About
Wafaa Hasan (Ph.D., English and Cultural Studies) is an Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream) in the Women and Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto (St. George campus). She is an international lecturer, author and scholar who has taught in the Centre for Women and Gender Studies at Brock University, the Historical and Cultural Studies Department at the University of Toronto-Scarborough Campus and in the Gender Studies and Feminist Research Program at McMaster University since 2016. Her publications examine topics such as contemporary trends of globalization in the Middle East; relations between Arab-Canadian leaders/organizations and the Harper government in Canada; Palestinian childhood in Canadian literature; and global practices of resilience in displacement in Countering Displacements: The Creativity and Resilience of Indigenous and Refugee-ed Peoples (U of A Press, 2012). Her research is primarily focused on decolonial feminist theory. That is, her teaching and research is focused on articulating and recovering modes of feminism that uproot and dismantle some prominent feminisms’ able-ist, racist, imperialist, classist, and faithist histories. Wafaa’s anti-oppression work is deeply invested in decentre-ing whiteness and white, liberal, colonial cultures as well as marking these cultures as distinct and uniquely wedded to particular priorities rooted in capitalism. Her academic expertise lies in cultural studies theory, articulations of transnational feminisms and decolonial/anti-racist feminist allyship. She also passionately teaches about indigenous and anti-oppressive research methods, modeled in her own on-the-ground interview practices in Palestine and in Canada. Hasan currently serves on the board of Canadian Arab Federation (CAF).
Wafaa’s dissertation, “Orientalist Feminism: Eastward Pedagogies in Israeli-Palestinian Feminist Dialogues” was nominated for the Governor General’s Academic Medal and the Canadian Association for Graduate Students’/University of Microfilms International’s CAGS/UMI Distinguished Dissertation Award at McMaster University. She is regularly sought out to speak about this research for international/local keynotes and featured presentations. For example, she was invited to speak on her dissertation research as a Keynote Speaker at the University of West Indies for the Gender and Development Program on International Women’s Day (March 2015; invited by Dr. Charmaine Crawford). In 2016, Wafaa was invited to speak at Harvard University as part of a panel at the American Comparative Literature Association Conference by Dr. Susan Lanser from the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University. Wafaa was also asked to present her research as part of the U of Ottawa Feminist Cafes Series by Dr. Shoshana Magnet (details available in C.V.).
Wafaa also lectures in the university and in the community about the relationship between Islamophobia and Western (often colonial) feminisms.
Wafaa arrived in Canada as a Humanitarian Refugee following the Gulf War and the ensuing mass displacement of Palestinians from Kuwait. Having been raised by a single mother in a government housing complex in Toronto, Wafaa is deeply committed to the value of social services, such as affordable housing, women’s shelters, anti-racist GBV initiatives, public healthcare and an equitable education system. As such Wafaa is proud of her work as Equity Officer of CUPE 3906, during her graduate school years, during which she spearheaded the opening of a Women and Trans Centre on McMaster University’s campus as well as a program to support struggling and isolated international students.
For more information on Hasan’s publications, awards and teaching experience, please click here to download her Curriculum Vitae.
