Below please find a list of some of our M.A./Ph.D. graduates in Sociology, and information on what they are presently doing. M.A. graduates from our Sociology program go on to a variety of Ph.D. programs as well as employment in the government, non-profit, and private sectors. Dozens of our Sociology Ph.D. graduates have gone on to become faculty at universities and colleges in Canada or abroad, as well as to key positions in government and leadership roles at non-profits.
Vanessa Brown (PhD. 2021) is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Defence Studies working within the Dallaire Centre of Excellence for Peace and Security, Canadian Defence Academy.
Sarah Sharp (MA, 2021) is currently facilitating technical writing courses for Algonquin College part-time so that she can write her first science fiction novel. Sarah is using what she learned from the thesis writing process to structure the book, and its themes are distinctly sociological.
Victoria Simmons (PhD, 2019) is teaching in the Department of General Education at Mount Royal University.
Valerie Stam (PhD, 2019) is executive director of the City For All Women Initiative in Ottawa.
Aaron Klassen (PhD, 2018) is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Booth University College in Winnipeg, and has been hired with the opportunity to develop the Department of Behavioural Sciences with a focus on urban sociology and with an interdisciplinary approach.
Laura McKendy (PhD, 2018) is a post-doctoral fellow at Memorial University of Newfoundland, working under the supervision of Dr. Rose Ricciardelli. She is also a senior researcher at the Research Branch with the Correctional Service of Canada.
Gulden Ozcan (PhD, 2017) is an assistant professor of Sociology at the University of Lethbridge.
Kaitlin MacKenzie (MA, 2017) is an Outreach Officer on the Outreach and Stakeholder Engagement team at Elections Canada. Her work involves engaging with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis electors.
Allison Wallis (MA, 2017) is an Analyst in the Performance and Risk Management Centre of Expertise, within Corporate Management Sector at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).
Kara Brisson-Boivin (PhD, 2016) is the Director of Research at MediaSmarts, Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy. She oversees all of the planning, methodology, implementation, and dissemination of key findings from MediaSmarts’ research studies, as well as all program and resource evaluation.
Ian Cooper (PhD, 2016) is Director, Employment and Social Development Canada.
Jennifer Mackin (MA, 2016) is a Performance and Policy Analyst for the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (i.e. NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR). In this role she writes performance plans and creates monitoring tools (surveys, interviews etc.). Her work also includes targeted research studies that inform policy decisions made by the councils and science minister. This was made possible by a quantitative specialization and co-op.
Priscillia Lefebvre (PhD, 2015) is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology, and Chair, of the Women's Resource Centre at Okanagan College, Penticton campus.
Amanda Wilson (PhD, 2015) is an assistant professor in the Élisabeth-Bruyère School of Social Innovation at St. Paul's University.
John Graham (MA, 2015) is a Social Economist at Statistics Canada. His work involves survey development and the analysis of health data.
Lindsey McKay (PhD, 2015) is a tenure-track Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC. Following two research-based post-docs at Brock with CRC Andrea Doucet (formerly at Carleton) and at uOttawa, she is now focused on teaching sociology.
Alex Luscombe (MA, 2015) is currently a PhD student at the University of Toronto's Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies.
Jordon Tomblin (MA, 2015) is a Business Analyst with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy. He is responsible for assessing policies and estate administrations and acts as liaison to integrate stakeholder needs with technology. Jordon is also acting Manager of Data Management leading a team to strengthen data architecture and software. Read Jordon's article on "Sentencing 'Anonymous': exacerbating the civil divide between online citizens and government".
Jordan Fairbairn (PhD, 2015) is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology at King’s University College at Western University in London, Ontario. Jordan is a co-investigator with the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative with Vulnerable Populations and a member of the expert panel of the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability.
Thomas Abrams (PhD, 2014) is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Queen's University.
Jamie Brownlee (PhD, 2014) teaches on corporate crime, climate change, and environmental policy in the Departments of Geography & Environmental Studies and Law & Legal Studies at Carleton. He is the author or editor of four books on Canadian political economy, higher education, and access to information law.
