Each year, the Nova Scotia PhD Program in Educational Studies admits approximately 10 students. Currently, we have over 50 students enrolled in various stages of the program.

Students in the Doctoral Program are engaged in investigating exciting research topics that span the range of the six fields of study supported by the program.

Rola Abihanna (PhD, 2012 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: The Unfolding of Souls: Schooling Experiences of Newcomer Refugee Families in Nova Scotia

Supervisor: Dr. Lynn Aylward (Acadia)

 

Catherine Baillie Abidi (PhD, 2011 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Pedagogies for Building Peace: Challenging Constructions of an Enemywith Canadian Young Adults

Supervisor: Dr. Elizabeth Lange (StFX)

 

Zhanna Barchuk (PhD, 2011 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: International Collaboration Through the I(s) of teacher educators: Contextualizing teaching in a global society

Supervisor: Dr. Mary Jane Harkins (MSVU)

 

Allana Bartlett (Candidate, 2018 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. DeNel Rehberg Sedo (MSVU)

 

Michael Belgrave (Candidate, 2015 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Storied Relationships: A Narrative Inquiry into Trauma, Attachment and the School Experience

Supervisor: Dr. Ron Lehr (Acadia)

 

Eleanor Bernard (Candidate, 2015 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: L’nui’ta’simk Kina’matneweyiktuk: Knowing, Being and Doing Education the Mi’Kmaw Way

Supervisor: Dr. Lisa Lunney Borden (StFX)

 

Cynthia Bruce (PhD, 2011 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Precarious Possibilities: Disability, Self-Advocacy, and University Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Lynn Aylward (Acadia)

 

Denise Burgess (Candidate, 2018 Cohort)

Field of Study: Curriculum Studies, Inclusive Education

Supervisor: Dr. Lynn Aylward (Acadia)

 

Erin Careless (PhD, 2011 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: “It Just Happened”: How Motherwork is Learned and Experienced by Canadian Stepmothers in an Online Support Group

Supervisor: Dr. Patricia Gouthro (MSVU)

 

James Caron (2020 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning, Literacies, Psychological Aspects

Supervisor: Dr. Patricia Gouthro (MSVU)

 

Robert Carreau (PhD, 2011 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Renewing Acadian – Mi’kmaq Paternerships through Dialogue, Two Schools at a Time

Supervisor: Dr. Joanne Tompkins (StFX)

 

Ellen Carter (Candidate, 2018 Cohort)

Field of Study: Curriculum Studies, Educational Foundations & Leadership

Supervisor: Dr. Chris Gilham (StFX)

 

Christopher Cocek (PhD, 2011 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: The Informal Experience of Learning Professionally Online

Supervisor: Dr. Lisa Lunney Borden (StFX)

 

Elissa Cohen (Candidate, 2019 Cohort)

Field of Study: Curriculum Studies

Supervisor: Dr. Leona English (StFX)

 

Laurie Cook (2020 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Mike Corbett (Acadia)

 

Dan d’Entremont (2019 Cohort)

Field of Study: Curriculum Studies, Lifelong Learning, Literacies

Supervisor: Dr.Mike Corbett (Acadia)

 

Margaret David (Candidate, 2014 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: An Examination of Word and Oral Reading Fluency for Early Elementary Aged Children

Supervisor: Dr. Jamie Metsala (MSVU)

 

Jacqueline De Leebeeck (Candidate, 2018 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Anne Murray Orr (StFX)

 

Kristin Domm (PhD, 2012 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Writing in the Key of Life: Inquiry into Writing Processes and Pedagogies

Supervisor: Dr. Lori Neilsen (MSVU)

 

Cindy Edwards (2020 Cohort)

Field of Study: Curriculum Studies

Supervisor: Dr. Jennifer Mitton (StFX)

 

Elisabeth Ervin-Blankenheim (Candidate, 2018 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Listening to the Song of the Earth: Lessons Learned in Teaching Geologic Time and Related Geologic Concepts

