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Becoming a Golden Hawk means more than just cheering on our (really good) varsity teams – it means being a student who cares about your community, who works hard in the classroom, and who takes advantage of all the learning opportunities that can happen outside the classroom, too.
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I received my PhD from York University in 2010, my MA from Queen’s University in 2005, and my HBA from the University of Toronto in 2003. I was also a CIHR ACHIEVE postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Before joining the Laurier community in 2013, I was an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Mount Allison University.
My research engages and works with youth on community-based, arts-informed research around anti-racism, sexual health education and the social determinants of health. In 2013, I published a book with University of Toronto Press titled Healing Home. I have also published widely on health promotion with Indigenous youth, sex education, and the experiences of youth facing homelessness.
I was a co-investigator on the CIHR-funded Taking Action for Youth research project, which worked with Indigenous youth over the course of 6 years to develop Indigenous leadership capacity in HIV prevention. I also received a CIHR Planning Grant to complete the Sex Ed North project, which engaged Indigenous youth in re-envisioning sexual health services in Denendeh (North West Territories).
Since 2015, I have been focusing on the #TAG: Transformation. Action. Graffiti Project, a three-year project funded by SSHRC and CIHR, with the generous support of Six Nations of the Grand River. #TAG was an Indigenous-led research project that worked with youth to create beautiful graffiti murals in Six Nations and at the Laurier Brantford campus.
Most recently, I am a part of a SSHRC-funded research team that is working with teachers to study the importance, implementation and rollout of the 2015 sex education curriculum.
- Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal, York University (2010).
- Early Career Excellence in Teaching Award, Wilfrid Laurier University (2016)
- Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier University (2014)
- Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier University (2015)
- Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier University (2017)
- Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier Universtiy (2019)
- R.W.B. Jackson Award - Canadian Journal of Education (2020)
Teaching is the best part of my job. I welcome enthusiastic students looking to study in the areas of anti-oppression, health inequity, sexual education, and youth resistance. My supervisory work is mostly linked with the MA in Social Jutice and Community Engagement at Laurier Brantford; however, I also work on student projects in Community Psychology at Laurier Waterloo.
- Whitlow, K., Oliver, V., Anderson, K., Brozowski, K., Tschirhart, S., Charles, D., & Ransom, K. (2019). Yehyatonhserayenteri: A Haudenosaunee Model for Onkwehon:we [Indigenous] Education. The Canadian Journal of Education, 42(2), 553-575.
- Whitlow, K., Oliver, V., Anderson, K., & Brozowski, K., Tschirhart, S., Charles, D., & Ransom, K. (2019). Taonsaiontenroseri:ye’ne: The Power of Art in Community-Led Indigenous Research with Youth. AlterNative: International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 15(2), 180-189.
- Whitlow, K. & Oliver, V. (2019). Tentsitewatenronhste: We Will Become Friends Again. In Wilson, A. Breen, and L. DuPre (Eds.), Research and Reconciliation: Unsettling Ways of Knowing through Indigenous Relationships (pp. 195-210). Toronto: Canadian Scholars‘ Press.
- Flicker, S., Wilson, C., Native Youth Sexual Health Network, Monchalin, R., Restoule, J.P., Mitchell, C., Larkin, J., Prentice, T., Jackson, R., and Oliver, V. (2019). The Impact of Indigenous Youth Sharing Digital Stories about HIV Activism. Health Promotion Practice.
- Grant, P., Choudhary, A., Lee, J., Burrows, L., Lindo, L.M., & Oliver, V. (2018). #BeingRaced: Final Report. Wilfrid Laurier University, ON.
- Whitlow, K., Oliver, V., Anderson, K., & Brozowski, K. (2018). Transformation Action Graffiti (TAG): Final Report. Prepared for Six Nations Community, Ohsweken, Ontario.
- Flicker, S., Wilson, C., Native Youth Sexual Health Network, Oliver, V., Prentice, T., Jackson, R., Larkin, J., Mitchell, C., Restoule, J.P. (2017). “Stay Strong, Stay Sexy, Stay Native”: Storying Indigenous Youth HIV Prevention Activism. Action Research Journal.
- Monchalin, R., Flicker, S., Wilson, C., Konsmo, E., Prentice, T., Oliver, V., Jackson, R., Larkin, J., Mitchell, C., Restoule, J.P. and the Native Youth Sexual Health Network. (2016). “When you follow your heart, you provide that path for others”: Indigenous Models of Youth Leadership in HIV Prevention. International Journal of Indigenous Health, 11(1), 135-158.
- Wilson, C., Oliver, V., Flicker, S., NYSHN, Prentice, T., Jackson, R., Larkin, J., Restoule, J.P., & Mitchell, C. (2016). Culture as HIV Prevention: Indigenous Youth Speak Up!Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, 9(1).
- Oliver, V., Flicker, S., Danforth, J., Konsmo, E., Wilson, C., Jackson, R., Prentice, T., Larkin, J., Restoule, J.P., & Mitchell, C. (2015). “Women are supposed to be the leaders:” The Intersections of Gender, Race and Colonization in HIV Prevention with Aboriginal Young People. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 17(7), 906-919.
- Oliver, V., & LeBlanc, R. (2014). Family Matters: A Strengths-Based Family Resiliency Perspective Toward Improving the Health of Homeless Young Women. International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 6(1), 52-67.
- Oliver, V. & Cheff, R. (2014). The Social Network: Homeless young women, social capital, and the health implications of belonging. Youth and Society, 46(5), 642-662.
- Oliver, V. (2013). Healing Home: Health and Homelessness in the Life Stories of Young Women. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- Oliver, V., van der Meulen, E., Flicker, S., Larkin, J., & the Toronto Teen Survey Research Team.(2013). If You Teach Them, They Will Come: Providers Reactions to Incorporating Pleasure into Youth Sexual Education. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 104(2), 142-147.
- Oliver, V. & Cheff, R. (2012). Sexual Health: The Role of Sexual Health Services Among Homeless Young Women Living in Toronto, Canada. Health Promotion Practice, 13(3), 370-377.
YC100 – Introduction to Youth and Children’s Studies
YC/CT430 – Youth Cultures
YC/CT 326 – Children, Toys and Media
YC440 – Youth and Sexuality
Contact Info:
Office location: RCE205
Office hours:
By appointment
Languages spoken: English