MARILYN PATRICIA JOHNCILLA Ph.D.

Dr. Johncilla began her career in teaching at the elementary level in Trinidad & Tobago where she worked for fifteen years. She was always interested in teaching through a diverse perspective with the inclusivity of students’ racial and cultural identity. Leaving Trinidad & Tobago in 1990 with a Diploma in Teacher Training Education from the Government Teachers' College and a Certificate in the Teaching of Science from the University of the West Indies, Dr. Johncilla's academic journey took her to Toronto, Canada.

Dr. Johncilla first pursued a Library and Information Diploma; completed some courses toward a Human Resources Management Diploma and a Management Certificate at Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology. Before completing her studies at Seneca College, Dr. Johncilla was enrolled in a BA honors degree program at York University which she completed in 1998 where she majored in Sociology and Women’s studies.

After the completion of her undergraduate studies, Dr. Johncilla entered the University of Toronto in the Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology at OISE/UT in September 1998 to pursue a Master’s degree. Her diverse interest led her to a Master’s degree in Adult Education, specializing in Community, International and Transformative Learning. Her thesis research investigated a case study in leadership training of women in Trinidad and Tobago. She graduated in June 2000 while retaining dual registration for a Master of Arts and Ph.D. In September 1999, she transferred to the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education of OISE/UT because of her interest in diversity and equity issues.

Dr. Johncilla's interest in women's leadership led her to continue with a PhD degree in Sociology of Education focusing her research on the empowerment of indigenous knowledges of Black/African Canadian women’s leadership. The increase of Black women’s presence in Canada through transnationalism supported the assumption that Black women are increasingly gaining positions of leadership and this areas needs to be investigated because there is limited information written on the topic. This has certainly influenced her research interest. Since then Dr. Johncilla has completed all the work leading up to obtaining her Ph.D. She now holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.

In partial preparation of the Ph.D. and a pre-requirement to complete her dissertation, she has taken the following courses: Principles of Antiracism Education; Black Feminist Thought; Leadership in Organizations; Antiracist and Feminist Studies; Managing Education and Employment Diversities; and Indigenous Knowledge and Decolonization.

Dr. Johncilla continued teaching at various universities in Canada. She also taught at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and at the York Region District School Board (YRDSB).

Dr. Johncilla remains interested in the area of Black/African Canadian women's leadership for teaching and research. Issues on women in development, for example violence against women and women's sustainability are also important areas of interest for her.

Dr. Marilyn Patricia Johncilla
Curriculum Vitae

Ph.D. Sociology and Equity Studies, 2006
Dissertation: Black Women's Leadership: Indigenous Knowledges for Empowerment
Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
University of Toronto (Canada)

M.A. Adult Education, specialization in Community, International and Transformative Learning
Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
University of Toronto (Canada)

B.A. (Hons). Sociology and Women Studies
York University (Toronto)

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

Sociology of Diversity and Equity Studies; Indigenous Knowledge of African Canadian Women's Leadership; Cultural resistance within Black Women's Leadership

AREAS OF RESEARCH

Sociology of Race, Gender and Class; Anti-colonial Theory; Black Feminisms/Womanism; Anti-racism Education; Caribbean Studies; Transnationalism and the Diaspora.


TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2006-2007
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology
King's University College The University of Western Ontario
Courses taught: Introduction to Sociology; Minority Studies and Social Inequality
Full responsibility for the preparation and lectures of all three courses

2005-2006
Lecturer
University of Toronto, Transitional Year Program, Steps Program
Course taught: Introduction to Sociology
Preparation of course outline, syllabus and lectures to marginalized groups of students within the education system
Responsible for teaching through critical and analytical perspectives


2005-2006
Teaching Assistant
University of Toronto, Caribbean Studies Department, New College
Course: Caribbean Thought
Responsible for tutorial support with discussions from the lecture with the centrality to critical discussions on imperialism and colonization in the construction of problematic values. Marking and office hours were prioritized for students' success

2005-2006
Tutor
University of Toronto, Accessibility Services Department.
Responsible to provide critical academic survival skills to students. Using a student-centred approach, I explore different learning strategies to help students succeed in the academy.

2004-2005
Teaching Assistant
Ryerson University, Department of Sociology
Course: Families in the Caribbean
Responsible for support for two tutorial groups per week and mark papers

2002-2003
Teaching Assistant
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, Initial Teacher Education Department
I assisted in the building of a web site for Pre-service Teacher Testing or OTQT. I was responsible for the area, Diversity/Special Needs

2001-2002
Teaching Assistant
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, Initial Teacher Education Department
Courses: Schools and Society and Antiracism Education
I taught in a team, marked papers and conducted group tutorials

2000-2001
Teaching Assistant
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, Initial Teacher Education Department
Course: Teacher Education Seminar
Taught in a team and implemented the use of computer technology in teaching

2000-2001
Workshop Facilitator
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, Teacher Education Department
Presented workshops in the Initial Teacher Education Department at OISE/UT on anti-racism and equity teaching in the classroom. I built a web site where students accessed this information.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