Christine Hughes (PhD, 2014) is an Analyst with the Department for Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE).
Derek Silva (MA, 2014) is an Associate Professor of Criminology at King's University College at Western University where he teaches and researches in the areas of terrorism studies, social control, law, and sport. You can find his most recent work here, or keep up with him on Twitter @DerekCrim.
Katherine Van Meyl (MA, 2014) is a therapist at the Centre for Interpersonal Relationships (CFIR).
Daniel Braun (PhD, 2013) is an Educational Developer in the Office of Teaching and Learning Services at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. He also can’t help himself from indoctrinating sociology students every now and then.
Christian Caron (PhD, 2013) is full-time teaching professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto.
Chanel Ghazzawi (MA, 2013) is working with Transport Canada as a Program Policy Analyst with the Innovation Centre. Here, she conducts, monitors, and prepares analyses of socio-economic studies, programs, and projects with direct transportation implications to assess their impacts on the federal government's and other jurisdictions' priorities and goals.
Chris Hurl (PhD, 2013) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Concordia University.
Jennifer Whitson (PhD, 2012) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo.
Ryan Boyd (MA, 2012) is a Senior Manager at the Policy Innovation Hub, Strategy and Innovation, with the Ontario Cabinet Office.
Karen Foster (PhD, 2012) is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Dalhousie University. She also holds the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Rural Futures for Atlantic Canada and directs a rural research centre focused on qualitative interviews and quantitative telephone surveys of Atlantic Canadians. Her current research, still building on the doctoral studies she completed at Carleton, brings a generational lens to work, income and social change in rural communities.
Justin Piché (PhD, 2012) is Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology and Director of the Carceral Studies Research Collective at the University of Ottawa. He is also Co-editor of the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons, founding member of the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project (with his former doctoral supervisor Aaron Doyle, Department Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University), and Co-investigator for the Carceral Cultures Research Initiative. Professor Piché has over 50 peer-reviewed publications and more than 250 media interventions in three substantive areas: 1) the normalization and proliferation of imprisonment inside and outside the penal system; 2) alternatives to incarceration and punishment; and 3) cultural representations of confinement and penality. He was awarded the Aurora Prize in 2012 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Young Researcher of the Year Award in 2016 from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Ottawa.
Nick Scott (PhD, 2012) is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Simon Fraser University and lives in Vancouver. His teaching and research focus on methods, urban mobilities and environmental sociology.
Jen Wrye (PhD, 2012) is a sociology instructor and educational developer at North Island College on Vancouver Island. She is also the board chair of a local food security nonprofit.
Chantal Gallant (MA, 2011) works with the Centre for Work, Organisation & Wellbeing at Griffith University in Brisbane.
Michael E. Graydon (PhD, 2011) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Algoma University. As a university, Algoma emphasizes quality teaching which is Michael's first love. His research interests include social history, LGBT social history, social movements, the body, and gender.
Shawna Holmes (MA, 2010) completed her PhD in Sociology at the University of Guelph. She is currently Manager, Community Engagement, for the Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa.
Darryl Leroux (PhD, 2010) is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Social Justice and Community Studies at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. Since 2015, he’s been researching the phenomenon of white French-descendants claiming an “Indigenous” identity through the use of (genetic) genealogy. His book on the topic, Distorted Descent: White Claims to Indigenous Identity, became available in 2019.
Dale Spencer (PhD, 2010) is a full-time Associate Professor of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University. The criminalization of marginalized populations serves as a focal and integrative point for his research interests.
Kevin Walby (PhD, 2010) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at University of Winnipeg. His research focuses on areas such as policing, security, surveillance; representations of crime and criminality; access to information and freedom of information law; sex work, sexuality, and emotional labour; and urban studies.
Christopher Peters (PhD, 2009) is Professor with Special Responsibilities in Audience Research at Roskilde University, Denmark and Co-Founder/Director of the Centre for Digital Citizenship.