Dr. Joanne Minaker received a PhD in Socio-Legal Studies from Queen’s University in 2003 and has developed an influential and interdisciplinary body of work, which merges her scholarly research and social engagement. Her main areas of expertise are: 1) youth crime, youth justice, and criminalized youth; 2) sociology of care, motherhood studies, and marginalized mothering; and 3) social in/justice and community engagement. At the core of this project are explorations of the tensions between individual agency and social systems and “the power of meaningful connections” in creating openings for personal transformation and social change. She recently published co-edited books Violence Interrupted:Confronting Sexual Violence on University Campuses (with Diane Crocker and Amanda Nelund) and Feminist Perspectives on Young Mothers, and Young Mothering (with Deborah Bryd and Andrea O’Reilly), and has published widely on such issues as regulation of young women, gendered, social justice, sociology of family, and community caring. Her work also includes co-editing Criminalized Mothers, Criminalizing Motherhood (2015) and co-authoring the book Youth, Crime and Society: Issues of Power and Justice (2009, with Bryan Hogeveen).

Dr. Minaker is an award-winning instructor concerned about care and human connection. She works diligently being an active citizen at MacEwan. Before joining the Dean’s Office in the Faculty of Arts and Science, her involvement at the faculty and institutional level included: Arts Promotion and Review Committee 2015-2017, University Budget Committee, 2016-2017; Founding Member of USOLVE (University Students Offering Leadership on Violence Elimination) serving from 2011-2016; collaborating with students to establish the Change Making Initiative, a student club to foster volunteerism, advocacy, and leadership. Dr. Minaker shares her work in academic and community settings and has made several media appearances, including: “The Power of Meaningful Connections” at TEDxUAlberta on March 6, 2016 and Just Care at TEDxGarneauWomen on December 5, 2013.