learning I gained from this program are lessons I hold close to my heart."

Summer 2022 update
I am currently a law student interested in criminal, family, and Indigenous law.

Read more about Hannah

Peter Stuart

BAH WMNS/ENGL 1995; BEd 1996

"Women’s Studies changed me forever.  It helped me see power: who had it, who benefited from it, who suffered at its hand, and how those who had it, ensured they kept it."

Winter 2021 update
I work as the Principal of an adult education centre located in a federal women’s correctional facility.  It’s certainly not where most Women’s Studies students see themselves working (I certainly didn’t).  But in this job, I use what I learned in Women’s Studies every single day.

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Xin Sun

BA HIST 2016; BAH GNDS 2019; SXGD Certificate 2019

"My GNDS degree helped me in so many ways.  I discovered my identities during my time at Queen’s and in GNDS - my identities as a racialized, disabled woman, and what it means to live with those marginalized identities."

Winter 2021 update
I continue to be involved at Queen’s through the Ban Righ Foundation Board of Directors, where I have acted as Board Co-Chair with Nancy Butler.

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Natalie Zhang

MA GNDS 2020

"[Professor Margaret Little] is such an amazing scholar in poverty studies in Canada and an advocate of gender equality and social justice. Her support, compassion, and encouragement have greatly impacted me. "

Winter 2021 update
I am a first-year Queen's Law student.  I hope to study well and use my profession to help and empower others in the near future.

Read more about Natalie