Graduate Students

Bridget Okwuchi Alichie

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr. Temitope Oriola

Research Interests: Criminology, human rights, sexuality/gender studies, religion and new media studies.

My current research is on the phenomena of lynching and mob violence in Nigeria. I am particularly interested in exploring the knowledge and perceptions of lynching and mob culture; the roles of state and non-state actors in enabling or constraining such extrajudicial alternatives in urban spaces.

alichie@ualberta.ca

Wendy Aujla

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr Jana Grekul

Title: The Perspectives of Alberta Law Enforcement on "Honour" Crimes within the Context of Domestic Violence

The purpose of this study is to explore, describe and analyze the perceptions of "honour"-based crimes from police officers and civilians working in Alberta's policing agencies. This study will make a theoretical and practical contribution given growing concerns to combat the problem. The significance of this timely study is to increase the understanding of a complex yet under explored phenomenon in Canada, as well as to contribute to the planning for policing efforts aimed to protect those at risk.

Laura Aylsworth

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr Bryan Hogeveen

Title: Disrupting the Discursive Dichotomy: The Lived Experience of Women in Street-level Sex Work in Edmonton

My work focuses on critical and feminist analyses of crime, marginalization, and social inequality. My dissertation draws on qualitative in-depth interviews to explore participants' experiences navigating Edmonton's street-level sex trade, disrupt misconceptions about sex work, and inform policy and praxis to enhance worker safety and support.

Damilohun Damson Ayoyo

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology (Criminology & Socio-legal Studies)

Supervisor: Dr. Temitope Oriola

Title: The Evolution of the Biafran Secessionist Movement, 1960-2019

I am interested in exploring the differential impacts of political movements, insurgencies and terrorism, and policing. My current research explores the political process/opportunity affecting the Biafran movement.

Kelsi Barkway

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr. Michelle Maroto

Title: The Social Nature of Payment Technologies: A Case Study of the Toronto City Services Benefits Card

My work focuses on the intersections of inequality, payment technologies, and surveillance. Based on qualitative research conducted in Toronto, I explore the implementation of Canada's first "welfare card". Other academic interests include pedagogy, accessible and on-going education, and critical criminology.

Susan Cake

Samantha Cima

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Research Interests: Sexual violence; intimate partner violence; gender and sexuality; victimology; male survivors of sexual or intimate partner violence; social support and networks; rape myths and victim blaming.

cima@ualberta.ca

Jean-Philippe Crete

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr George Pavlich

Title: Forging Penology in Canada, 1850 - 1950 (Tentative title)

My research interests include critical prison studies, sociology of punishment and law; Classical and modern theories of criminality; Discourse analysis; Critical animal and posthumanist studies. In 2013, I completed my MA thesis titled: 'A Disciplined Healing: The New Language of Indigenous Incarceration in Canada' and am currently working towards my dissertation tentatively titled "Forging Penology in Canada" an archival study of the emergence of prison sciences in Canada. My recent work has been published in the Palgrave Handbook on Prison Tourism (forthcoming) and the Wiley Handbook on History and Philosophy of Criminology.

Tyler Dunford

Rezvaneh Erfani Hossein Pour

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr. Ken Caine

erfani@ualberta.ca
http://www.rezvaneh.com/

Nicole Eshkakogan

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Area of research: My research focuses on Indigenous social epidemiology, community-based research, health equity and anti-oppression praxis. Over the last 15 years, I have been dedicated to advancing the national agenda on incorporating Indigenous Ways of Knowing into scientific methodologies that inform evidence-based decision making and evaluation of programming to improve the overall health and well-being of Indigenous people in Canada.

nae@ualberta.ca

Mahmood Exiri Fard

Emily Gerbrandt

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

egerbran@ualberta.ca

Lorielle Giffin

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

lorielle@ualberta.ca

Jeongwon Gim

Michael Granzow

Juan Guevara

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Rob Shields

Research interests: marginalization, relations Humans and Non-Humans, critical disability and urban spaces.

My doctoral project seeks to understand the socio-material culture of urban informality through the mobilities, rhythms and time-space of informal spatial practices.

jguevara@ualberta.ca

Nicholas Hardy

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Research interests concern urban visual culture in the age of neo-liberalism and poetic experience as negentropy. His M.A. thesis dealt with the legacy of Walter Benjamin's thought to Sociology, with a focus on cinema, photography, fascism, consumerism and the decay of aura.

