Tonya Davidson teaches sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University. Her research focuses on monuments, public memory, various forms of public nostalgia, and Ottawa. She regularly teaches Introduction to Sociology, and a first-year seminar called “the Sociology of Ottawa.” She has most recently published Seasonal Sociology (co-edited with Ondine Park), which won the 2021 American Association of Publishers award for best textbook in the social sciences. She is currently working on a book project with David Dean, which will offer analyses of all of the monuments in the National Capital Region.
Research
Seasonal Sociology (2020) (co-edited with Ondine Park). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
“Summer in Cottage Country: Expectations and Experiences of Canadian Nature” (2020). In T. Davidson and O. Park (Eds.), Seasonal Sociology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
“The Social Lives of Statues” (2017). In Albanese, P, L. Tepperman and E. Alexander (Eds), Reading Sociology 3rd edition. Oxford University Press.
Ecologies of Affect: Placing Nostalgia, Desire and Hope (2011). Tonya Davidson, Ondine Park and Rob Shields. (Eds.), Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
“Nostalgia and Postmemories of a Lost Place: Actualizing ‘My Virtual Homeland.” In Ecologies of Affect: Placing Nostalgia, Desire and Hope (2011) Tonya Davidson, Ondine Park and Rob Shields. (Eds.), Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
“Narratives of National Belonging at Ottawa Monuments: The Canadian Tribute to Human Rights” and “Enclave: The Women’s Monument.” Topia: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies. No. 36 (2016).
“Reassembling Ottawa: Editorial Introduction (with Nicholas Scott).” Canadian Journal of Urban Research Summer Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 1-7 (Summer 2016).
“Mica, Pedagogy, Defacement: Learning from Canada’s National War Memorial.” The Public Historian, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 42–61 (May 2016).
“Mourning Stompin’ Tom.” Topia: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies. No. 35 (2016).
“Imperial Nostalgia, Social Ghosts, and Canada’s National War Memorial.” Space and Culture, May 2016; vol. 19, 2: pp. 177-191.
“A Scout’s Life: English-Canadian Nostalgia, Colonialism, and Aboriginality.” In Ottawa Journal of Canadian Studies, (2014) vol. 48 (3).
“Remembering Houses: The Role of Domestic Architecture in the Structuring of Memory.” Space and Culture, (2009) vol. 12 (3).