Melanie Adrian
Associate Professor
- B.A. (Waterloo), M.A. (Essex), M.A. (Harvard), Ph.D. (Harvard)
- Email Melanie Adrian
Chair in Teaching Innovation (2019-2022)
Information about the Chair in Teaching Innovation
Dr. Melanie Adrian’s research focuses on the question of rights of minorities in religiously, ethnically and culturally diverse societies. She is examining how states integrate or accommodate culturally distinct peoples while maintaining a healthy balance between international and national rights and respect for national values. Amongst other publications, she is author of Religious Freedom at Risk: The EU, French schools, and Why the Veil was Banned (2016) and co-editor of Producing Islams in Canada: On Knowledge, Positionality, and Politics (2021). Dr. Adrian serves as Associate Editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam in North America (2026). More recently her research examines identity amongst Muslim youth in private Islamic schools in Canada. Her op-eds have been published in the Globe & Mail and the Ottawa Citizen. Dr. Adrian was invested into the Order of Ontario in 2019 and awarded the Senate Medal in 2017 for her work for at-risk scholars, breast cancer patients and community leadership.
Areas of Interest
- Religious rights of minorities in Europe and the Americas
(Art. 18 & Art. 9) - Identity and self-expression among Muslim minority communities in Europe and the Americas
- Intersections of multiculturalism, nationalism, religion and the law
- Social Theory
- Human Rights Law
Spotlight
Hussein, A., Adrian, M., Jackson, S.A., Al-Deen, A., Moore, K.M., Pastor, C. eds. (2026) The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam in North America. Oxford: Oxford.
Muslim Network TV (Nov. 8, 2022) “New Book, ‘Producing Islam(s) in Canada’. A Conversation with Drs. Melanie Adrian and Amélie Barras”
The Art and Science of Learning Podcast hosted by Dr. Kinga Petrovai (Aug 2022: Episode 6) – “Engaged Testing in the Classroom” (with Emily-Jean Gallant)
New Book Network hosted by Prof. Shobhana Xavier (March 2022) on “Producing Islams in Canada” (with Amélie Barras and Jennifer Selby)
The Art & Science of Learning (April 21, 2021) Podcast episode “Innovative Teaching in High Education “
CAUT (Sept. 2019) Profile Interview
University Affairs (March 2015) Profile Piece – “Make Way for Melanie Adrian”
Selected Publications
Books
- Barras, A., Selby, J.A., Adrian, M. (2021) Producing Islam(s) in Canada: On Knowledge, Positionality and Politics. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- Adrian, M. (2016) Religious Freedom at Risk: The EU, French schools, and Why the Veil was Banned. Switzerland: Springer.
Articles
- Adrian, M. (2019) “The principled slope: religious freedom and the European Court of Human Rights” in The European Court of Human Rights and Minority Religions: Messages Generated and Messages Received. Effie Fokas and James T. Richardson eds. New York: Routledge. P.9-20.
- Adrian, M. (2017) “The Principled Slope: Religious Freedom and the European Court of Human Rights.” Religion, State and Society. Vol. 45, no. 3-4. P. 174-185.
Book Chapters
- Adrian, M. (2023) “Public to Private Schooling: A Research Agenda” in Systemic Islamophobia in Canada: A Research Agenda. Anver Emon ed. Toronto: Toronto University Press.
- Adrian, M. (2023) “On Being French: Understanding Citizenship and Belonging” in Transnational French Studies Series. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
- Adrian, M. (2016) “Freedom of Religion: A Change in Perspective?” HumanRights: Political and Legal Perspectives. Ed. DiGiacomo, Gord. Toronto:University of Toronto Press. (Voted best 100 books in 2016 by The Hill Times)
Op-eds
- Adrian, M., Fernandez, V., Smit, A., Ramanujam, N. (2019) “Scholars are at risk all around the world – and Canada needs to lead” Globe & Mail 3 Jan. Print and online.
- Adrian, M. (2016) “No, Canadian Islamic Schools Don’t Teach Extremist Literature” HuffPost 10 September.
Media Appearances
Charlatan (Apr. 10 2023) “They Cannot Incarcerate my Mind: Carleton Groups Advocate for Scholar-at-Risk”
Muslim Network TV (Nov. 8, 2022) “New Book, ‘Producing Islam(s) in Canada’. A Conversation with Drs. Melanie Adrian and Amélie Barras”
The Art and Science of Learning Podcast hosted by Dr. Kinga Petrovai (Aug 2022: Episode 6) – “Engaged Testing in the Classroom” (with Emily-Jean Gallant)
University of Toronto Press Blog (June 28, 2022) – “Q&A Interview with UTP Authors Amélie Barras, Jennifer A. Selby and Melanie Adrian”
New Book Network hosted by Prof. Shobhana Xavier (March 2022) on “Producing Islams in Canada” (with Amélie Barras and Jennifer Selby)
Charlatan (Jan. 29, 2021) “Carleton Law Professor Melanie Adrian Appointed to the Order of Ontario”
The Art and Science of Learning Podcast hosted by Dr. Kinga Petrovai (Apr 2021: Episode 37) – “Innovative Teaching in Higher Education”
Globe and Mail (Apr. 23, 2019) quoted in “Canada Playing Major Role as safe haven for at-risk academics from strife-torn countries.”
Toronto Star (Apr. 5, 2019) Quoted in “How Secularism became Quebec’s Religion: the Distinct Path to Bill 21.”
CPAC (Oct. 17, 2017) “Views from Canadian Muslims”