Education
Ph.D. Sociology University of Toronto – In Progress
MA (Master of Arts) McMaster University 2019
BA Honours – Valedictorian, University of Winnipeg 2018
journals, including
Jillian Sunderland -Ph.D. Candidate
Greetings!
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Toronto and a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Doctoral Scholar. My research examines how masculinities are produced, circulated, and contested across digital culture, media, and state institutions. My work has been published in leading journals including Sociology Compass, Men and Masculinities, Social Politics, and Journal of Marriage and Family. My current research explores contemporary forms of masculinity, including the manosphere, incel communities, online radicalization, looksmaxxing, and the changing relationship between masculinity, legitimacy, and institutional power.
I am committed to bringing sociological research into public conversations. My work has appeared in The Conversation, where my article on the rise of the “performative male” reached more than 100,000 readers. I am regularly invited to comment on contemporary masculinity, digital culture, and online extremism across national and international media. My work has been featured by CBC, CTV News, Global News, the Toronto Star, SiriusXM, The Ben Mulroney Show, The Tyee, Danish media, and Katie Couric Media. I also appear as an expert in CBC Ideas’ Man Up!: Examining the Push to Bring Back Traditional Masculinity, the award-winning CBC documentary Harder Better Faster Stronger, and a forthcoming TVO documentary series examining masculinity and digital culture.
Alongside my academic work, I engage in visual sociology and research-creation. I am a visual artist whose work has been exhibited internationally in both New York and Paris, and I have a forthcoming visual sociological essay based on my work as a house photographer at New York Fashion Week, theorizing how masculinity is constructed through the production of visual culture, labour, and visibility within the global fashion industry.
I am a member of both the Scholar Strategy Network and the Canadian Defence and Security Network, where I contribute research-informed analysis to policy audiences.
Jillian Sunderland, PhD Candidate 