Supervisor: Dr. Katarin MacLeod (StFX)

 

Carol Flegg (Candidate, 2019 Cohort)

Field of Study: Psychological Aspects of Education

Supervisor: Dr. Ardra Cole (MSVU)

 

Christina Flemming (Candidate, 2018 Cohort)

Field of Study: Literacies

Supervisor: Dr. Ardra Cole (MSVU)

 

Maria Gangotena (Candidate, 2019 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Maureen Coady, Dr. Ann Bigelow (StFX)

 

Margaret Garnier (Candidate, 2015 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Leona English (StFX)

 

Shawna Garrett (2017 Cohort)

Field of Study: Educational Foundations and Leadership

Supervisor: Dr. Cornelia Schneider (MSVU)

 

Kendra Gottschall (PhD, 2014 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: The Experience of Students with Brain Injury in Post-Secondary Education: Implications for Educational Policy and Practice

Supervisor: Dr. David Young (StFX)

 

Jacqueline Greenough (Candidate, Class of 2014)

Dissertation Title: A Narrative Inquiry Capturing the Lived Experience of the Vulnerable Student in Schools, Using a Career Development Framework

Supervisor: Dr. Ardra Cole (MSVU)

 

Jennifer Guy (Candidate, 2015 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Patricia Gouthro (MSVU)

 

Greg Hadley (PhD, 2016 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Stemming the Tide: An Interpretive Study of Entrepreneurial Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes and its Potential to Revitalize Rural Nova Scotia, Canada

Supervisor: Dr. David Young (StFX)

 

Tanja Harrison (2020 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning, Literacies, Psychological Aspects

Supervisor: Dr. Martha Walls (MSVU)

 

Brenda Hattie-Longmire (PhD, 2013 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: The Role of Spirituality and/or Christian Religion for LGBQ Individuals Negotiating Homonegative Beliefs and Values in Coming Out

Supervisor: Dr. Susan Brigham (MSVU)

 

Heather Hollis (Candidate, 2018 Cohort)

Field of Study: Inclusive Education, Literacies

Supervisor: Dr. Mary Jane Harkins (MSVU)

 

Betsy Jardine (PhD, 2011 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Cultural Ways of Forming Ecological Identities and Factors Affecting their Ontologies

Supervisor: Dr. Alan Warner (Acadia)

 

Shawn Jolemore (PhD, 2013 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Learning to Lead in Healthcare: A Narrative of Physician Leadership

Supervisor: Dr. Patricia Gouthro (MSVU)

 

Mohamed Kharbach (Candidate, 2014 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: A Critical Discourse Analytic Study of ISIS Media Disclosure

Supervisor: Dr.Andrew Manning (MSVU)

 

Margaret Knickle (Candidate, 2017 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: What can be learned from the Mahone Bay Museum’s decolonizing initiative to develop Mi’Kmaw Narratives

Supervisor: Dr. Jim Sharpe (MSVU)

 

Nathan King (2020 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning, Literacies, Psychological Aspects

Supervisor: Dr. Tracy Moniz (MSVU)

 

Colin King (PhD, 2013 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Un-TPACK-ing Athletic Therapy Education in Canada: An Exploration of anInnovative Case-Based Learning Approach

Supervisor: Dr. Gregory MacKinnon (Acadia)

 

Andras Kocsis (Candidate, 2016 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Patricia Gouthro (MSVU)

 

Dudett Kumar (2020 Cohort)

Field of Study: Curriculum Studies

Supervisor: Dr. Adam Perry (StFX)

 

Lyse Anne LeBlanc (PhD, 2011 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Children’s Shared Understanding of Media Marketing

Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Seguin (MSVU)

 

Laura Leslie (Candidate, 2019 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: When Trauma Comes to School: A Teacher’s Journey Becoming Trauma-Informed

Supervisor: Dr. Chris Gilham (StFX)

 

Garry Leyte (Candidate, 2015 Cohort)

