About the Researchers
Dr. Irene Shankar is dedicated to critical engagement with complex intersections of marginalization and inequality within her scholarship and teaching. A sociologist, Dr. Shankar’s main areas of interest are the Sociology of Gender, Intersectional Feminist Theories, Critical Race Theory, Qualitative Methodology, and the Sociology of Health and Illness. Dr. Shankar’s ability to use her critical scholarship to inspire activism and change has resulted in numerous commendations for her leadership in both teaching and research. She is a recipient of the 2013 Champion Award from the Students’ Association of MRU and the 2016 Distinguished Faculty Award, a three-time nominee for MRU Teaching Award, and a two-time nominee of MRU Research Award. She is currently completing her project on individualized and gendered constructions of risk and responsibility during the H1N1 Pandemic in Alberta in 2009. Dr. Shankar is an advocate for sexualized violence survivors on her campus, and has published peer-reviewed and open access analyses of PSI policies and practices.
Dr. Corinne L. Mason's research maps how feminist and queer languages and logics are incorporated into institutional and mediated contexts, with an emphasis on 2SLGBTQIA* rights, gender-based and sexualized violence, and reproductive justice. Dr. Mason's first book Manufacturing Urgency: Development Perspectives on Violence Against Women won the 2019 Women’s and Gender Studies et Recherches Féministe Outstanding Research Award. In 2020, they were awarded the Brandon University Senate Teaching Award. Dr. Mason is currently completing her second book Queer Parenting at the End of the World, which is a hybrid scholarly memoir about reproductive justice, climate crisis, and queer kinship. In 2016, Dr. Mason became a 'whistleblower' at her university around the use of coercive non-disclosure agreements in cases of sexualized violence. She has publicly critiqued their institutions mishandling of complaints again in 2021. w: corinnelmason.com