Michele Byers

Full Professor/Women and Gender Studies Graduate Co-ordinator
Faculty of Arts
Women and Gender Studies

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Faculty Member Information

Office Location: 425
Office Building: McNally South
Telephone:
E-Mail: michele.byers@smu.ca

Biosketch

Ironically, it was growing up in a hippie-intellectual family in Montreal that set the stage for my future work. As a kid, my only TV was a black & white portable that lived in a closet. When I moved to Toronto (1995) I had cable for the first time. I also took my first classes in cultural studies and television studies. I wrote a paper on My So-Called Life—it was published, I was hooked. I wrote my dissertation on Buffy the Vampire Slayer; my first grant was to study Degrassi. While I’ve written about lots of things since then, I always come back to pop culture. Media are pervasive in our everyday lives; their study tells us a great deal about the worlds we live in————————I work with graduate students in Women and Gender Studies, Atlantic Canada Studies, Criminology, Public Health and Human Performance (Dal), and English (Dal)—————Some M.A. theses I’ve Co/Supervised since 2015—————E. Arseneault. Crim. (Un)Mapping Discourses of Homonationalism, Colonialism and Activism within the Canadian Prison Reform Movement. 2019—————F. Matthews. WGST. A [Psychoanalytic] Film Study of Siblingship in The Color Wheel. 2018—————S. Frisina. WGST. Generations, Identities and the Jersey Shore. 2018—————F. Woo. WGST. The stories of South Korean religious Lesbians. 2017—————H. Baglole. WGST. Speak: Questioning Ethics, Feminism, and Representation in Verbatim Theatre. 2017—————F. Lawrence. Crim. Constructing Narratives/Image-Identity, the Truth & the Jury: State of Florida v. Casey Anthony. 2016.

Interests

Critical Studies in Television; Media and Popular Culture; YA literature; Youth Culture; Girlhood Studies; Queer Theory; Gender Studies; Critical Sexuality Studies; Canadian Studies; Canadian Television; Jewish Cultural Studies; Atlantic Canadian Film & TV; Trans Studies; Feminist Theory; Critical Theory; Gender Studies; Feminist Research Methodologies; Performance Studies; Representations of Crime and Violence

Education

Ph.D., Sociology and Equity Studies in Education. Specialization in Feminist Studies and Gender Issues, OISE/University of Toronto, 2000
M.S.W., Clinical Social Work, McGill University, 1995
B.S.W., Clinical Social Work, McGill University, 1994
B.F.A., Drama in Education, Concordia, 1993