Field of Study: Educational Foundations and Leadership

Supervisor: Dr.David Young (StFX)

 

Allyson MacDonald (2016 Cohort)

Field of Study: Inclusive Education

Supervisor: Dr. Ann Vibert (Acadia)

 

Carrie MacDonald Liska (2019 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Jennifer Mitton-Kukner

 

Phillip MacEachern (Candidate, 2015 Cohort)

Field of Study: Curriculum Studies

Supervisor: Dr.Lisa Lunney Borden (StFX)

 

Wendy MacKey (Candidate, 2016 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Transforming a School System through Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: An Instrumental Case Study

Supervisor: Dr.Jeff Orr; Dr. Joanne Tompkins (StFX)

 

Scott MacPhail (PhD, 2011 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: The Historical Formation of Adult Education Discourses in the Shift fromLiberalism to Neoliberalism

Supervisor: Dr. Donovan Plumb (MSVU)

 

Mary Ellen MacPhee (Candidate, 2017 Cohort)

Field of Study: Educational Foundations and Leadership, Inclusive Education

Supervisor: Dr. Joanne Tompkins (StFX)

 

Stephanie Mason (PhD, 2015 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Learning in Sites: Exploring Relationships between Public Places and Adults’ Informal Learning in Halifax, Nova Scotia through an Arts-Informed Perspectives

Supervisor: Dr. Ardra Cole (MSVU)

 

Michael McGuire (Candidate, 2017 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: The (R)evolution of Hip Hop as Pedagogy: A culturally responsive remix

Supervisor: Dr. Valda Leighteizer (MSVU)

 

Martin Morrison (Candidate, 2012 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: African Nova Scotian Dreamkeepers and Promising Practices

Supervisor: Dr. Susie Brigham (MSVU)

 

Sharon Morrison (Candidate, 2018 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Laura Lee Kearns (StFX)

 

Joel Murphy (2018 Cohort)

Field of Study: Educational Foundations and Leadership

Supervisor: Dr. Stephen McMullin (Acadia)

 

Késa Munroe-Anderson (PhD, 2011 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Set our Spirits Free: Exploring the Role of Spirituality as an Anti-oppressive Agent in the Formal Education of African Nova Scotian Learners

Supervisor: Dr. Susie Brigham (MSVU)

 

Yanery Navarro Vigil (2018 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Susie Brigham (MSVU)

 

Liad Neem (2015 Cohort)

Field of Study: Curriculum Studies, Educational Foundation and Leadership, Psychological Aspects of Foundation

Supervisor: Dr. Sue McGregor (MSVU)

 

Joseph Nyemah (Candidate, 2012 Cohort)

Field of Study: Educational Foundations, Inclusive Education

Supervisor: Dr.Patricia Gouthro, Dr. Daphne Lordly (MSVU)

 

Lawrence Nyika (PhD, 2013 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: African Immigrant Secondary School Students’ Participation in Health Promoting Schools: Perspectives from Nova Scotia

Supervisor: Dr. Anne Murray-Orr (StFX)

 

Kelly O’Neil (Candidate, 2019 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Tangents, Noise and Reverie: A Feminist Exploration of Older Women’s Learning and Community Engagement Through Podcasting

Supervisor: Dr. Carole Roy (StFX)

 

Patrizia Olivieri (2016 Cohort)

Field of Study: Inclusive Learning, Educational Foundations and Leadership, Literacies

Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Manning (MSVU)

 

Lilliane Omosa (Candidate, 2015 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Exploring the Financial Literacy of Chama Women’s Group in Rural Kenya

Supervisor: Dr. Kelly Dye (Acadia)

 

Kara Paul (2019 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Ardra Cole (MSVU)

 

Bonnie Petersen (Candidate, 2018 Cohort)

Field of Study: Curriculum Studies, Educational Foundations and Leadership, Inclusive Education

Supervisor: Dr. Christine Doe (MSVU)

 

Sandra Pickrell Baker (2015 Cohort)

