Presentations

The following presentations are samples of my work.

Human Rights in Canada: A History (40 minutes) [aussi en français]

  • “Rights Inflation in the Age of Post-Truth Politics,” Fake News, Disinformation, and Post-Truth Politics conference (Victoria, B.C.), 1 September 2022.
  • “Debating Rights Inflation,” Human Rights @ 60: Reflecting and Reimagining, (Toronto, ON), 23 June 2022.
  • “Equality and Human Rights: Canada and Europe Compared” KU Leuven (Brussels, Belgium), 8 July 2019.
  • “Equality Deferred: Human Rights Law and Sex Discrimination in British Columbia ” Northern BC Archives (Prince George, BC), 6 November 2017.
  • “From the ‘Reign of Terror’ to the War on Terror: The History of Human Rights in Canada.” McBride Public Library (McBride, BC), 4 November 2017.
  • “Human Rights or Social Justice? The Problem of Rights Inflation” University of Northern British Columbia Global Topics Speaker Series (Prince George, BC), 2 November 2017.
  • “Is there a Distinctly Canadian Rights Culture?” Carleton University, Department of History and the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies (Ottawa, ON), 26 September 2016.
  • “Human Rights in Canadian History.” Canadian Museum for Human Rights (Winnipeg, MB), 21 September 2016.
  • “Les droits de la personne dans l’histoire du Canada.” Musée canadien pour les droits de la personne (Winnipeg, MB), 20 September 2016.
  • “Human Rights Law in Canada.” New Zealand Centre for Human Rights Law, Policy and Practice (Auckland, NZ), 3 May 2016.
  • “Freedom of Information Law and Historical Research.” Legal Archives Society of Alberta (Edmonton, AB), 10 June 2015.
  • “Human Rights and History: Law, Feminism and Gendered Equality.” Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Speaker Series, Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, BC), 11 September 2014.
  • “Equality Deferred: Human Rights in British Columbia History.” Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Public Lecture Series, Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre (Vancouver, BC), 11 Sept. 2014.
  • “The Evolution of Human Rights in Canada.” Canadian Human Rights Commission (Ottawa, Ontario) 5 May 2012.
  • “Social Movements, International Politics and the Global Human Rights Regime.” Department of International Studies Speaker Series, University of Regina (Regina, SK), 17 February 2011.
  • “The October Crisis and the Writing of Canadian History.” Just Watch Me conference, Carleton University (Ottawa, ON), 12 Oct. 2010.
  • “Canada’s Rights Revolution: Social Movements and Social Change, 1937-1984.” John Porter Traditional of Excellence Annual Lecture, Canadian Sociological Association (Montreal, QC), 31 May 2010.
  • “The Sociology of Human Rights.” Confining the Unbound Society: Restraints and Resistance conference, University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB), 9 May 2010.
  • “Human Rights Law & Education in Canada,” CASHRA: Human Rights Education, 24 July 2024.
  • “Human Rights Education for the 21st Century,” Ignite Change Global Convention (Edmonton, AB), 9 December 2023.
  • “Human Rights Education in Canada,” CASHRA: Human Rights Education, 8 September 2023.
  • “Dragging the Liberal Arts into the 20th Century (21st Pending),” Royal Society of Canada Annual Meeting, 15 November 2018.
  • “L’égalité et la culture des droits du Canada,” Musée canadien pour les droits de la personne (Winnipeg, MB), 21 February 2017.
  • “Human Rights and the City.” Human Rights and the City symposium, Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton, AB), 26 October 2016.
  • “Historical Research and the Right to Know.” Right to Know conference (Ottawa, ON), 26 September 2016.
  • “Intelligence and National Security Planning in Cold War Canada.” The Five Eyes in the Early Cold War (Wellington, New Zealand), 23 April 2016.
  • “Scholarly Solitudes.” (Re)Making Confederation: (Re) Imagining Canada conference (Charlottetown, PEI), 21 November 2014.
  • “What are “Canadian” and “Quebec” values?” Canadian Sociological Association conference, Brock University (St Catharine’s, ON), 30 May 2014.
  • “Policing Protest in Canadian History.” Canadian Civil Liberties Association’s RightsWatch conference (Montreal, QC), 13 October 2012.
  • “The Social Movement Society and the Human Rights State in Canada.” Social Movement Society workshop (Ottawa, ON), 24 May 2012.
  • “The Rights Revolution in Canada and Australia: International Politics, Social Movements, and Domestic Law.” Taking Liberties workshop (Hamilton, ON), 2 March 2012.
  • “Canadian Studies and Graduate Programs.” New Voices in Canadian Studies conference (Peterborough, ON), 13 May 2013.
  • “Canada’s Rights Revolution.” Department of Educational Policy Studies Speakers Series, University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB), 16 November 2010.
  • “Human Rights in Canada: Social Movements and International Politics.” Human Rights and Humanitarianism in the 1970s conference, Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (Freiburg, Germany), 10 June 2010.
  • “The Women’s Movement and the Human Rights State in Post-World War Two Canada.” Department of Women’s Studies Feminist Research speakers’ series, University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB), 4 February 2010.
  • “How the Baby Boom Generation Transformed Social Movements in Canada” Department of Sociology Speakers Series, University of Victoria (Victoria, BC), 13 February 2008.
  • “Working for Rights: Organized Labour and the Human Rights Movements in Twentieth Century Canada and Australia,” University of Sydney Symposium (Sydney, Australia), 27 September 2002.

Site Resources

Detailed resources outlining the history of Human Rights in Canada.

Social Media

Follow on social media for updates and interesting facts about human rights and social movements in Canada.