Sheila Cavanagh
Professor
Office: Founders College, 322
Phone: 416-736-2100 Ext: 22337
Email: sheila@yorku.ca
Primary website: http://www.yorku.ca/sheila
Sheila L. Cavanagh is a Professor of Sociology and former Sexuality Studies Coordinator at York University, Toronto, Canada. She does gender and sexuality studies with a focus on feminist, queer, cultural, and psychoanalytic theories.
Sheila L. Cavanagh is a professor at York University, Toronto. She is also a clinical pre-candidate at the Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis in San Francisco. Cavanagh coordinated the Sexuality Studies Program at York and is past chair of the Canadian Sexuality Studies Association. She also co-edited Somatechnics Journal and sits on the editorial boards of Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, Studies in Gender and Sexuality, and Parapraxis magazine. Cavanagh edited a special double issue of the journal Transgender Studies Quarterly on psychoanalysis and co-edited Skin, Culture and Psychoanalysis (Palgrave Macmillan). Her first sole-authored book Sexing the Teacher: School Sex Scandals and Queer Pedagogies was given honorable mention by the Canadian Women’s Studies Association. Cavanagh’s second sole-authored book titled Queering Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality, and the Hygienic Imagination is a GLBT Indie Book Award finalist and recipient of the CWSA/ACEF Outstanding Scholarship Prize Honourable Mention. Her scholarship has been published in The Psychoanalytic Review; MAMSIE: Studies in the Maternal; European Journal of Psychoanalysis; Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society; and Studies in Gender and Sexuality. Her psychoanalytic sociology has been presented at the Freud Museum, the Anna Freud Centre, the Tampa Bay Psychoanalytic Association, the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society, and at multiple psychoanalytic conferences affiliated with the International Psychoanalytic Association and the New Lacan School. Cavanagh has also given academic keynote addresses at conferences in Sweden, Turkey, the United States and Canada.
Degrees
PhD, York UniversityMA, University of Toronto (OISE)
BA, York University
BEd, York University
Research Interests
- Research Fellowship 2005 and 2006. - 2005-6
- Given honorable mention by the Canadian Women’s Studies Association for Sexing the Teacher: School Sex Scandals and Queer Pedagogies (2007) for their annual book award. - 2007
Current Research Projects
-
Description:
Recent studies show that transgender (trans) individuals in Ontario suffer from gender discrimination, lack of state recognition, often live in poverty despite high education levels, and suffer widespread transphobic harassment (Cavanagh 2010; Irving and Raj 2014; Scruton 2014). There is, however, a dearth of in-depth research about the lived experiences of trans people necessary to engage key audiences in the need to effect substantive policy and legislative change.
The Ontario-based Trans PULSE project (launched by Dr. Greta Bauer, partner on this project) (sample: 433) found that: 1) 48% of trans people did not have government issued identification reflecting their lived gender identity; 2) 71% of trans people have at least some college or university education but half make $15,000 or less per year; 3) 66% of trans Ontarians avoid public places due to fear of transphobic harassment; and 4) 34% of participants experienced verbal harassment or threats because they are trans.
A recent study also found that 70% of trans people interviewed in Ontario avoid public toilets, especially at school, work, in malls, gymnasiums and community centers because they fear transphobic harassment and/or assault (Cavanagh, 2010).The Trans Needs Assessment Report issued by the Canadian AIDS Society reflects similar findings and ranked better “public education, understanding and acceptance of people who are trans” (Scruton, 2014) as one of their main priorities. This research partnership brings together a team of academic and community organizations in Ontario dedicated to trans advocacy, research, and theatre-based education. The overall objective of this partnership is to study the legal, social, educational and economic barriers to public participation and citizenship trans people face in Ontario, and to disseminate the findings through a one-week theatrical production at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (BBTT). The project will be grounded in semi-structured life-history interviews with twenty Ontario-based participants who identify as trans, a term which is broadly defined to include those who are transsexual, transgender, gender queer, two-spirit and non-binary gender.
The interviews will form the basis of a performed ethnography (PE). An emerging methodological innovation, PE combines critical ethnographic interviews and theatre to stage academic research in a public forum. It thus optimizes social impact and knowledge sharing. The specific objectives of this project are to: a) generate original sociological research pertinent to trans people in Ontario; b) use theatre to educate the public, the relevant professional sectors and government bodies about the needs of the trans community; and c) produce the first PE on trans experiences in Canada for use in colleges, universities, professional training and community-based social services.
The research will also be used to support the education, advocacy and legislative mandates of Supporting Our Youth (SOY) and EGALE Canada (both community partners), and the arts-based mandates of BBBT (community partner).
All members of this intersectoral partnership will contribute their respective expertise to the qualitative study, performance, and mobilization of research results central to the Ontario trans community. As such, the project is grounded in the community engagement of EGALE Canada and SOY, who will work closely with the academic partners (Cavanagh, Bauer, Levin and CFR) to ensure that all aspects of the research process are accountable and responsive to the needs of the trans community. BBTT will stage the PE, in collaboration with the PI (Cavanagh) and the Theatre Department at York University (Levin), who will also all work together in the play’s development, in dialogue with the other community partners.
Eight graduate students will actively participate in the research and theatrical components of this partnership, contributing to the enhancement of their academic abilities, professional skills, and community relationships.