Scholarly Contributions

Book Chapters

Byers Michele. (2018). "Playing with Time: Linguistic Resurrection and the Disruption of Contemporary Jewishness", Ethnic Media in the Digital Era, edited by Matthew D. Matsaganis and Sherry Yu, 33-44
Byers Michele. (2018). "Roseanne.", In Television Finales, edited by Douglas Howard, David Lavery, and David Bianculli., 11-305
Byers Michele. (2014). "On the Threshold: British-Jewish Femininity in Suzie Gold (2004)", in Nathan Abrams, ed. Hidden in Plain Sight: Jews and Jewishness in British Film, Television, and Popular Culture
Byers Michele, Gannon Susanne, Rajiva Mythili. (2014). "Things That Stay (and Things That Don’t): Temporality and Affect in Collective Memories of Sexuality, Bodies, and Girlhood.", becoming girl: collective biography and the production of girlhood, edited by Marnina Gonick and Susanne Gannon, 79-100
Byers Michele, Rajiva mythili. (2014). "’Eating Subjects’: Girlhood, Food and Relations of Difference.", becoming girl: collective biography and the production of girlhood, edited by Marnina Gonick and Susanne Gannon., 101-114
Susanne gannon, Byers Michele, Gonick Marnina. (2014). "Girls, Sexuality and Popular Culture: ‘Hey Pony! Come On!", becoming girl: collective biography and the production of girlhood, edited by Marnina Gonick and Susanne Gannon, 115-136
Byers Michele, Brunet Caronline, Dickie Amanda, Frisina Stefanie, Gervais Daniel, Russell Patrick, Sampson Janis. (2014). "From Workshop to Classroom: Collective Biography and Feminist Pedagogy.", becoming girl: collective biography and the production of girlhood, edited by Marnina Gonick and Susanne Gannon, 211-230
Byers Michele, Schwartz Stephanie. (2013). "Beyond Whiteness: Theorizing Multicultural Jewish Identity in Canada.", In Critical Canadian Studies, edited by Darryl Leroux et al, 71-84
Byers Michele. (2012). "Canadianizing Canadians: Television, Youth, Identity.", In Canadian Television: Texts and Contexts, eds. Marian Bredin, Scott Henderson, and Sarah Matheson. , 33-115
Byers Michele. (2010). "Putting on Reena Virk: Celebrity, Authorship, and Identity.", In Reena Virk: Critical Perspectives on a Canadian Murder, eds. Sheila Batacharya and Mythili Rajiva, 199-234
Byers Michele. (2010). "Waiting for the End of the World: Crying at Disaster after ‘9/11’", On the Verge of Tears: Why the Movies, Television, Music, and Literature Make us Cry, eds. Michele Byers and David Lavery., 206-218
Byers Michele. (2010). "Neoliberal Dexter?", Reading Dexter, ed. Douglas Howard
Byers Michele. (2009). "Dexter", In The Essential Cult TV Reader, ed. David Lavery, 90-97
Byers Michele. (2009). "My So-Called life.", In The Essential Cult TV Reader, ed. David Lavery, 174-180
Byers Michele, Johnson Val. (2009). "CSI as Neoliberalism: An Introduction", “The CSI Effect:” Television, Crime, and Critical Theory, eds. Michele Byers and Val Johnson, xiii-xxxvi
Byers Michele. (2008). "Canadian Idol and the Myth of National Identity", Programming Reality: Perspectives on English-Canadian Television, eds. Zoë Druick and Patsy Kotsopoulos, 69-84
Byers Michele. (2008). "Education and Entertainment: Degrassi does Degrassi Talks.", Programming Reality: Perspectives on English-Canadian Television, eds. Zoë Druick and Patsy Kotsopoulos, 187-204
Byers Michele. (2007). "Introduction.", Dear Angela: Remembering My So-Called Life, eds. Michele Byers and David Lavery., 1-9
Byers Michele, Krieger Rosalin. (2006). "Something Old Is New Again?: Postmodern Jewishness on The O.C., Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm.", You Should See Yourself: Jewish Identity in Postmodern American Culture, ed. Vincent Brook, 277-297
Byers Michele. (2005). "I Am (A) Canadien(ne): Canadian Girls and Television Culture.", Transforming Spaces: Girlhood, Agency & Power, eds. Yasmin Jiwani, Claudia Mitchell and Candis Steenbergen, 227-242
Byers Michele. (2005). "Revisiting Teenage Truths: Engaging with Simonetti’s Questions of National Identity and Culture Ten Years Later.", Growing Up Degrassi: Television, Identity and Youth Cultures, ed. Michele Byers, 31-51
Byers Michele, Haines Rebecca. (2005). "That White Girl from That Show", Growing Up Degrassi: Television, Identity and Youth Cultures, ed. Michele Byers, 167-209
Byers Michele. (2005). "Have Times Changed?: Girl Power and Feminism on Degrassi.", Growing Up Degrassi: Television, Identity and Youth Cultures, ed. Michele Byers, 191-209
Byers Michele. (2005). "Those Happy Golden Years: Beverly Hills, 90210, College Style.", Imagining the Academy: Higher Education and Popular Culture, eds. Gunilla Holms, Susan Edgerton and Toby Daspit, 191-209
Byers Michele. (2004). "Race In/Out of the Classroom: Degrassi (Junior High) as Multicultural Context.", Racism Eh? A Critical Inter-Disciplinary Anthology of Race in the Canadian Context, eds. Charmaine Nelson and Camille Nelson, 298-315.
Byers Michele. (2004). "Race In/Out of the Classroom: Degrassi (Junior High) as Multicultural Context.", Racism Eh? A Critical Inter-Disciplinary Anthology of Race in the Canadian Context, eds. Charmaine Nelson and Camille Nelson, 298-315
Byers Michele. (2003). "Waiting at the Gate: The New, Postmodern Promised Land", Suburban Sprawl: Culture, Ecology, Politics, edited by Hugh Bartling and Matt Lindstrom, 23–44.
Byers Michele. (2003). "Waiting at the Gate: The New, Postmodern Promised Land", Suburban Sprawl: Culture, Theory, and Politics, eds. Hugh Bartling and Matt Lindstrom, 23-44
Byers Michele. (2003). "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Next Generation of Television.", Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for the 21st Century, eds. Alison M. Piepmeier and Rory C. Dicker., 171-87

