Welcome to my website!
My name is Dax and I'm currently the Skelton-Clark Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Studies at Queen's University and a Research Affiliate with the Centre for Constitutional Studies in the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta. I'm also affiliated with the Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University, where I blog and serve as a member of its Working Group on Academic Freedom.
Although I grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, ON, I've been living elsewhere while I pursue various academic opportunities - mostly in Ottawa, Edmonton, and now Kingston. I have a Bachelors Degree in Public Affairs and Policy Management (2013), a Masters Degree in Political Economy (2015), and most recently a PhD in Political Science from the University of Alberta.
My academic interests are diverse but most of my research revolves around free expression. My doctoral research project - which received a SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Doctoral Scholarship and was recently nominated for both a Governor General's Gold Medal and CAGS-ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award - examined the contemporary state of freedom of expression on Canadian university campuses. The project blends literature from the fields of Political Science, Law and Legal Studies, and Philosophy, and uses a qualitative mixed-methods approach that included literature reviews, legal analysis, media analysis, personal interviews, and freedom of information requests. My MA thesis (passed with distinction) examined the demise of Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.
I've also researched and written about the politics of alternative sport. This work has recently focused on how skateboarding subculture will change as it becomes an official 'sport' at the Olympic Games. In addition to my academic research and writing, I'm also an avid writer in various non-academic venues, including blogs, investigative journalism, and opinion editorials. You can find links to some of my published academic and non-academic work in the 'Academic Research,' 'In the News,' and 'Journalism' sections of this website.
I've been the recipient of several academic awards and scholarships, including the Faculty of Arts Graduate Teaching Award (2018), the Andrew Stewart Memorial Graduate Prize (2020), and the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship (2020, 2021). Throughout my studies, I've been involved in a number of community and non-profit groups. My major extra-curricular project as an undergraduate student, for example, was creating and hosting a regular documentary film screening series at Carleton University. More recently, my passion for teaching has led me to spearhead a working group dedicated to pedagogical training, mentorship, and collaboration among graduate students and faculty. Over the past few years, I've helped to organize countless academic and non-academic events, including conferences, debates, film screenings, lectures, and panel discussions.
Although I grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, ON, I've been living elsewhere while I pursue various academic opportunities - mostly in Ottawa, Edmonton, and now Kingston. I have a Bachelors Degree in Public Affairs and Policy Management (2013), a Masters Degree in Political Economy (2015), and most recently a PhD in Political Science from the University of Alberta.
My academic interests are diverse but most of my research revolves around free expression. My doctoral research project - which received a SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Doctoral Scholarship and was recently nominated for both a Governor General's Gold Medal and CAGS-ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award - examined the contemporary state of freedom of expression on Canadian university campuses. The project blends literature from the fields of Political Science, Law and Legal Studies, and Philosophy, and uses a qualitative mixed-methods approach that included literature reviews, legal analysis, media analysis, personal interviews, and freedom of information requests. My MA thesis (passed with distinction) examined the demise of Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.
I've also researched and written about the politics of alternative sport. This work has recently focused on how skateboarding subculture will change as it becomes an official 'sport' at the Olympic Games. In addition to my academic research and writing, I'm also an avid writer in various non-academic venues, including blogs, investigative journalism, and opinion editorials. You can find links to some of my published academic and non-academic work in the 'Academic Research,' 'In the News,' and 'Journalism' sections of this website.
I've been the recipient of several academic awards and scholarships, including the Faculty of Arts Graduate Teaching Award (2018), the Andrew Stewart Memorial Graduate Prize (2020), and the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship (2020, 2021). Throughout my studies, I've been involved in a number of community and non-profit groups. My major extra-curricular project as an undergraduate student, for example, was creating and hosting a regular documentary film screening series at Carleton University. More recently, my passion for teaching has led me to spearhead a working group dedicated to pedagogical training, mentorship, and collaboration among graduate students and faculty. Over the past few years, I've helped to organize countless academic and non-academic events, including conferences, debates, film screenings, lectures, and panel discussions.
