Tonya Callaghan

Background

About Tonya Callaghan

Dr. Tonya Callaghan is a Professor with the University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education and an Academic Director for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit+(LGBTQ2S+) equity, inclusion, and intersectionality with UCalgary’s Office of Institutional Commitments. Their second monograph, Homophobia in the Hallways: Heterosexism and Transphobia in Canadian Catholic Schools (University of Toronto Press) has been highly impactful. The overarching goal of their award-winning research is to integrate theory and practice so educational stakeholders become motivated to act as allies to members of gender and sexual minority groups in resisting religiously inspired heterosexist oppression. They specialize in critical social justice theories and anti-oppression education. Professor Callaghan has been recognized for outstanding commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) at UCalgary with the EDI Faculty Award. They were also honoured with two UCalgary Curriculum Development Awards for designing and coordinating the undergraduate course Diversity in Learning and the Master of Education program Advancing Healthy & Socially Just Schools & Communities, both of which actively promote EDI principles. Their research in the field of EDI explores resistance to anti-homophobia/transprejudice education in curriculum and policy. Since joining UCalgary, they have served as Principal Investigator on 10 funded research projects and as a Co-Investigator on 6 collaborative transdisciplinary research projects. All funded transdisciplinary projects examine LGBT2SQ+ individuals’ experiences with homophobia and cisnormativity in a variety of settings (Education, Medicine, Social Work, Psychology, Refugee Settlement Agencies). They have served UCalgary in a myriad of ways ranging from Senator to Academic Co-Lead for Democracy, Justice, and Sustainability with UCalgary’s Institutes for Transdisciplinary Scholarship. Professor Callaghan is interested in working collaboratively with others on research projects or publishing opportunities. Specialties: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Intersectionality; Human Rights; Women and Gender Studies; Anti-homophobia Education; Anti-Oppressive Qualitative Research methods; Critical Theory