Luisa Veronis
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
Member of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and thereby authorized to supervise theses.
Office: Simard 017
Telephone: 613-562-5800, ext. 1046
E-mail: lveronis@uOttawa.ca
University degrees
2006 – PhD, Department of Geography, University of Toronto
1999 – MA, Department of Geography, University of Toronto
1998 – BA Hons., Department of Anthropology, McGill University
Fields of interest
- Transnationalism, immigration and citizenship
- The formation of immigrant identities and communities
- Latin American migrants in Canada
- Neoliberal governance and the nonprofit sector
Luisa Veronis is a social geographer concerned with questions of social and spatial inequality, the experiences of marginalized groups, and social justice in the city. Her research and teaching interests address issues of globalization, transnationalism, citizenship, and governance. More specifically, her work on the social and political participation of Latin American immigrants in Toronto untangles the complex linkages between immigrant struggles for citizenship in Canada and the formation of transnational communities and identities (Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2010). Among other things, Luisa has examined the innovative strategies that migrant groups initiate to lay claims to equal rights in and through urban space such as public parades (Environment and Planning A, 2006) and the building of ethnic places (Social and Cultural Geography, 2007). She is also interested in the role of the nonprofit sector in assisting immigrants in the settlement process. Her research seeks to unravel the implications of state restructuring and policies such as downloading and cutbacks in social services for immigrants’ participation in Canadian society (Environment and Planning D, 2009).
Prior to joining the University of Ottawa in July 2006, Luisa completed her Ph.D. and M.A. in Geography at the University of Toronto; she holds a B.A. in Anthropology from McGill University. She has also worked in Cuba for a brief period of time and has personal attachments to multiple locations on both sides of the Atlantic.
Current Research Projects
Project – The Everyday Border: place experience in Ottawa-Gatineau
Since 2007, Luisa has been a co-investigator on a SSHRC-funded and team-based, collaborative research project (with Dr. Anne Gilbert, Dr. Marc Brosseau, Dr. Brian Ray, and Dr. Caroline Andrew) examining the everyday experiences, practices, and meanings associated with the interprovincial border in Ottawa-Gatineau. The project seeks to shed light on the intrinsically ambiguous and contradictory effects of the border in the region known as the National Capital. Based on the premise that the border modulates the spatial practices of individuals and groups who live in the region, and who have appropriated the border both symbolically and materially, the project aims to reconstruct their everyday experiences of places and spaces that the border separates and brings together. The study examines the practices and representations associated with the border, the unique cultures it helps to create, the collective identities that emanate from its existence, as well as the political actions that fuel it. Inspired by the most recent work on the concept of the border, the study focuses on the following three dimensions: the border as a barrier, an interface, and a territory. Specifically, the study examines the experiences and practices of minority populations, who tend to be more vulnerable and prone to putting in place certain strategies for benefiting from the opportunity structure offered by the border. The targeted groups include official language minorities, populations of newcomers, gays and lesbians, single mothers, and street-involved youth.Courses taught (2010-2011)
GEG 3305 – Geographies of Globalization
GEG 4311 – Political Geography
Recent publications
Articles in refereed journalsGilbert, A. and Veronis, L. Habiter Gatineau depuis la marge minoritaire : frontière et citoyenneté. ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies. (Forthcoming)
Veronis, L. Immigrant participation in the transnational era: Latin Americans’ experiences with collective organizing in Toronto. Journal of International Migration and Integration 11 (2), pp. 173-192.
Trudeau, D. and Veronis, L. 2009. Enacting state restructuring: NGOs as ‘translation mechanisms’. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space (in press).
Veronis, L. 2007. Strategic Spatial Essentialism: Latin Americans’ real and imagined geographies of belonging in Toronto. Social and Cultural Geography 8 (3), pp. 455-473.
Veronis, L. 2006. The Canadian Hispanic Day Parade, or how Latin American immigrants practice (sub)urban citizenship in Toronto. Environment and Planning A 38(9), pp. 1653-1671.
Chapter in books
Veronis, L. and Ray, B. Parcours de vie et mobilité : stratégies spatiales parmi des familles immigrantes dans la région transfrontalière de Gatineau-Ottawa. In Stéphanie Gaudet, Maurice Lévesque and Nathalie Burlone (eds.) Penser la famille et les transitions de vie, repenser les politiques publiques. Québec: Les Presses de l’Université Laval. (Forthcoming)
Veronis, L. and Smith, H.A. 2011. Latin American Immigrants in the Nations and Cities of the US and Canada: Parallel and Diverging Geographies. In Carlos J. Teixeira, Wei Li, and Audrey Kobayashi (eds.) Immigrants in North American Cities. Oxford University Press. Pp. 256-287.
Veronis, L. 2006. Citizenship and immigrant participation in neoliberal Toronto: reflections on Latin Americans’ experiences. In J. Ginieniewicz and D. Schugurensky (Eds.) Ruptures, continuities and re-learning: the political participation of Latin Americans in Canada. The Transformative Learning Center, OISE/UT, Toronto. Pp. 72-84.
Book ReviewsVeronis, L. 2003. Halli, Shiva S. and Leo Driedger. Eds. 1999. Immigrant Canada. Demographic, Economic, and Social Challenges. In Urban Geography, Vol. 24 (4). Bellwether Publishing, Ltd.
Professional ReportsGilbert, A. and Veronis, L. 2010. Le meilleur des deux mondes : l’expérience géographique des immigrants francophones d’Afrique centrale dans la région de la Capitale nationale. Patrimoine canadien-Metropolis. Cahier de la recherche actuelle sur l’immigration francophone au Canada, capsule de recherche no 9, 38-40.
Veronis, L. 2006. Rethinking Transnationalism: Latin Americans’ experiences of migration and participation in Toronto. Working Paper Number 51, Center of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS) Working Paper Series, Toronto.
Other contributions
Veronis, L. 2006. How and why ‘transnationalism’ matters. Hispanic Development Council Annual Newsletter. Document produced by the Hispanic Development Council, Toronto (June).
Graduate Supervision
Lynn Barwin, MA (co-supervision) – Teachings around self-care and medicine gathering among youth in Zhiibaahaasing and Aundek Omni Kaning First Nations, Manitoulin Island, Ontario: a community-based participatory project
Brie McAloney, PhD (co-supervision) – Negotiating belonging: Jamaican migrants’ social networks in Toronto’s inner suburbs
Erinn Moore, MA – Mais je suis anglophone…: Geographies of place and belonging in English-Quebec
