Full-time Faculty
Viviane Namaste, Associate Professor and
Concordia University Research Chair
Degrees
- Doctorat. sémiologie, Université du Québec à Montréal
- Maîtrise ès arts, Département de sociologie, Université York
- Baccalauréat en arts, Département de sociologie, Université Carleton
Short Biography
My current research seeks to interrogate the limitations of our knowledge on HIV/AIDS and sexual health. Working with populations that have not been recognized within traditional epidemiology and public health surveillance (transsexuals, bisexuals), I seek to demonstrate the important contributions that critical social science inquiry can make to our understandings of infectious disease. Two of my research projects raise questions specific to sexuality studies, engaging in empirical inquiry for bisexual men and women (in one instance related to HIV/AIDS, in another specific to refugee claims). Here, I trouble the ways in which academic knowledge on sexuality excludes people who have sexual relations with both men and women. Finally, I am engaged in an historical project which considers the history of censorship in Québec in the post-war years, with a particular focus on the popular press.
Research Interests
- Women’s Health
- HIV/AIDS prevention
- Sexuality
Recent Research Projects/Grants
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2010 – 2013 CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research). History of Medicine, Institute of Infection and Immunity. 75 000$. An Oral History of Transvestites, Transsexuals and HIV/AIDS in Montréal and Paris, 1980 – 2000.
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2009-2014 CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research). Universities Without Walls: CIHR Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research. 165 000$.PI: Sean Rourke. Co-PIs: Barry Adam (University of Windsor), Rosemary Jolly (Queen’s), Michael Orsini (Université d’Ottawa), Jacqueline Gahagan (Dalhousie), Susan Kirkland (Dalhousie), Cynthia Patton (Simon Fraser University), Robert Hogg (Simon Fraser University), Eric Mykalovskiy (York), Catherine Worthington (Calgary)
- 2009-2014. CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research. REACH: CIHR Centre for Research Evidence into Action for Community Health (CIHR HIV/AIDS Population Health and Health Services) 500 000$. PI: Sean Rourke. Co-PIs: Ahmed Bayoumi (St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto), Barry Adam (University of Windsor), Laurie Edmiston (CATIE, Toronto), Ana Johnson (Queen’s), Marina Klein (McGill), Jerry Mugford (Memorial), Joanne Otis (UQAM), Jean Bacon (OHTN), Frank McGee (AIDS Bureau), Stephanie Nixon (University of Toronto), Janice Ristock (University of Manitoba), Rosemary Jolly (Queen’s), Michael Orsini (Université d’Ottawa), Jacqueline Gahagan (Dalhousie), Susan Kirkland (Dalhousie), Cynthia Patton (Simon Fraser University), Robert Hogg (Simon Fraser University), Eric Mykalovskiy (York), Catherine Worthington (Calgary)
- 2008-2013 Concordia University Research Chair in HIV/AIDS and Sexual Health, Office of the Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies, Concordia University, 125 000$.
- 2008-2010 FQRSC (Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture.) Projets novateurs. « Demandes de réfugiées et l’orientation sexuelle au Canada : Analyse des cas des personnes bisexuelles à la Commission de l’immigration et du statut de réfugié. » 25 000$. Co-principal investigators : Sean Rehaag, Tamara Vukov.
- 2004-2007 SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada), Standard Research Grants (New Scholars). « HIV Prevention Needs of Individuals with Bisexual Identities and/or Behaviours in Montréal : An Action Research Project. » 131 000$. Principal investigator.
- 2004-2007 FQRSC (Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture.) Subventions aux nouveaux chercheurs. « Les journaux jaunes et les spectacles indécents à Montréal : L’histoire de la moralité et de la censure au Québec, 1955-1975. » 39 000$. Principal investigator.
Awards and Honours
- Award for Action on HIV/AIDS 2009. Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Human Rights Watch. June 12 2009. An award in recognition of my research and community organizing in the field of HIV/AIDS.
- Hot Shot 2009. Hour Magazine, 20 August 2009. One of seven Montréalers celebrated by this weekly newspaper for my contributions to city life.
- Plaque honorifique Christine Jorgensen, Association des Transsexuel(le)s du Québec. Plaque in recognition of activism and community organizing for transsexuals in Québec, 3 mai 2005.
- Outstanding Book Award, Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America, for Invisible Lives: The Erasure of Transsexual and Transgendered People, 2001.
Recent Publications
Books :
- With Tamara H.Vukov, Nada Saghie, Joseph Jean-Gilles, M. Lafrenière, Nancy Leclerc, M. Leroux, Andréa Monette, Robin Williamson. Prevention possibilities : HIV Education and Bisexual Realities in Montréal, Québec. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, forthcoming 2011.
- « C’était du spectacle!»: L’histoire des artistes transsexuelles à Montréal, 1955-1985. Montréal : McGill Queen’s University Press, 2005.
- Sex Change, Social Change : Reflections on Identity, Institutions, and Imperialism. Toronto : Women’s Press/Canadian Scholars’ Press, 2005.
- Invisible Lives : The Erasure of Transsexual and Transgendered People. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2000.
- La presse pestilentielle: La censure des journaux jaunes à Montréal et à Rimouski, 1950-1970. Manuscript currently in preparation.
Articles :
- “Undoing Theory: The Transgender Question and the Epistemic Violence of Anglo-American Feminist Theory.” Hypatia: Journal of Feminist Philosophy 24.3 (Summer 2009): 11-32.
- With Tamara H.Vukov, Nada Saghie, Joseph Jean-Gilles, M. Lafrenière, Nancy Leclerc, M. Leroux, Andréa Monette, Robin Williamson, “HIV and STD Prevention Needs of Bisexual Women: Results from Projet Polyvalence in Montréal.” Canadian Journal of Communication 32 (2007): 357-84.
- « La réglementation des journaux jaunes à Montréal, 1955-1975. Le cadre juridique et la mise en application des lois. » Revue d’histoire de l’amérique française,61.1 (été 2007) : 67-81.
- With Pascal Jauffret. « Negotiating Partnership and Ownership in Community-Based Research. Lessons from a Needle Exchange in Montréal. » Canadian Journal of Aboriginal Community-Based HIV/AIDS Research Vol 1 (Summer 2006) : 65-74.
- « HIV/STI Prevention for Individuals Who Have Sex with Men and Women in Montréal : Results from an Action Research Project. » Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology Vol 17, Supplement A (May/June 2006) : 54A-55A.
- « Transsexual, Transgender and Queer. » Interview in Introducing the New Sexuality Studies : Original Essays and Interviews. Eds. Steven Seidman, Nancy Fischer and Chet Meeks. New York : Routledge, 2006 : 180-7.
- « Changes of Name and Sex for Transsexuals in Québec : Understanding the Arbitrary Nature of Institutions. » in Sociology for Changing the World : Social Movements/Social Research. Eds. Caelie Frampton, Gary Kinsman, AK Thompson, Kate Tilleczek. Halifax, NS : Fernwood, 2006 : 160-73.
- “Vorstellungsvermögen.” Das schönste deutsche Wort. Eine auswahl der schönsten Liebeserklärungen an die deutsche Sprache – zusammengestellt aus den Einsendungen zum internationalen Wettbewerb “Das schönste deutsche Wort.” Ismanig, Germany: Hueber, 2005: 91-4.
