Championing Awareness, Education and Advocacy
The Nancy Rowell Jackman Chair in Women’s Studies (Nancy’s Chair) was established at Mount Saint Vincent University in the mid-1980s. Endowed by well-known Toronto-based feminist and philanthropist Nancy Ruth, the Chair raises awareness of women’s issues by bringing to campus distinguished scholars in women’s studies and activists who have contributed to the advancement of women. View past Chairs »
About the Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies
The presence of the Chair adds substantially to the intellectual strength of women’s studies at Mount Saint Vincent and in the Atlantic region. Duties associated with the Chair include teaching, research, and public presentations on campus and around the Atlantic provinces.
Recent Events
The Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies actively participates, engages and facilitates in an array of events related to teaching, research and education. Read more »
Opportunities to get Involved
Students, faculty, staff and members of the broader community are invited to participate in events and get involved with the work of the current Nancy’s Chair. For more information on upcoming opportunities, visit us on Facebook »
Welcome Dr. Mary Rita Holland, 18th Nancy’s Chair (2024-2026)
Since 2017, Dr. Mary Rita Holland has taught at the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University in the areas of health equity, formal and informal caregiving, women and politics, qualitative research methods, and health social movements. Her research area is gender-based public policy, specifically rural home care.
As a teacher and researcher, Dr. Holland grounds her work in community-based methods, informed by her role as a municipal representative in Kingston, Ontario (2014-2022). Dr. Holland advocated for changes to address social determinants of health as Co-chair of the Mayor’s Task Force on Housing (2019-2020), as a member of the Housing and Homelessness Advisory Committee (2018-2020), and as a director on the board of Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health (2016-2022). Dr. Holland also led political organizing and social justice campaigns as President of the Ontario New Democratic Party (2014-2022).
Dr. Holland’s current research uses the example of family carers of rural older adults in Atlantic Canada to shed light on the invisible emotional labour required to maintain the home as a site of care and manage disrupted meanings of home space and family relationships. Her work has been published in the international journal Health & Place. She is also a Research Associate at the Trent Centre for Aging and Society.
Dr. Holland holds a PhD from the Queen’s School of Kinesiology and Health Studies with a focus on long-term care, a Master of Public Administration degree in social policy (Queen’s), a Master of Arts degree in History (Queen’s), and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History (University of New Brunswick).