Laura Parisi

Laura Parisi is an Associate Professor at the University of Victoria, affiliated with the Department of Gender Studies and cross-appointed to the Department of Political Science. She serves on the Global Development Studies Minor program committee and held leadership roles as former Chair of UVic’s Gender Studies (2017–2020, 2022) and President of the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID) (2021–2022). Her research integrates feminist International Relations with human rights, international development, and critical research methods.

• Research Interests: Human rights, international development, global political economy, global governance, gender mainstreaming, transnational activism, feminist pedagogy, and policy analysis.
• Projects: Current work includes a Global Affairs Canada-funded initiative on women’s empowerment in Bolivian aquaculture and an SSHRC-sponsored study on women’s NGOs adapting to shifts in international aid. A related side-project examines fair trade cooperatives in Zambia.

Scientific Awards include two SSHRC-sponsored grants for research on women’s human rights and sustainable development. She has designed and taught courses like GNDR 202 Globalization and Resistance, GNDR 305 Gender and International Human Rights, and GNDR 307 Sexuality and the Body in International Development.