Field of Study: Psychological Aspects of Education

Supervisor: Dr. Deborah Norris (MSVU)

 

Samantha Porter (Candidate, 2018 Cohort)

Field of Study: Educational Foundations and Leadership

Supervisor: Dr. Jennifer Mitton-Kukner (StFX)

 

Janet Purvis (Candidate, 2017 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Influences Shaping Nurses’ Continuing Professional Education Choices and Learning Pathways: A Qualitative Case Study

Supervisor: Dr. Maureen Coady (StFX)

 

Kevin Redmond (PhD, 2012 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: The Experience of Dis-placed Communities: Mis-placed Educational Opportunities

Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Foran (StFX)

 

Danielle Root (2019 Cohort)

Field of Study: Inclusive Education

Supervisor: Dr. Mary Jane Harkins (MSVU)

 

Jennifer Rizwan (Candidate, 2016 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Donovan Plumb (MSVU)

 

Ingrid Robinson (PhD, 2012 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Uncovering the Stories of Aboriginal Women Education Leaders

Supervisor: Dr. Robert White (StFX)

 

Lubaba Sanjana (2020 Cohort)

Field of Study: Foundations & Leadership, Inclusive Education, Psychological Aspects

Supervisor: Dr. Jamie Metsala (MSVU)

 

Mehrdad Shahidi (Candidate, 2013 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: The Interrelationship amongst Depression, Loneliness, Self-Regulation, and Academic Achievement in Canadian International Students

Supervisor: Dr. Fred French (MSVU)

 

Lisa Snider (2019 Cohort)

Field of Study: Inclusive Education

Supervisor: Dr. Lynn Aylward (Acadia)

 

Anne Steeves (PhD, 2012 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Focusing-oriented Therapy: Experiential Journeys in Resolving the Resultant Shame of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Supervisor: Dr. Ron Lehr (Acadia)

 

Laura Stiles Clarke (Candidate, 2015 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: How do we Begin? Toward student Engagement and Success in a University Physics Department

Supervisor: Dr. Katarin MacLeod (StFX)

 

Mary Sweatman (PhD, 2014 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: A University’s Community Engagement Ethos: Working towards Reciprocal Processes and Public Purposes

Supervisor: Dr. Alan Warner (Acadia)

 

Simon Sylliboy (2020 Cohort)

Field of Study: Curriculum Studies, Inclusive Education

Supervisor: Dr. Joanne Tompkins (StFX)

 

Hailie Tattrie (2020 Cohort)

Field of Study: Educational Foundations

Supervisor: Dr. Mary Jane Harkins (MSVU)

 

Karl Turner (Candidate, 2012 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: No Strings Attached: Public Debt and the Transformation of Educational Policy in Nova Scotia, 1960-2015

Supervisor: Dr.Robert Berard (MSVU)

 

William Walters (PhD, 2014 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Influence of Mentoring on Mentor’s Teaching Identity and Teaching Practice

Supervisor: Dr. Dan Robinson (StFX)

 

Debra Wells-Hopey (2017 Cohort)

Field of Study: Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Donovan Plumb (MSVU)

 

Monica Williams (PhD, 2013 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Complexity and Coherence: A Mixed Methods Study of Educational Leadership and the Development of Leadership Standards in Nova Scotia

Supervisor: Dr. Jeff Orr (StFX)

 

Rajean Willis (Candidate, 2019 Cohort)

Field of Study: Inclusive Education, Psychological Aspects of Education

Supervisor: Dr. Susie Brigham (MSVU)

 

Erin Woodford (2019 Cohort)

Field of Study: Educational Foundations and Leadership, Lifelong Learning

Supervisor: Dr. Lynn Aylward (Acadia)

 

Richard Zurawski (Candidate, 2011 Cohort)

Dissertation Title: Lost in Translation: An Analysis of Two Discourses – Canadian Newspaper Articles from 2010 to 2015 about Human Induced Climate Change (HICC) and Scientific Papers on Which They are Based

Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Manning (MSVU)