Christopher Dietzel
Christopher Dietzel, Ph.D. (he/him) conducts research at the intersections of technology, safety, health, gender, and sexuality. His projects broadly explore the benefits, risks, and possibilities associated with everyday digital platforms, with a focus on LGBTQ+ people and dating apps. Dr. Dietzel was recently awarded a SSHRC Insight Development Grant to research AI and online dating.
Dr. Dietzel is an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University. He holds a postdoctoral fellowship with Western University and teaches at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Dietzel is a Co-Investigator on Digitally Informed Youth (DIY): Digital Safety and is a Research Associate in the Centre for Feminist Research at York University. He also works with the Gender, Equity, Media, and Society (GEMS) Lab, the Digital Intimacy, Gender, and Sexualities (DIGS) Lab, the Sexual Health and Gender (SHaG) Lab, and the iMPACTS Project.
Dr. Dietzel's work has been published in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, and Indonesian. Dr. Dietzel est francophone et il sera content de vous parler en français. christopher.dietzel [at] concordia.ca (subject: Interview%20request) (Click here to contact Dr. Dietzel / cliquez ici pour contacter Dr. Dietzel.)
Research Experience | Professional Experience
Media & Interviews | Consultations & Community Work | Workshops & Panels
Academic Publications | Public Reports | Editorial Work | Scholarly Presentations
Research Experience
Dr. Dietzel is a member of the Gender, Equity, Media, and Society (GEMS) Lab, which conducts research on gender, equity, media, and society. He is also part of the Digital Intimacy, Gender, and Sexualities (DIGS) Lab, which explores how digital media, digital technologies, and digital cultures are shaping intimate relationships, gender, and sexuality. Dr. Dietzel conducts research with the Sexual Health and Gender (SHaG) Lab, which examines health issues among people of diverse genders and sexualities. He also works with iMPACTS: Collaborations to Address Sexual Violence on Campus, which aims to address sexual violence on university campuses across Canada and internationally. Dr. Dietzel is a co-investigator on Digitally Informed Youth (DIY): Digital Safety, which investigates young people's experiences with technology-facilitated sexual violence and aims to develop resources that promote digital safety among youth.
Dr. Dietzel earned his PhD from McGill University. His dissertation, Sexual violence facilitated by dating apps: The experiences of men who have sex with men, investigated sexual violence that gay and queer men experience via dating apps.
Dr. Dietzel was selected as the 2022–2023 Visiting Scholar in Sexuality Studies in the Centre for Feminist Research at York University. In 2020–2021, Dr. Dietzel worked on a collaborative project that investigated how dating app companies responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, Dr. Dietzel was awarded a Mitacs Research Fellowship to work as a visiting scholar at Swinburne University of Technology and conduct research on a grant about Safety, Risk & Wellbeing on Dating Apps.
Professional Experience
Dr. Dietzel has taught undergraduate and graduate students, including in the School of Health and Human Performance at Dalhousie University in Canada, the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University in Canada, and the Faculty of Medicine at l'Université de Montpellier in France.
Dr. Dietzel also worked in student affairs/student services, including at McGill University's Campus Life & Engagement (CL&E) and in the Office of New Student Programs at the University of Michigan. While in Singapore, Dr. Dietzel facilitated the Leadership Exploration And Development (LEAD) Program, an international, cross-cultural leadership development program for students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).
Media & Interviews
Dr. Dietzel's research revolves around technology, safety, and health, and he is an expert in social media and dating apps. Dr. Dietzel's research focuses on LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized populations, and he can speak about a range of topics, including online dating, consent, sexual violence, physical safety, and mental health.
Dr. Dietzel has done live and recorded interviews for TV, radio, and podcasts, and his work has been published in English, French, Spanish, Russian, and Indonesian. Dr. Dietzel est francophone et il sera content de passer une entrevue en français.
Here are some news/media organizations that have interviewed Dr. Dietzel:
- The Atlantic
- CBC Radio
- CTV News
- Radio Canada
- CityNews
- Metro World News
- The Canadian Press
- TVA
- Le Devoir
- Future of Good
christopher.dietzel [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Interview%20request) (Click here to contact Dr. Dietzel / cliquez ici pour contacter Dr. Dietzel.)
Consultations & Community Work
Dr. Dietzel has developed policies and consulted organizations about apps, safety, consent, and other topics. Dr. Dietzel enjoys partnering with businesses and community groups to provide tailored information that fits the needs of local and international populations.
Here are some organizations that Dr. Dietzel has worked with:
- AIDS Community Care Montréal (ACCM)
- Centre communautaire LGBTQ+ de Montréal
- Meta and Facebook Canada
- Office of Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education at McGill University
- Public Safety Canada
- RÉZO, santé et mieux-être des hommes gais et bisexuels, cis et trans
- Sexual Assault Resource Centre at Concordia University
- Toronto Triggerfish Water Polo Club
- United States Consulate General Montreal
christopher.dietzel [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Interview%20request) (Click here to contact Dr. Dietzel / cliquez ici pour contacter Dr. Dietzel.)
