{"id":47592,"date":"2018-06-11T16:17:09","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T20:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=47592"},"modified":"2025-10-17T10:39:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:39:04","slug":"mother-and-daughter-team-legal-studies","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/mother-and-daughter-team-legal-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Convocation 2018: Mother and Daughter Team Pick up Master’s Degrees in Legal Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Spring Convocation 2018: Mother and Daughter Team Pick up Master's Degrees in Legal Studies\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

In 2000, Suzanne Gahagan left the graduate program in Law and Legal Studies<\/a> to focus on her young family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eighteen years later, she found herself sitting in a classroom next to her daughter: both pursuing the same master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had visited the Law Department to ask about returning and Prof. Diana Majury said: \u2018Come back!\u2019\u201d recalls Suzanne. \u201cI felt so welcome\u2014I have been treated like any other student.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For her daughter, Mackenzie Gahagan Stewart, it took some adjustment..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a little awkward in the beginning as we found our footing in this new terrain,\u201d explains Mackenzie, who had just finished her Bachelor of Arts in Law. \u201cWe had to navigate the mother-daughter relationship in a different dynamic, but then we fell into a groove.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Common Interest<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The pair had some things in common beyond their familial bond: both had earned a Bachelor of Arts in Law<\/a> from Carleton, both were interested in issues related to women and the law, and both served as teaching assistants. After focusing on Law as an undergraduate, Suzanne was eager to do further research and writing on women\u2019s issues while pursuing a master\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was always interested in supporting those who can\u2019t support themselves, whether children, women or other overlooked groups,\u201d explains Suzanne, who has also worked as an advocate for funded midwifery. \u201cAs a result, I have a life goal of improving the lot of women.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It will be a double celebration for a mother-daughter duo at Carleton this week. @LeahCTV<\/a> explains #ottnews<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/DvXCUZ0VOb<\/a><\/p>

\u2014 CTV Ottawa (@ctvottawa) June 10, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Those themes also resonate with Mackenzie. She and Suzanne became involved with the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project that works on issues related to incarceration at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre. They organized workshops and discussions that brought former inmates to speak at local community centres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe drove all around Ottawa picking these individuals up, so we were able to hear their personal experiences,\u201d recalls Mackenzie. \u201cYou don\u2019t usually hear their raw stories, and I felt privileged to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suzanne says it\u2019s just one of many new experiences the two have shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tackling Law and Legal Studies Degrees Together<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was made so much more interesting because Mackenzie is no longer simply my young daughter, but my classmate. There was a great synergy between us. At times, our study group involved us, in our pajamas, at the dining room table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving forward, both are eager to continue their research. Mackenzie is considering a PhD or law school elsewhere; Suzanne is thinking about pursuing a PhD at Carleton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel finished yet,\u201d says Suzanne. \u201cI would really like to work on a research paper about risk factors for incarceration as it pertains to women and girls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suzanne Gahagan has a lot of company in the classrooms of the Department of Law and Legal Studies. Dozens of mature students are taking classes: some are pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree for the first time; others are picking up on a master\u2019s or PhD they had put aside years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe vast majority are women who at some point started a degree and had to stop because of family obligations, says Christiane Wilke, an associate professor and the graduate supervisor. \u201cOthers have been working for an extended period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilke finds they have different worries than younger students, often fearing that they aren\u2019t working fast enough and they won\u2019t be able to adapt to the technology. Some even started their master\u2019s thesis on a typewriter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey have different needs than a 20-year-old student, but having them here is so enriching and gratifying. They balance out the classroom in a different way,\u201d explains Wilke. \u201cThey bring an enormous sense of experience and perspective, so when the younger students are panicking, the older students are able to mentor them through that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suzanne and Mackenzie Gahagan will earn their master’s degrees in Law and Legal Studies at this week’s Spring 2018 Convocation<\/a> ceremony. Read more about it at Carleton.ca\/Convocation<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2000, Suzanne Gahagan left the graduate program in Law and Legal Studies to focus on her young family. Eighteen years later, she found herself sitting in a classroom next to her daughter: both pursuing the same master\u2019s degree. \u201cI had visited the Law Department to ask about returning and Prof. Diana Majury said: \u2018Come back!\u2019\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[25],"cu_story_tag":[1921],"class_list":["post-47592","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-student-experience","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-public-and-global-affairs"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/47592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/47592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97951,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/47592\/revisions\/97951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=47592"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=47592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}