Dr. Rachel Zellars, Associate Professor

Department of Social Justice & Community Studies
Saint Mary's University
Halifax, NS, B3H-3C3
Phone: 902-420-6617
rachel.zellars@smu.ca

Academic Biography

• Senior Research Fellow, Saint Mary’s University
• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Vermont, Department of History
• PhD, McGill University
• JD, Loyola Law School
• MA, Cornell University
• BA, Howard University

Dr. Zellars is a lawyer, Associate Professor, and Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Social Justice and Community Studies at Saint Mary’s University. Prior, she served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Vermont in the Department of History, where her research focused on the history of Black migration and slavery in the Maritimes beginning in the 18^th century.

Dr. Zellars’ research focuses on the histories of anti-black schooling segregation and resistance in Canada; migration and slavery in the Maritimes and throughout the Atlantic world from the 18^th century; and the historical impact of gender violence in the lives of Black women.

In 2021, Dr. Zellars was named a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Social Justice and Community Studies. Also in 2021, she was awarded the SMUSA Award for Overall Excellence in the Field of Education, an annual award presented to a faculty member who has undertaken initiatives and implemented practices to improve the quality of life and education for students in and outside of the classroom.

Awards and Fellowships

• Jocelyne Bourgon Visiting Fellow, Canada School of Public Service, 2021-2022
• Senior Research Fellow, Saint Mary’s University, 2021 (Canada Research Chair Tier II awardee)
• SMUSA Award for Overall Excellence in the Field of Education, 2021

Research Interests

• Black migration in Maritime Canada and the Atlantic world, 1700-1865
• Slavery and resistance in Canada
• Comparative histories of slavery, gender, and the law
• Gender violence and Black radical traditions
• Anti-blackness and implicit bias
• Black labour movements and organizing in Canada
• Black Canadians in public service

Courses

• Climate Disaster and Social Justice
• Community and Movement Organizing
• Gender and the Law
• Critical Race Theory
• Critical Race Feminism
• Critical Race and Indigenous Theory in Education
• Politics of Identity
• Introduction to Feminist Studies

Selected Publications

Zellars, R. (2023). Vaccines, truckers, and white supremacy between the US and Canada. Black Perspectives Journal. African American Intellectual History Society.

Zellars, R. (2020). Dreams of a Black commons on Turtle Island. Studies in Social Justice.

Zellars, R. (2020). The 1917 Halifax explosion and structural anti-blackness in times of crisis. Black Perspectives Journal. African American Intellectual History Society.

Zellars, R. (2019)."Too Tedious to Mention": Pondering the border, Black Atlantic, and public schooling in colonial Canada. Left History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Historical Inquiry and Debate 23, (1)

Zellars, R. and Batraville, N. (2019). À partir de quelles bases appréhende-t-on le racisme anti-noir dans la sphère culturelle au Québec? Spirale 268, Printemps.

Zellars, R. (2019). “As if we were all struggling together”: Black organizing, gendered violence, and Black women’s activism in Montréal. Women’s Studies International Forum.

Zellars, R. (2019). Rethinking Black and Indigenous life on Turtle Island. Black Perspectives Journal. African American Intellectual History Society.

Zellars, R. (2018). Shame and the kinship of sexual violence. In W. French (Ed.), Black writing matters. Regina, SK: University of Regina Press.

Zellars, R. (2018). Aretha Franklin, sexual violence, and the limitations of dissemblance. Black Perspectives Journal. African American Intellectual History Society.

Zellars, R. (2018). Reading Black on both sides: A racial history of trans identity. A roundtable of Black on both sides: A racial history of trans identity. Black Perspectives Journal. African American Intellectual History Society.