Workshops & Panels
Dr. Dietzel has a background in education, and he enjoys sharing his expertise with diverse populations. Dr. Dietzel has designed curricula and facilitated workshops in both French and English for people of all ages. Dr. Dietzel has also spoken on panels about a variety of topics, including safety, consent, mental health, discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, and online dating.
Here are some organizations that Dr. Dietzel has worked with:
- Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations
- Brain Canada
- Centennial College
- Centre PHI
- Club Sexu
- Concordia University
- Halifax Support Group for 2SLGBTQ+ Immigrants
- La Barak : Maison des jeunes de Granby
- Lanark County Interval House
- Les 3 sex*
- McGill University
- Meridan ACT
- Mohawk College
- New Zealand Classification Office
- Nova Scotia Barristers' Society
- Ontario Digital Literacy and Access Network (ODLAN)
- Pride at Work Canada
- Portail VIH/sida du Québec
- RÉZO, santé et mieux-être des hommes gais et bisexuels, cis et trans
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
- Simon Fraser University
- University of King's College
- University of Ottawa
- Village Montréal
- York University
- 2U Inc.
christopher.dietzel [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Interview%20request) (Click here to contact Dr. Dietzel / cliquez ici pour contacter Dr. Dietzel.)
Select Publications
Dietzel, C., Duguay, S., Matharu, A., Parry, D., & Johnson, C. (2026). Individualized responsibility, policing, and surveillance: Examining the carceral logic in dating app companies’ approaches to safety. Platforms & Society, 1–13.
Vipond, E., & Dietzel, C. (2026). In the name of protection? A discourse analysis of anti-trans language in Canada. Australian Feminist Studies, 1–20.
Dodge, A., Mendes, K., Dietzel, C., & Dunn, S. (2026). Desperately seeking non-judgemental supports: Young people’s perceptions of adult responses to technology-facilitated harms. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1–26.
Dietzel, C., Blair, C., O’Shea, B., Bello, B., & Numer, M. (2026). Digital platforms as equivocal health promotion: Examining the mental health of 2SLGBTQ+ people related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Homosexuality, 73(2), 299–326.
Dietzel, C., Dodge, A., Kalwani, N., Pallottini, A., & Mendes, K. (2025). Reflections on intersectional feminist approaches: Promoting an ethics of care in research on technology-facilitated sexual violence and youth. Feminism & Psychology, 1–14.
Kalwani, N., Dietzel, C., & Dunn, S. (2025). Systems-level problems require systems-level responses: An intersectional analysis of Canadian secondary schools’ responses to technology-facilitated sexual violence. Canadian Journal of Communication, 50(2), 178–194.
Myles, D., & Dietzel, C. (2024). Beyond rainbows and unicorns: Revisiting the promises and challenges of digital media for LGBTQ+ communities. Canadian Journal of Communication, 49(3), 363–369.
Dietzel, C. (2024). Les applications de rencontres et leurs affordances : Comment la violence sexuelle facilitée par la technologie est atténuée et perpétuée chez les hommes ayant des relations sexuelles avec des hommes. Canadian Journal of Communication, 49(3), 428–455.
Webber, V., McCready, S., Yurkovich, C., Dietzel, C., Feicht, B., Joy, P., Holmes, D., & Numer, M. (2024). Are queer men queering consent? A scoping review of sexual consent literature among gay, bisexual, trans, and queer men. International Journal of Sexual Health, 36(3), 359–383.
Dietzel, C. (2024). Clickable consent: How men who have sex with men understand and practice sexual consent on dating apps and in person. The Journal of Sex Research, 61(3), 481–494.
Duguay, S., Dietzel, C., & Myles, D. (2024). The year of the “virtual date”: Reimagining dating app affordances during the COVID-19 pandemic. New Media & Society, 26(3), 1384–1402.
Dietzel, C., Bello, B., O’Shea, B., Cullum, J., & Numer, M. (2024). Mental health of LGBTQ+ people during the COVID-19 pandemic: A scoping review. Advances in Mental Health, 22(2), 122–152.
Sanabria, S., & Dietzel, C. (2023). “I can be sued for that?”: When university community members are sued for defamation in response to allegations of sexual violence. Education & Law Journal, 32(2), 151–184.
Dietzel, C. (2022). “I'm not your fantasy”: Sexual racism, racial fetishization, and the exploitation of racialized men who have sex with men. In J. J. Fellows & L. Smith (Eds.), Gender, sex, and tech! An intersectional feminist guide (pp. 101–120). Canadian Scholars/Women’s Press.