32 nd Annual Caribbean Studies Association Conference, May/June 2007, Salvador da Bahia , Brazil Tropical da Bahia and Sol Vitoria Marina hotels. Paper presented: “ Domestic Violence against Women: A Trinidad and Tobago Internet Case Study”

7 th Annual Critical Race Studies Conference, April 2007
Researchers and Academics of Colour for Equity (RACE)
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto
Paper presented: “ A Lack of Black Privilege in the Global Metropolis”

8 th Annual Indigenous Women's Symposium, Indigenous Women Celebrating Our Diversity, March 2007, Trent University , Peterborough
Paper presented: “ Living in Turtle Island : Different Lenses of African Indigenousness/ity/city” (Group Presentation)

Congress 2006
York University, Toronto
Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association
Paper: "The Empowerment of African Canadian Women's Leadership: Memory and Indigenous Knowledge Literacy."

The Learning Conference 2006
Sam Sharpe Teachers College & Montego Bay Community College, Jamaica
Paper: "The Exclusion of Anti-racism Education: A Transformational Leadership Paradigm for Initial Teacher Education and a Boarder that Needs Crossing."

Bloor Collegiate Black History Celebration, 2006
Guest Speaker: Topic "Acknowledging Contemporary African Canadian Women Leaders."

The Annual New College Conference of the University of Toronto, 2005
Racism and National Consciousness: Race, Nation, State and Racial Profiling
Chair of the Panel: "Racism, Cultural Diversity and Multicultural Education in Canada," "Whiteness as Property" and " 'Black Crime' and the African Mind."

The Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba 8th Global Yoruba Congress ORICHA 2003, Cuba. Paper presented on “Transnational understanding of Orisa: Using the technology of the Internet."

The Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities Conference, 2002, Toronto, Ontario with the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID). Presenter and Chair of the section Education and Development: Paper: “Beyond Boundaries: feminist education for gender development within developing countries.”

The Canadian Association for the Study of Women and Education (CASWE): 4th BiAnnual Summer Institute 2002, OISE/UT, Toronto, Ontario. Paper presented: “African Canadian Women’s Bodies as Sites of Knowing and No-ing.”

The Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities Conference, 2002, Toronto, Ontario with the Canadian Women’s Studies Association (CWSA). Paper presented: “Constructing Narratives: African Caribbean Canadian Women in Academia.”

Conference on Transformative Learning, Multiple Currents: Expanding the Boundaries of Transformative Learning, 2001, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Paper presented, poem: “An Unmasked Educator.”

The Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities Conference, 2001, Universite Laval, Quebec with the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID). Paper presented: “Systems of integrating effective women’s leadership for empowerment, resistance and transformation in gender development.”

The Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities Conference, 2000, Edmonton, Alberta with the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID). Paper presented: “Women’ Leadership Training in Micro-Business: The Case of the Women’s Leadership and Enhancement Institute of Trinidad and Tobago.”

The Department of Sociology and Equity Studies (SESE) Conference, 2000, OISE/UT, Rethinking Sociology and Equity Studies: Challenges of the New Millennium. Paper presented: Excerpts from my MA thesis “Women’ Leadership Training in Micro-Business: The Case of the Women’s Leadership and Enhancement Institute of Trinidad and Tobago.”

PUBLISHED WORK

Johncilla, M.P. (2007). A Lack of Black Privilege: Unpacking the visible Toolbox (under review for publishing). Journal of Black Studies

Johncilla, M.P. (2007) Sani Baat and Gender-Based Domestic Violence in Trinidad and Tobago (under review for publishing). Women's Studies International Forum

Johncilla, M.P. (2007). Border Crossing: Anti-racism Transformational Leadership within Teacher Training Education. (under review for publishing). Race, Ethnicity and Education

Johncilla, M.P. (2007). The ABCs of Black Women's Leadership. Women in Higher Education . Vol. 16(8), 29

Yearwood, M.P. (2004). Spaces of My Empowerment (poem). Canadian Woman Studies/les cahiers de la femme, Vol. 23 (2), 13

Yearwood, M.P. (2004). The Healer Woman (art). Canadian Woman Studies/les cahiers de la femme, Vol. 23 (2), 113

Yearwood, M.P. and B. Daniel (2002). African Canadian Women's Bodies as Sites of Knowing and No-ing . In S.M. Abbey (Ed.), Ways of Knowing in and through the Body: Diverse Perspectives on Embodiment (pp. 253-258). 4 th Bi-Annual Summer Institute: Canadian Association for the Study of Women and Education. Welland, Ontario : SOLEIL

Yearwood, M.P. (2003). African Women Leaders (Poem). Pulse: A Journal of Anticolonial Thought, Expression and Activism

RESEARCH PAPERS IN PROGRESS

The Empowerment of African Canadian Women's Leadership: Memory, Spirituality and Indigenous Knowledge Literacy

Transnational African Cultural Resistance: Enhancing Women’s Leadership of the Shouter Baptist Religion

A gift to be shared: Mapping the Leadership of a Black Caribbean Woman in the Grassroots Community of Toronto