Research
In 2017, I was sitting in the office of a professor, nervous and sleep deprived after a semester of balancing work, rehearsals and readings. Over her glasses, she looked at me and asked the pivotal question: so, what are you doing after this? At first, I thought she meant after this meeting. Really, “this” was referring to the crucible that is getting an undergraduate degree. I didn’t know what life looked like outside of “this” after being in it for four years. But I knew that I wanted to keep making things — specifically, making things that I longed to see more of in the world.
In 2019, I graduated from Queen’s University with a BAH and moved to Tkaronto after accepting my offer to the University of Toronto for an MA degree. During my time as a Master's student at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies (CDTPS), I was introduced to the work of Roxane Gay, Kimberlé Crenshaw, the Combahee River Collective, bell hooks and Patricia Hill Collins—and, immediately, I fell in love.
Through their writings, as well as several (eye-opening and life-altering) personal experiences, I discovered my need to dig into studies of mainstream feminism and gender-based violence. Specifically, looking at mainstream feminism through a lens that analyzes the contemporary practice of mainstream feminism in Canada and the United States. During my Master’s degree, I focused on the following questions: what is mainstream feminism? What does it look like in Canada? What does it mean to be a feminist today (2019)?
These inquiries led me to several feminist projects, such as the completion of my MA thesis titled "Talk to Me: A Millennial Dialogue of Performance, Testimony, Feminism(s) and social media", the performance of feminist documentary performance work such as Talk to Me and MEAT, as well as other social justice-involved work with Shakespeare in Action, the Critical Digital Humanities Initiative and most recently, my work with the African American Policy Forum as an Arts and Media Assistant. Currently, as a doctoral student at CDTPS, I am researching the application of intersectional feminist practice against GBV in post-COVID-19 North America.
To view my publication credits, click HERE.