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Our Team

Meet the masterminds behind FTT!

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Dr. Shana MacDonald

Associate Professor in Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo

Dr. Shana MacDonald is O’Donovan Chair of Communication Across the Curriculum and Associate Professor in Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Her interdisciplinary research examines feminist, queer, and anti-racist media activisms within social and digital media, memes, popular culture, cinema, and contemporary art. Dr. MacDonald is co-director of the Digital Feminist Network of Canada (digfemnet.org) and co-runs the online archive and research collective Feminist Think Tank (Instagram: @aesthetic.resistance). She is a series editor for Ohio State University Press’s Digital Feminist Resistance book series. MacDonald has published in Feminist Media Studies (2020), Camera Obscura (2022), MAI: Feminism and Visual Culture (2023), and is lead editor of Networked Feminisms: Digital Practices and Activist Assemblies (Lexington Books 2022).

Dr. Brianna I. Wiens

Assistant Professor in English Language & Literature at the University of Waterloo

Brianna I. Wiens is an Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Rhetoric in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo. Her work brings together intersectional feminism, feminist media studies, and critical affect studies to examine the embodied methodologies, rhetorics, and politics of digital culture in order to explore how people use media in critical and creative ways to foster community and speak back to power. Her current work investigates the visual culture and rhetorical vernaculars of misogyny, mixed-race representation, and misinformation amid the rise of technology-facilitated violence. She is Co-Director of the research collective Feminist Think Tank (www.feminist-think-tank.com) and the recently established Digital Feminist Network of Canada (https://digfemnet.org/), as well as Co-Editor of The Ohio State University Press book series Digital Media, Feminist Resistance (https://ohiostatepress.org/books/series/dmfr.html). 

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The Research Assistants
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Anna McWebb

Anna McWebb is a second-year PhD student in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo. Her research investigates the ways in which queer and intersectional feminist political resistance emerges through visual rhetorical discourse within meme (sub)cultures on the Internet. Alongside her studies, she is in the role of Managing Editor for (Un)Disturbed: A Journal of Feminist Voices, and works as a research assistant for the Digital Feminist Network, and the Connect, Create, Customize: Collaborative Toolkit Building for Campus Trust And Safety project through the Feminist Think Tank, all of which are lead by Dr. Brianna I Wiens and Dr. Shana MacDonald.

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Amaya Kodituwakku

Amaya Kodituwakku (they/them) is an English Literature and Rhetoric undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo with a minor in Legal Studies. They are currently working under Dr. Shana MacDonald and Dr. Brianna Wiens as a RA co-op student. Amaya's areas of interest are in transformative justice and transnational feminist rhetoric. They aim to develop strategies for feminist coalitions with those disproportionately marginalized by borders and paramilitary forces. 

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Sakeenah Ashique

Sakeenah is a third year student at the University of Waterloo studying Honors Dac with a minor in Cognitive Science. She is working under Shana MacDonald on her data archive and various research projects. Sakeenah's area of interest is in the convergence of feminism, race, and religion to examine the implications of intersectional identity within Western society, with the aim of establishing a broader, inclusive comprehension of feminism.

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Thuvaraka Mahenthiran

Thuvaraka Mahenthiran is a masters student in Developmental Psychology at the University of Waterloo. She is currently working under Dr. Shana MacDonald and Dr. Brianna Wiens as their Project Manager on the Feminist Digital Media Project.

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Andie Kaiser

Andie Kaiser (she/her) is a fourth year English Literature student at the University of Waterloo. She works under Dr. Shana MacDonald as a part time research assistant for Feminist Think Tank, where she aids in social media content creation and data organization. She is particularly interested in studying representations of feminist and queer politic within film and popular culture. 

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Nevetha Kugathas

Nevetha Kugathas is an alumni of the University of Waterloo with an Honours Arts degree in Psychology and a minor in Cognitive Science. She has contributed to various student-focused projects at the University of Waterloo and is currently working as a research assistant, where she is passionate about exploring gender intersectionality. She seeks to illuminate the nuanced realities faced by marginalized groups. Her enthusiasm extends to seeking to broaden the scope of feminism's inclusiveness.  

Previous Research Assistants
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Sid Heeg

Sid Heeg is a PhD student at the University of Waterloo in the Faculty of Environment, working towards a PhD in Sustainability Management. Their research focuses on miscommunication and misinformation about agriculture in digital spaces and understanding the impacts they have on farmer's work practices.

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Dena Huang

Dena Huang was a researcher and curator for Feminist Think Tank, focusing on feminist discourse, popular culture, and well-being in the digital age. Dena is interested in sustaining humanity in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and aims to empower and promote inclusivity through digital experiences.

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Mitra Myrie

Mitra is an alumni of the University of Waterloo with an Honours BA in Speech Communication and a Digital Arts Communication minor. They worked with Dr. Shana MacDonald and Dr. Brianna Wiens as a Knowledge Mobilization Consultant and Podcast Director for Feminist Think Tank.  

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Kate Bradley

Kate Bradley (she/her) has done archival, research, curatorial, and museum work in both Ontario and in Prince Edward Island. She joined the project eager to help with big-picture analysis, drawing connections, and analyzing themes of activism and media. 

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Selah Banton

Selah-Kareena Banton (she/her) worked under Dr. Shana MacDonald and Dr. Brianna Wiens in feminist digital media research, which she takes high interest in. 

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Eliana Hill-Zeesman

Bio coming soon...

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Hannah Delamere

Bio coming soon...

Feminist Think Tank

University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1

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©2022 by Feminist Think Tank. 

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