Get To Know Me
Dr. Ciann L. Wilson is an Associate Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University. Dr. Wilson has extensive experience in consulting, advocacy and community development related to Black and Indigenous health promotion and brings considerable expertise in developing intersectional and anti-oppressive evaluation frameworks. Dr. Wilson’s interdisciplinary research program addresses the multi-faceted and complex drivers that impact the overall health of racialized and Indigenous communities. Her research program consists of community-based research (CBR) projects that utilize evidence-based, art and media-based approaches to elucidate community perspectives on their own health, and engage communities in evidence-based interventions that have local specificity and relevance.
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Her CBR approach addresses the pressing health and well-being needs of Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities by harnessing the talents, knowledge, and skills of communities, providing them a platform to be empowered agents of change and co-producers of knowledge and research that centres their voices, and which is of benefit to their lives. In addition to leading the Access & Equity Research Interest Group and Co-Directing the Centre for Community Research, Learning and Action, Dr. Wilson has provided her skills and expertise in consulting with the Government of Canada, regional governments, universities, and district school boards.
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Recent Professional History
Associate Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University
July 2020Â - Present
Anti-Oppression and Anti-Racist Consultant
Jan, 2020 - Present
Co-Director, Centre for Community Research Learning and Action
May 2018 - Present
Co-Program Coordinator, Community Psychology Program, Wilfrid Laurier University
July 2019 - March 2021
Assistant Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University
July 2016 - July 2020
Education
PhD in Environmental Studies, York University
2011 - 2016
Dissertation title: Beyond the Colonial Divide: Alliance Building Between African Diasporic and Indigenous Communities in HIV Prevention.
Areas of study: critical race and class theories; anti-colonial theory; African, Caribbean and Aboriginal communities; public health; the social determinants; political economy of health; HIV/AIDS; community-based interventions; qualitative and Indigenous research methodologies.
Supervisor: Dr. Sarah Flicker
Dissertation Committee: Honor Ford-Smith and Jean-Paul Restoule
Masters in Environmental Studies, York University
2009 - 2011
Thesis Title: Let’s Talk About Sex: Exploring Young Racialized Women’s Agency in the Context of Risk
Area of study: Understanding Aboriginal and Black youth vulnerability to Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV using art, indigenous knowledge and popular education-centered community-based participatory research
Supervisor: Dr. Sarah Flicker
Honours Bachelor of Science with Distinction, University of Toronto (St. George Campus)
2005 - 2009
Human Biology major, Philosophy and Sociology minors.
Academic Honours and Awards
May, 2021
Award of Service Excellence and Community Engagement, Wilfrid Laurier University
January, 2021
Status of Women and Equity Award of Distinction, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations.
January, 2020
Junior Investigator Award, Ontario HIV/AIDS Treatment Network.
March, 2019
Ethnic Minority Mentoring Award. Society of Community, Research, and Action, Division 27 of the American Psychological Association.
February, 2019
Early Career Researcher Award, Wilfrid Laurier University.