Dietzel, C. (2022). The three dimensions of unsolicited dick pics: Sexual minority men’s experiences of sending and receiving unsolicited dick pics on dating apps. Sexuality & Culture, 26, 834–852.
Myles, D., Duguay, S., & Dietzel, C. (2021). #DatingWhileDistancing: Dating apps as digital health technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. In D. Lupton & K. Willis (Eds.), The COVID-19 crisis: Social perspectives (pp. 79-89). Routledge.
Dietzel, C. (2021). “That’s straight-up rape culture”: Manifestations of rape culture on Grindr. In J. Bailey, A. Flynn, & N. Henry (Eds.), The Emerald international handbook of technology-facilitated violence and abuse (pp. 351-368). Emerald.
Albury, K., Dietzel, C., Pym, T., Vivienne, S., & Cook, T. (2021). Not your unicorn: Trans dating app users’ negotiations of personal safety and sexual health. Health Sociology Review, 30(1), 72–86.
Namaste, V., Gaspar, M., Lavoie, S., McClelland, A., Sims, E., Tigchelaar, A., Dietzel, C., & Drummond, J. D. (2021). Willed ambiguity: An exploratory study of sexual misconduct affecting sexual minority male university students in Canada. Sexualities, 24(8), 1041–1060.
Select Public Reports
Select Editorial Work
Myles, D., & Dietzel, C. (Eds.). (2024). Au-delà des arcs-en-ciel et des licornes: Revisiter les promesses et les défis des médias numériques pour les communautés LGBTQ+ / Beyond rainbows and unicorns: Revisiting the promises and the challenges of digital media for LGBTQ+ communities [Special issue]. Canadian Journal of Communication, 49(3).
Dietzel, C., & Towfigh, K. (Eds.) (2024). Pandemic injustice: Navigating legal and policy lines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Peter Lang.
Shariff, S. & Dietzel, C. (Eds.) (2023). Interrupting sexual violence: The power of law, education, and media. Peter Lang.
Shariff, S., Dietzel, C., & Towfigh, K. (Eds.). (2020). Sexual violence: Impacts on and implications for the intersections of law and education. [Special Issue.] Education & Law Journal, 29(2).
Shariff, S., Dietzel, C., & Jaswal, N. (Eds.). (2017). Navigating the minefield: Responding to legal and educational dilemmas in addressing sexual violence in universities. [Special Issue.] Education & Law Journal, 27(1).
Select Presentations
Mendes, K., Dietzel, C., Dodge, A., & Dunn, S. (2026, June 28 – July 2). Canadian youths’ experiences of tech-facilitated violence. International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Galway, Ireland.
Ward-Kimola, S., & Dietzel, C. (2026, June 2–4). Optimizing intimacy: AI, dating apps, and the future of digital connections. Canadian Communication Association (CCA), Windsor, ON, Canada.
Mendes, K., Dodge, A., Dunn, S., & Dietzel, C. (2026, May 19–21). DIY: Digital Safety – Exploring youth experiences, policy gaps, and responses to technology-facilitated sexual violence in Canada. Tech Abuse Conference, London, UK.
Dietzel, C. (2025, December 3–5). Does AI mean artificial intimacy? Dating apps’ AI features and impacts on marginalized users. Digital Intimacies 11, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Dietzel, C. (2025, November 6–7). Intimate inequities: Examining the benefits and risks of AI in online dating for marginalized populations. Equity and Artificial Intelligence Symposium: Possibilities for Justice and Liberation, York University, ON, Canada.
Matharu, A., Parry, D., Dietzel, C., Filice, E., Duguay, S., & Johnson, C. W. (2025, June 18–20). Conducting interviews with survivors of technology-based sexual violence: The impact of current global issues and topics. The Qualitatives, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
Dietzel, C. (2025, May 7). Flirter avec l’IA : Comment les nouvelles fonctionnalités de l’intelligence artificielle reconfigurent les relations intimes queers sur les applications de rencontre. Le Congrès de l’ACFAS, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Duguay, S., Dietzel, C., Filice, E., Parry, D. C., & Johnson, C. W. (2024, October 30 – November 2). “Prove to other users that you’re a real person”: Tracing dating apps’ carceral logics. Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Dietzel, C., & Mendes, K. (2024, June 30–July 4). “I’ve seen animals get hit by cars and fly”: Technology-facilitated violence and algorithms. International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Christchurch, New Zealand.
Nau, C., Dietzel, C., Dodge, A., Dunn, S., & Mendes, K. (2024, June 20–24). Technology-facilitated sexual violence: The struggle to define. International Communication Association (ICA), Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.
Dietzel, C., Duguay, S., Filice, E., Parry, D., & Johnson, C. (2024, June 18–21). Beyond the swipe: Interrogating dating app approaches for sustaining user safety. Canadian Communication Association (CCA), Montreal, QC, Canada.
