1) The Law and Politics of Free Expression
Most of my research revolves around free expression in its various legal, philosophical, policy, and political dimensions. In the contemporary moment, free expression looms large. Particularly on university campuses, there has been no shortage of cases and controversies over the past decade. While criticism of contemporary higher education has always been a pillar of the still smoldering culture wars, the issue has now moved from op-ed pages to official government policy.
Following the election of majority Conservative governments in Ontario (2018) and Alberta (2019), post-secondary institutions in these provinces were compelled to amend or create policy statements protecting free expression. Despite a wealth of research about free expression on American college and university campuses, Canada is still relatively understudied. My research addresses this gap with a novel blending of political theory and philosophy with empirical data gathering.
I am completing a book under contract with University of Toronto Press. This project includes some key pieces of my PhD dissertation, along with new data and analysis. Seeking to bridge the academic / non-academic divide, the book will equally appeal to academic audiences and general interest readers that would like to better understand the politics of free expression in Canadian higher education.
My previous postdoctoral project (as the Skelton-Clark Postdoctoral Fellow in Canadian Affairs at Queen's University) examined the law and politics of extending constitutional protections for expression (i.e. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms) to university campuses. This work was divided into two smaller projects: 1) an examination of expressive limits on campus in law and policy, including relevant case law; and 2) a comparative analysis of American and Canadian case law on student codes of conduct and student disciplinary proceedings.
My PhD dissertation project - titled "The Contemporary State of Free Expression on Canadian University Campuses: Responding to the Alleged 'Crisis'" - was an examination of the alleged 'crisis' of free expression on gripping Canadian university campuses. Portions of this research was profiled in a National Post article written by Joseph Brean, titled "The 'feedback loop' that pits students against politicians in the campus free speech crisis."
The general focus of my dissertation (and book project) is trying to understand the political contours of free expression on campus and how and why free expression became one of the most noticeable fractures in contemporary campus politics. I use a qualitative, mixed-methods approach that includes: reviews of relevant literature, legal analysis, media analysis, semi-structured personal interviews, and freedom of information requests. Primary data collection includes over 80 interviews with students, faculty, administrators, journalists, pundits, and activists, and several thousands of pages of records gleaned from freedom of information requests.
Publications
2022. "What's Public about Publicly-funded Universities? The Law and Politics of Extending Charter Protections to Campus Expression." Review of Constitutional Studies. 26/27(1/2): 169-198.
2021. "How and Why the Chicago Principles Came to Canada: Free Expression on Campus and the Closing of the 'Campus Crisis Feedback Loop.'" American Review of Canadian Studies. 51(4): 533-553.
2021. “Deplatforming in Theory and Practice: The Ann Coulter Debacle.” In Emmett Macfarlane (Ed.), Dilemmas of Free Expression (Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press).
2020. "Contemporary Campus Controversy and the Conceptual Elasticity of Harm." Canadian Journal of Political Science. 53(4): 755-776.
Works in Progress
Book: Free Expression on Campus: The Alleged Crisis and the Politics of Higher Education
Journal Article: "Is There a Non-Liberal Version of Free Expression"
Journal Article: "Student Codes of Conduct and Free Expression: Is There Room for Constitutional Law?"
2) The System of Police Oversight in Ontario
Amid heightened public scrutiny of alleged incidences of police misconduct, the province of Ontario has embarked upon significant policy development to improve its system of police oversight. Such policies are an important element of accountability of transparency, but they are also important to ensure public trust. As a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Science at the University of Guelph, my major research project for the next two years (2024-2026) is an examination of the system of police oversight in Ontario.
The project is focused specifically on police discipline and will use legal analysis and freedom of information requests to uncover patterns in disciplinary proceedings across Ontario. The analysis will reveal which types of misconduct are most prevalent, which police services are most/least represented in disciplinary proceedings, and the results of disciplinary proceedings, among other things. The project will also create new statistics on formal and informal disciplinary measures that will be made available to public interest researchers in the academy, journalism, and broader public.
Works in Progress
Journal Article: "Police Oversight in Ontario: A Look at Police Services Act Charges and Their Outcomes"
3) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
I also research teaching and pedagogy in the field of Political Science, contributing to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). My current projects in this field include: reflections on student-led teaching training and professional development opportunities, a project examining student perceptions of undergraduate courses (at Queen's University), and a project examining the current state of teaching training in Canadian Political Science graduate programs.