Start Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2015
End Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2018
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2025 | AP/SOCI3690 6.0 | A | Sociology of Gender | LECT |
| Winter 2026 | GS/SPTH6402 3.0 | M | Race, Psyche and Sexuality | SEMR |
Sheila L. Cavanagh is a Professor of Sociology and former Sexuality Studies Coordinator at York University, Toronto, Canada. She does gender and sexuality studies with a focus on feminist, queer, cultural, and psychoanalytic theories.
Sheila L. Cavanagh is a professor at York University, Toronto. She is also a clinical pre-candidate at the Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis in San Francisco. Cavanagh coordinated the Sexuality Studies Program at York and is past chair of the Canadian Sexuality Studies Association. She also co-edited Somatechnics Journal and sits on the editorial boards of Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, Studies in Gender and Sexuality, and Parapraxis magazine. Cavanagh edited a special double issue of the journal Transgender Studies Quarterly on psychoanalysis and co-edited Skin, Culture and Psychoanalysis (Palgrave Macmillan). Her first sole-authored book Sexing the Teacher: School Sex Scandals and Queer Pedagogies was given honorable mention by the Canadian Women’s Studies Association. Cavanagh’s second sole-authored book titled Queering Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality, and the Hygienic Imagination is a GLBT Indie Book Award finalist and recipient of the CWSA/ACEF Outstanding Scholarship Prize Honourable Mention. Her scholarship has been published in The Psychoanalytic Review; MAMSIE: Studies in the Maternal; European Journal of Psychoanalysis; Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society; and Studies in Gender and Sexuality. Her psychoanalytic sociology has been presented at the Freud Museum, the Anna Freud Centre, the Tampa Bay Psychoanalytic Association, the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society, and at multiple psychoanalytic conferences affiliated with the International Psychoanalytic Association and the New Lacan School. Cavanagh has also given academic keynote addresses at conferences in Sweden, Turkey, the United States and Canada.
Degrees
PhD, York UniversityMA, University of Toronto (OISE)
BA, York University
BEd, York University
Research Interests
Awards
- Research Fellowship 2005 and 2006. - 2005-6
- Given honorable mention by the Canadian Women’s Studies Association for Sexing the Teacher: School Sex Scandals and Queer Pedagogies (2007) for their annual book award. - 2007
Current Research Projects
-
Description:
Recent studies show that transgender (trans) individuals in Ontario suffer from gender discrimination, lack of state recognition, often live in poverty despite high education levels, and suffer widespread transphobic harassment (Cavanagh 2010; Irving and Raj 2014; Scruton 2014). There is, however, a dearth of in-depth research about the lived experiences of trans people necessary to engage key audiences in the need to effect substantive policy and legislative change.
The Ontario-based Trans PULSE project (launched by Dr. Greta Bauer, partner on this project) (sample: 433) found that: 1) 48% of trans people did not have government issued identification reflecting their lived gender identity; 2) 71% of trans people have at least some college or university education but half make $15,000 or less per year; 3) 66% of trans Ontarians avoid public places due to fear of transphobic harassment; and 4) 34% of participants experienced verbal harassment or threats because they are trans.
A recent study also found that 70% of trans people interviewed in Ontario avoid public toilets, especially at school, work, in malls, gymnasiums and community centers because they fear transphobic harassment and/or assault (Cavanagh, 2010).The Trans Needs Assessment Report issued by the Canadian AIDS Society reflects similar findings and ranked better “public education, understanding and acceptance of people who are trans” (Scruton, 2014) as one of their main priorities. This research partnership brings together a team of academic and community organizations in Ontario dedicated to trans advocacy, research, and theatre-based education. The overall objective of this partnership is to study the legal, social, educational and economic barriers to public participation and citizenship trans people face in Ontario, and to disseminate the findings through a one-week theatrical production at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (BBTT). The project will be grounded in semi-structured life-history interviews with twenty Ontario-based participants who identify as trans, a term which is broadly defined to include those who are transsexual, transgender, gender queer, two-spirit and non-binary gender.
The interviews will form the basis of a performed ethnography (PE). An emerging methodological innovation, PE combines critical ethnographic interviews and theatre to stage academic research in a public forum. It thus optimizes social impact and knowledge sharing. The specific objectives of this project are to: a) generate original sociological research pertinent to trans people in Ontario; b) use theatre to educate the public, the relevant professional sectors and government bodies about the needs of the trans community; and c) produce the first PE on trans experiences in Canada for use in colleges, universities, professional training and community-based social services.
The research will also be used to support the education, advocacy and legislative mandates of Supporting Our Youth (SOY) and EGALE Canada (both community partners), and the arts-based mandates of BBBT (community partner).
All members of this intersectoral partnership will contribute their respective expertise to the qualitative study, performance, and mobilization of research results central to the Ontario trans community. As such, the project is grounded in the community engagement of EGALE Canada and SOY, who will work closely with the academic partners (Cavanagh, Bauer, Levin and CFR) to ensure that all aspects of the research process are accountable and responsive to the needs of the trans community. BBTT will stage the PE, in collaboration with the PI (Cavanagh) and the Theatre Department at York University (Levin), who will also all work together in the play’s development, in dialogue with the other community partners.
Eight graduate students will actively participate in the research and theatrical components of this partnership, contributing to the enhancement of their academic abilities, professional skills, and community relationships.
Project Type: FundedRole: Principle Investigator
Start Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2015
End Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2018
All Publications
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2025 | AP/SOCI3690 6.0 | A | Sociology of Gender | LECT |
| Winter 2026 | GS/SPTH6402 3.0 | M | Race, Psyche and Sexuality | SEMR |
