Lavinia Stan

Lavinia Stan is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. She serves as Director of the Centre for Post-Communist Studies and has held editorial leadership roles, including Editor-in-Chief of Women's Studies International Forum and co-founder of the Journal of Romanian Studies.

• Doctorate from the University of Toronto
• Doctor Honoris Causa from University Ovidius of Constanta, Romania

Her research spans Comparative Politics, Transitional Justice, and Religion and Politics in post-communist Europe. Current projects include cross-disciplinary analysis of religious resistance during communism and 35th-anniversary studies of post-communist transformations.

Key publications include a 2024 Palgrave volume on Romanian democratization, the 2023 Encyclopedia of Transitional Justice second edition, and the 2019 Transitional Justice and the Former Soviet Union. She has contributed to EU-funded research on antigypsyism and serves as Expert Witness in court cases involving communist-era repression.

Scientific Awards and Recognitions

• Doctor Honoris Causa, University Ovidius of Constanta

Stan's editorial work includes co-editing Women's Studies International Forum (2023–present) and adjudicating for SSHRC and Romanian research funding bodies. She holds advisory roles in over 20 academic journals and was Past President of the Society for Romanian Studies.