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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 focusses on youth and the social determinants of health from an interdisciplinary perspective. For many years, I have worked with and for Indigenous communities on a number of arts-based, community driven projects. My most recent work engages young people in conversations about sexual health education and reproductive justice.
My research engages young people in 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 who are unhoused.
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).
In 2015, our research team began working 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 on the Laurier Brantford campus.
From 2016-2019, I worked as the faculty mentor on the Being Raced project, which was led by a team of undergraduate researchers: Paige Grant, Azka Choudhary, Joey Lee, and Kate Harvey. This work amplified the experiences of racialized students, staff, and faculty on Laurier's campuses and became pivotal in the university's EDI strategic plan.
Most recently, I have been working with several SSHRC-funded research teams that are working with both teachers and young people to study the creation, rollout, and delivery of sex education curricula in Ontario. Working with the SHORE Centre, we are currently focussing on formulating youth-generated recommendations for sexual health education programming that responds to young people’s diverse needs and lived experiences.
- Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal, York University (2010).
- Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier University (2014)
- Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier University (2015)
- Early Career Excellence in Teaching Award, Wilfrid Laurier University (2016)
- Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier University (2017)
- Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier Universtiy (2019)
- Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier Universtiy (2020)
- 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.
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Oliver, V., & Flicker, S. (2023). “Declining Nudes: Canadian teachers’ responses to including sexting in the Sexual Health and Human Development curriculum. Sex Education.
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Flicker, S., Gagnon, M., Gilbert, J., Guta, A., MacEntee, K., Oliver, V., Sanders, C. (2020).Changing the Rules: Ontario Teacher Reflections on Implementing Shifting Health and Physical Education Curricula. Research report from the Enacting Sex Education Update: A view from Ontario’s Teachers Research Project. York University, ON.
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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/SOJE430 – Youth Cultures
YC/SOJE326 – Children, Toys and Media
YC400 - Senior Seminar in Youth and Chilren's Studies
YC440 – Youth and Sexuality
Contact Info:
Office location: RCE205
Office hours:
By appointment
Languages spoken: English