Nicole Hill

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr. Amy Kaler

Research Interests: Sociology of health, cultural studies, gender & feminist studies, qualitative research methods, public sociology

Prof-Collins Ifeonu

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr. Sandra Bucerius

I have a keen interest in studying Africans in the homeland and diaspora, with a particular focus on how their identities (i.e. minority status) are experienced within and outside the workplace.

Elif Yagmur Karagol Demir

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Takara Ketchell

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

My research relates to exploring the influences and implications of certain types of institutions on identity formation and enactment. Specifically, I am interested in the ways that history and cultural institutions such as festivals shape the way people understand their identity and how this is enacted/preformed.

ketchell@ualberta.ca

Joao Krieger

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Ashley Kyle

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Shingirai Mandizadza

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology
Vanier Graduate Scholar

Supervisor: Drs Amy Kaler & Ken Caine

Title: Land, Power and Gender in Development

My research project aims at investigating how land is gendered and how it is central to relations of power in land reform programs.

Lauren Adrienne Menzie

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr. George Pavlich

Research Interests: Socio-legal theory; queer theory; gender and sexuality; marginalized sexualities; evolution of criminal law; governance of sexuality; online communities; virtual engagements with law

menzie@ualberta.ca

Barbara Milmine

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr. Sara Dorow

Barbara Milmine is a Vanier Scholar whose research interests include urban Aboriginal populations and policy, the racialization of space, the intersection of race, gender and identity, and contemporary applications of traditional indigenous knowledge.

milmine@ualberta.ca

Abu Nurullah

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr. Herb Northcott

Burcu Ozdemir

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology (Theory and Culture)

Supervisor: Dr Richard Westerman

Area of Research: Social & political theory, sociology of knowledge, sociology of the body, continental philosophy, philosophical suicide

David Parent

dnparent@ualberta.ca

Sonja Sapach

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Sara Dorow & Geoffrey Rockwell

Title: Alienation, Solidarity, and Video Games: An Autoethnographic Exploration of the Resolution of Alienation and C-PTSD through Participation in Video Game Culture.

I am conducting an autoethnography that explores the potential for video games and video game culture to help resolve alienation, recover from individual and collective trauma, and develop social solidarity. More generally, I am interested in the development of meaning and identity through collective play, and a shared understanding of video game rules, symbols, spaces, and places. I am now the VP of the Canadian Game Studies Association

http://sonjasapach.ca

Isabel Scheuneman Scott

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology (Criminology)

Supervisor: Dr. Michelle Meagher

Area of Research: My work examines Indigenous women's prison writing in the Canadian context. I am interested in how incarcerated Indigenous women express their experiences of (state) violence, criminalization, and incarceration in prison newsletters, and how these expressions relate to and/or draw on various issues pertaining to gender, Indigeneity, resistance, and decolonization.

Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelscheunemanscott/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelscheunemanscott/

William Schultz

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr. Sandra Bucerius

Area of Research: My research focuses on subcultures in Albertan provincial prisons, and how these shape and are shaped by the daily routines of inmates, officers, and other prison staff.

wschultz@ualberta.ca

Ivan Shmatko

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr. Sandra Bucerius

Ivan is a qualitative sociologist, particularly interested in urban ethnography and ethnography of policing. His research interests include provisional authority, informal governance and the ways they both influence formal social control.

Marcella Siqueira Cassiano

Charles Stubblefield

Justin Tetrault

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr Kevin D. Haggerty

Title: My dissertation looks at conservative movements in Canada. Other research interests include biometrics, social theory, visual sociology, race and ethnicity, and critical criminology.

Bozhin Traykov

Angela Wilson

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr Stephen Kent

Title: (Tentative) Anti-Science as Pseudoreligiosity - Explanations for the Rejection of Scientific Consensus

My interests are in the fields of Sociology of Science and Religion to help understand how anti-science and pseudoscience beliefs take hold in an advanced technological society. Especially relevant in the age of online social networking where information passes among peers without the benefit of reliable information sources. I also specialize in examining the roles of women in science and engineering careers.

Luke Wonneck

Doctor of Philosophy - Sociology

Supervisor: Dr. Ken Caine

Research Interests: Environmental sociology, sociology of agriculture, social practice theory, network analysis, mixed methods, wetland governance

My doctoral research will explore the reproduction of conventional cropping practices in Alberta, with a focus on their relation to wetland drainage. Specifically, my research aims to address the following questions: how and why does wetland drainage in Alberta's cropland emerge, persist, evolve, and fragment; and what roles do and can existing programs, policies, and other practices play in these dynamics?

lwonneck@ualberta.ca