As a Research Associate with the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Queen's University, I will soon begin a new project focused on the current health of campus discussions, including anonymized surveys and follow-up focus groups for undergraduate students. The data collected will allow us to better understand some of the determinants of healthy conversations on campus - in the classroom and online - with a view to offering more tangible resources to the Queen's teaching community. The research findings will inform peer-reviewed publications and also the creation of a 'Teaching Toolkit' that will be made available through the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
You can find more details about my teaching experience (and research related to teaching) in the 'Teaching' section of this site.
Publications
2024 (with Meagan Auer, Noelle Jaipaul, Elise Sammons, and Rissa Reist). “Discipline-Specific Teaching and Pedagogical Development: A Missing Piece in Canadian Political Science Graduate Education.” In Michael P.A. Murphy and Misbah Hyder (Eds.), Teaching Political Science and International Relations for Early Career Instructors (London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan).
Works in Progress
Journal Article: "Student Perceptions of Political Science Courses" (with Michael Murphy and Samantha Twietmeyer)
Journal Article: "Teaching Training and Mentorship in Canadian Political Science Programs" (with Meagan Auer, Noelle Jaipaul, Elise Sammons, and Rissa Reist)
4) Subcultural Studies and the Politics of Alternative Sport
Lastly, I have published in the field of sport sociology, including research that examined the politics of (alternative) sport and subcultures. In this work I explored a number of themes related to skateboarding subculture: the concept of subcultural escapism and the political significance of alternative forms of meaning; how film has been significant in the development of skateboarding subculture; and the potential ramifications of skateboarding becoming a 'sport' at the Olympic Games.
Publications
2021. “Skateboarding's Olympic Moment: The Gendered Contours of Sportification.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues. 45 (5): 395-425.
2020. “The ‘Skate Video’ Revolution: How Promotional Film Changed Skateboarding Subculture.” International Journal of Sport and Society. 11 (3): 55-72.
2017. “Reappraising the Birmingham School: The Escapist Roots of Skateboarding Subculture.” International Journal of Sport and Society. 8 (4): 19-39.
Most of my research revolves around free expression in its various legal, philosophical, policy, and political dimensions. In the contemporary moment, free expression looms large. Particularly on university campuses, there has been no shortage of cases and controversies over the past decade. While criticism of contemporary higher education has always been a pillar of the still smoldering culture wars, the issue has now moved from op-ed pages to official government policy.
Following the election of majority Conservative governments in Ontario (2018) and Alberta (2019), post-secondary institutions in these provinces were compelled to amend or create policy statements protecting free expression. Despite a wealth of research about free expression on American college and university campuses, Canada is still relatively understudied. My research addresses this gap with a novel blending of political theory and philosophy with empirical data gathering.
I am completing a book under contract with University of Toronto Press. This project includes some key pieces of my PhD dissertation, along with new data and analysis. Seeking to bridge the academic / non-academic divide, the book will equally appeal to academic audiences and general interest readers that would like to better understand the politics of free expression in Canadian higher education.
My previous postdoctoral project (as the Skelton-Clark Postdoctoral Fellow in Canadian Affairs at Queen's University) examined the law and politics of extending constitutional protections for expression (i.e. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms) to university campuses. This work was divided into two smaller projects: 1) an examination of expressive limits on campus in law and policy, including relevant case law; and 2) a comparative analysis of American and Canadian case law on student codes of conduct and student disciplinary proceedings.
My PhD dissertation project - titled "The Contemporary State of Free Expression on Canadian University Campuses: Responding to the Alleged 'Crisis'" - was an examination of the alleged 'crisis' of free expression on gripping Canadian university campuses. Portions of this research was profiled in a National Post article written by Joseph Brean, titled "The 'feedback loop' that pits students against politicians in the campus free speech crisis."
The general focus of my dissertation (and book project) is trying to understand the political contours of free expression on campus and how and why free expression became one of the most noticeable fractures in contemporary campus politics. I use a qualitative, mixed-methods approach that includes: reviews of relevant literature, legal analysis, media analysis, semi-structured personal interviews, and freedom of information requests. Primary data collection includes over 80 interviews with students, faculty, administrators, journalists, pundits, and activists, and several thousands of pages of records gleaned from freedom of information requests.
