Department of Gender Studies, Memorial University

09/01/2026

We are excited to introduce Dr. Julia Connell Stryker as a new adjunct professor in the department!

Julia Connell Stryker received her MA in History from MUN and her PhD in History and certificate in Gender Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on women's work at sea in the 19th Century British empire, and she works with the Maritime History Archive on MUN campus. She was the Ewart A. Pratt Postdoctoral Fellow and was very happy to have the chance to return to Newfoundland and study the vital place NL had in the empire. Her interests include Gender, Labour, Empire, Maritime History, History of Medicine, and Digital Humanities.

08/28/2026

Welcome to our department’s most recent postdoctoral fellow!



Andreae Callanan is a poet, essayist, creative writing facilitator, and scholar from St. John’s. She holds a PhD in English from Memorial. Her doctoral thesis examined similarities between autistic and poetic modes of engagement with language; her postdoctoral research looks at representations of joy and sensory pleasure in the literary disability memoir. Dr. Callanan is co-convener of the research and Knowledge Exchange on Critical Disability Studies (NL Centre for Applied Health Research), and is a regular contributor to public discussions on disability, neurodivergence, and creativity.

08/26/2026

We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Sonja Boon will continue as an adjunct professor with our department! Welcome (back), Dr. Boon 😊!

"I am interested in the politics of life writing, and in the haunted stories that live in the silences between, under, within, and around official archival records. I am increasingly working with creative and experimental approaches to research and writing (but feminist theory always burbles just under the surface of anything I think, dream, or write). The author, co-author, or co-editor of seven books, including, most recently, the edited collection, Dear Mr. Smallwood: Confederation in the words of those who lived it (Memorial University Press, 2025), I am a mentor in the MFA program in Creative Nonfiction at the University of King’s College (Halifax), a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists, and co-editor of the Life Writing series at WLU Press. I was a professor of gender studies at MUN for 15 years."

08/20/2026

Course offering this fall that might be of interest to students in the Gender Studies department. Reach out to the professor, Dr. Julia Polyck-O’Neill ([email protected]) if you have any questions:

CMST 4000: Advanced Communication Theory, Fall 2026

Analyze and apply theories of communication and media at an advanced level
Learn about contemporary theories and debates, including how knowledge and cultural memory come to be institutionalized
Explore how archives and institutions come to help us define and understand ourselves, our experiences, and our shared interpretations of the world through readings, exercises, and site visits
The course primarily focuses on diverse, feminist theories and approaches to archives, collections, and knowledge, with attention to marginalized communities and identities

Looking for a great course this fall? Sign up for CMST 4000: Advanced Communication Theory, Fall 2026

• Analyze and apply theories of communication and media at an advanced level
• Learn about contemporary theories and debates, including how knowledge and cultural memory come to be institutionalized
• Explore how archives and institutions come to help us define and understand ourselves, our experiences, and our shared interpretations of the world through readings, exercises, and site visits

08/12/2026

08/08/2026

What is identity? What is difference? Why do they matter?

Tackle these and other questions while building your critical reading and writing skills.

GNDR 1005 is a CRW course that looks at how cultural, social, political, legal, and historical institutions, narratives, and representations shape identities and difference - especially in relation to power (think “isms” like heterosexism, racism, colonialism, ableism, etc).

Spaces available in GNDR 1005-01 (MW 3:30-4:45 pm) and GNDR 1005-02 (TR, 10:30-11:45 am).

08/07/2026

Only three undergrad spots left!