As an institute committed to women, gender, and social justice our objectives center around knowledge brokerage, translation, mobilization, and dissemination on issues related to subject areas such as sexual reproductive health, gender-based violence, and equity, diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility.
Dr. Krista Collier-Jarvis
Krista Collier-Jarvis (Mi’kmaw) is an Assistant Professor in the English department at MSVU. She teaches American literature, climate fiction, film, Indigenous literature, and Themes in Women’s Writing. The latter course focuses on difficult histories, such as Residential Schools, a topic that is personal to Dr. Collier-Jarvis, who is a third-generation survivor of the Shubenacadie Residential School. In 2023, she published an article on “uncanny play” in Pet Sematary, a theoretical approach to gendered play. She also has a chapter forthcoming on historical contagion in Blood Quantum as well as a co-authored epilogue is the inaugural collection, Global Indigenous Horror (2025)
Dr. Tegan Zimmerman
Tegan Zimmerman is Chair of the Alexa McDonough Institute at Mount Saint Vincent University and Chair of the International Comparative Literature Association’s Comparative Gender Studies Research Committee. She specializes in women’s writing, with a concentration on Caribbean and Canadian literature and historical fiction as well as contemporary gender theory that centralizes the maternal and mother-daughter relations. Her work has appeared in journals such as Feminist Theory, MELUS, and Women’s Studies. Her manuscript on Caribbean women’s historical fiction called Matria Redux: Caribbean Women Novelize the Past was published by the Mississippi University Press in Fall 2023 and Chronotropics: Caribbean Women Writing Spacetime, a co-edited collection with Odile Ferly was published last year with Palgrave Macmillan. Zimmerman also serves as Editor of the Women’s Studies journal Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture, and Social Justice.
Dr. Jacqueline Gahagan
Jacqueline (Jacquie) Gahagan, ONS, PhD (Medical Sociology) (They/Them) is a Full Professor and Associate Vice President of Research at Mount Saint Vincent University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr. Gahagan is the Co-Director of the Atlantic Interdisciplinary Research Network for Social and Behavioural Aspects of HIV and HCV, a former Research Associate with the Jean Monnet European Union Centre of Excellence, the former Deputy Director of the Atlantic Center for Women’s Health, a Founding Fellow of the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance, and is an Affiliate Scientist with the Nova Scotia Health Authority. For information on Dr. Gahagan’s research, please refer to https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6483-7916.
Dr. Mary Rita Holland
Dr. Holland’s current research uses the example of family carers of rural older adults in Atlantic Canada to shed light on the invisible emotional labour required to maintain the home as a site of care and manage disrupted meanings of home space and family relationships. Her work has been published in the international journal Health & Place. She is also a Research Associate at the Trent Centre for Aging and Society.
Dr. Bernadette Russo
Dr. Bernadette V. Russo, Assistant Professor in English, received her doctorate from Texas Tech University in Literature, Social Justice and Environment with an emphasis on hemispheric Indigenous literatures and film and a graduate certification in Women and Gender Studies. Her monograph, Chasing the Cannibal Spirit: Two Tropes, is under contract with the University of New Mexico Press, and her most recent article, “Stephen Graham Jones’s The Only Good Indians: A Manifesto of Indigenous Feminism,” is under review with Studies in American Indian Literatures. Dr. Russo also serves on the Editorial Board for the journal Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture, and Social Justice Journal.
Dr. Shannan Grant
Shannan Grant, RD, MSc, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator, Department of Applied Human Nutrition, Faculty of Professional Studies, at The Mount. She is also an Affiliate Scientist, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, IWK Health, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University. Shannan’s work focuses on development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based wellness, nutrition and food interventions, geared towards populations experiencing chronic disease, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, and persistent pain. Her work is influenced and guided by several frameworks, often intersecting, including shared-decision making, self-management, biomedical model, intersectionality (social determinants of health), feminism, and critical pedagogy. Through her work, Shannan aims to co-create accessible education, treatments, and programs, that are community- informed or led.
A self-proclaimed lifetime learner, Shannan is honoured to join Alexa McDonough Institute for Women, Gender, and Social Justice (AMI), it was one of the key institutes that drew her to The Mount. Since starting her postgraduate studies at University College of Cape Breton in the 1990s, she has been drawn to research and discussions that critically examine how women’s bodies are viewed, named, diagnosed, and treated in wellness and healthcare spaces, historically and presently. Most recently, with several of her longtime colleagues, she is co-editing a special edition of the Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice/Études critiques sur le genre, la culture, et la justice sociale called Healing is an act of communion: Critical perspectives on women’s health, wellness and disease.
Alicia (Yue) Guo
Alicia Guo is the Administrative and Events Assistant for the Alexa McDonough Institute for Women, Gender, and Social Justice and Nancy’s Chair. She holds a Bachelor of Management degree in Public Relations and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Currently, as an international student, Alicia is pursuing a Master’s degree in Communication Studies, specializing in trust-building theories and social movements. She plays a critical role in organizing and supporting AMI’s initiatives and events, ensuring they reflect the Institute’s commitment to social justice and feminist principles.
Adebola Osegboun
Adebola Esther Osegboun is the 2024 Fellow of the Alexa McDonough Institute for Women, Gender and Social Justice at Mount Saint Vincent University. She is also a master’s student in Women and Gender Studies and a recipient of Dr. Ramona Lumpkin and Dr. William Blackburn Scholarship, Women & Gender Studies Graduate Scholarship, and Julie Ann Carroll Memorial Graduate Studies Scholarship Awards. She was born and raised in Nigeria, a country where social injustice, gender inequality and women’s rights violation remain pervasive. She holds both master’s and bachelor’s degrees in political science. Her research and teaching background in political science coupled with her volunteering experience with NGOs that focus on women empowerment initiatives informed her interest women and gender studies. Adebola’s research centres around feminist critique Nigeria’s public policies and how this affects women participation and representation in electoral politics.
Similar to ‘lunch & learns,’ Talk & Teas will be offered once per month. All faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend. This is an opportunity to share either forthcoming research (e.g., a conference presentation) or a post-research report (e.g., a newly published article or book chapter).
If you are interested in participating, email ami@msvu.ca.
Topic: Shifting Shorelines: Feminist Waves and the Rising Tide of Social Media
Visiting Lecture for the Department of American Studies, University of Münster, Germany
Topic: From Online Anti-Gender Groups to Offline Protests: Mobilizing on ‘1 Million March
4 Children’ Movement
The primary aim of this study is to investigate the mobilization strategies of the “1 Million March 4 Children” movement, focusing on how their online strategies are implemented in offline contexts. This includes examining the role of social media in shaping and spreading the movement’s ideologies and actions.
Updates forthcoming …
In the meantime, check out MSVU’s Women Studies journal Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture and Social Justice for CFPs and research in the field: Atlantis
Have a research opportunity you would like to share? Email us at ami@msvu.ca!