Emily M. Colpitts is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow (2020-2022) in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University. Grounded in an intersectional feminist analysis, her research focuses on gendered and sexualized violence and, in particular, how Canadian universities have become a site where competing social movements struggle over the power to define what constitutes violence, justice, and free speech. Under the supervision of Dr. Carrie Rentschler, her current project investigates the dynamic relationship between rising anti-feminist and alt-right backlash and efforts to address violence and advance social justice on campus. Prior to joining McGill, Emily held a York Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Centre for Feminist Research at York University. She also holds a PhD in Gender, Feminist, and Women’s Studies from York University and an MA in International Development Studies from Dalhousie University. Her work has been published in Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice; Rape Culture 101: Programming Change; Canadian Journal of Development Studies; and Gender and Education.
Emily is currently recruiting anti-violence activists and practitioners for her research on their experiences of backlash. This study seeks to accomplish the following objectives:
- to analyze the scale and scope of this backlash;
- to understand how anti-violence activists and practitioners perceive this backlash and its impact on their work;
- to explore the strategies employed by anti-violence activists to combat backlash and whether they perceive these strategies as being effective.
If you are interested in learning more or becoming involved in this research, please contact Emily at emily.colpitts@mail.mcgill.ca.