Publications
2022. "What's Public about Publicly-funded Universities? The Law and Politics of Extending Charter Protections to Campus Expression." Review of Constitutional Studies. 26/27(1/2): 169-198.
2021. "How and Why the Chicago Principles Came to Canada: Free Expression on Campus and the Closing of the 'Campus Crisis Feedback Loop.'" American Review of Canadian Studies. 51(4): 533-553.
2021. “Deplatforming in Theory and Practice: The Ann Coulter Debacle.” In Emmett Macfarlane (Ed.), Dilemmas of Free Expression (Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press).
2020. "Contemporary Campus Controversy and the Conceptual Elasticity of Harm." Canadian Journal of Political Science. 53(4): 755-776.
Works in Progress
Book: Free Expression on Campus: The Alleged Crisis and the Politics of Higher Education
Journal Article: "Is There a Non-Liberal Version of Free Expression"
Journal Article: "Student Codes of Conduct and Free Expression: Is There Room for Constitutional Law?"
2) The System of Police Oversight in Ontario
Amid heightened public scrutiny of alleged incidences of police misconduct, the province of Ontario has embarked upon significant policy development to improve its system of police oversight. Such policies are an important element of accountability of transparency, but they are also important to ensure public trust. As a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Science at the University of Guelph, my major research project for the next two years (2024-2026) is an examination of the system of police oversight in Ontario.
The project is focused specifically on police discipline and will use legal analysis and freedom of information requests to uncover patterns in disciplinary proceedings across Ontario. The analysis will reveal which types of misconduct are most prevalent, which police services are most/least represented in disciplinary proceedings, and the results of disciplinary proceedings, among other things. The project will also create new statistics on formal and informal disciplinary measures that will be made available to public interest researchers in the academy, journalism, and broader public.
Works in Progress
Journal Article: "Police Oversight in Ontario: A Look at Police Services Act Charges and Their Outcomes"
3) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
I also research teaching and pedagogy in the field of Political Science, contributing to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). My current projects in this field include: reflections on student-led teaching training and professional development opportunities, a project examining student perceptions of undergraduate courses (at Queen's University), and a project examining the current state of teaching training in Canadian Political Science graduate programs.
As a Research Associate with the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Queen's University, I will soon begin a new project focused on the current health of campus discussions, including anonymized surveys and follow-up focus groups for undergraduate students. The data collected will allow us to better understand some of the determinants of healthy conversations on campus - in the classroom and online - with a view to offering more tangible resources to the Queen's teaching community. The research findings will inform peer-reviewed publications and also the creation of a 'Teaching Toolkit' that will be made available through the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
You can find more details about my teaching experience (and research related to teaching) in the 'Teaching' section of this site.
Publications
2024 (with Meagan Auer, Noelle Jaipaul, Elise Sammons, and Rissa Reist). “Discipline-Specific Teaching and Pedagogical Development: A Missing Piece in Canadian Political Science Graduate Education.” In Michael P.A. Murphy and Misbah Hyder (Eds.), Teaching Political Science and International Relations for Early Career Instructors (London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan).
Works in Progress
Journal Article: "Student Perceptions of Political Science Courses" (with Michael Murphy and Samantha Twietmeyer)
Journal Article: "Teaching Training and Mentorship in Canadian Political Science Programs" (with Meagan Auer, Noelle Jaipaul, Elise Sammons, and Rissa Reist)
4) Subcultural Studies and the Politics of Alternative Sport
Lastly, I have published in the field of sport sociology, including research that examined the politics of (alternative) sport and subcultures. In this work I explored a number of themes related to skateboarding subculture: the concept of subcultural escapism and the political significance of alternative forms of meaning; how film has been significant in the development of skateboarding subculture; and the potential ramifications of skateboarding becoming a 'sport' at the Olympic Games.
Publications
2021. “Skateboarding's Olympic Moment: The Gendered Contours of Sportification.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues. 45 (5): 395-425.
2020. “The ‘Skate Video’ Revolution: How Promotional Film Changed Skateboarding Subculture.” International Journal of Sport and Society. 11 (3): 55-72.
2017. “Reappraising the Birmingham School: The Escapist Roots of Skateboarding Subculture.” International Journal of Sport and Society. 8 (4): 19-39.