Journal Articles

Byers Michele. "Who (the) girls are: trans identities and gender nonconformity in middle grade fiction.", Girlhood Studies, special issue “Locating Tween Girls,” edited by Natalie Coulter and Melanie Kennedy. (Fall - 2018), 92-107
Byers Michele. "‘Fats,’ Futurity, and the contemporary YA Novel.", Fat Studies, special issue on fatness and temporality, edited by Crystal Kotow 7:2 (Winter - 2018), 69-159.
Byers Michele, Crocker Diane. "Feminist Cohorts and Waves: Attitudes of Junior Female Academics", Women's Studies International Forum 35:1 (Spring - 2012), 1-11
Gannon Susanne, Walsh Susan, Byers Michele, Rajiva Mythili, Gonick Marnina. "Deterritorializing collective biography", QSE (Spring - 2012), 1-15
Byers Michele. "Jewish Girls in British Cinema.", Journal of European Popular Culture (Fall - 2012), 80-169
Byers Michele. "The Stuff of Legend: T/Selling the Story of Reena Virk.", Canadian Ethnic Studies. (Winter - 2012), 27-48
Byers Michele. "On the (Im)possibility of Canadian Celebrity.", Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture. (Spring - 2012)
Crocker Diane, Byers Michele. "Feminist Cohorts and Waves: Attitudes of Junior Female Academics.", International Journal of Women’s Studies. (Spring - 2012), 1-11
Byers Michele. "Speaking about the Nation: Critiques from the Canadian Margins.", Critical Studies in Television. (Spring - 2011), 53-143
Byers Michele. "Post-Jewish?: Theorizing the Emergence of Jewishness in Canadian Television.", Contemporary Jewry (Spring - 2011), 1-25
Byers Michele, VanderBurgh Jennifer. "Trafficking (in) the Archive: Canada, Copyright, and the Study of Television.", ESC: English Studies in Canada (Fall - 2011), 105-126
Byers Michele, VanderBurgh Jennifer. "What Was Canada? Locating the Language of an Empty National Archive.", Critical Studies in Television (Fall - 2010), 105-117
Byers Michele, Crocker Diane. "A Place at the Table and Voice in the Hall: Third Wave Feminism in the Canadian Academy", Atlantis: A Women's Studies Journal 33:2 (Spring - 2009), 19-31
Byers Michele. "The Pariah Princess: Agency, Representation, and Neoliberal Jewish Girlhood.", Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal (Winter - 2009), 33-54
Byers Michele, Crocker Diane. "A Place at the Table and Voice in the Hall: Third Wave Feminism in the Canadian Academy.", Atlantis (Summer - 2009), 19-31
Byers Michele, Tastsoglou Evangelia. "Negotiating Ethno-Cultural Identity: The Experience of Greek and Jewish Youth in Halifax.", Canadian Ethnic Studies (Summer - 2008), 5-33
Byers Michele, Kreiger Rosalin. "From Ugly Duckling to Cool Fashion Icon: Sarah Jessica Parker’s Blonde Ambitions.", Shofar (Winter - 2007), 43-63
Byers Michele. "Material Bodies and Performative Identities: Mona, Neil, and the Promised Land", Philip Roth Studies NA (Winter - 2006), 102-120
Byers Michele. "Material Bodies and Performative Identities: Mona, Neil, and the Promised Land.", Philip Roth Studies (Winter - 2006), 102-120
Byers M., Kreiger R. "Beyond Binaries and Condemnation: Opening New Theoretical Spaces in Jewish Television Studies", Culture, Theory and Critique 42(2) (Winter - 2005), 131-145
Byers Michele, Kreiger Rosalin. "Beyond Binaries and Condemnation: Opening New Theoretical Spaces in Jewish Television Studies.", Culture, Theory and Critique (Spring - 2005), 131-145
Byers M. "Cultural Studies Research Group", The Times 34(3), December (Winter - 2003), NA
Byers Michele. "Scenes from the Frontier of the Material World: Television Images of Sexuality and Youth", Studies in Popular Culture Vol. 25, No. 1 (Winter - 2002), n/a
Byers Michele. ""Scenes from the Frontier of the Material World: Television Images of Sexuality and Youth"" (Fall - 2002), n/a
Byers Michele. "Scenes from the Frontier of the Material World: Television Images of Sexuality and Youth.", Studies in Popular Culture (Fall - 2002)
Byers Michele. "Gender/Sexuality/Desire: Subversion of Difference and Construction of Loss in the Adolescent Drama of My So-Called Life", Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society Vol. 23, No. 3 (Winter - 1998), 711-734
Byers Michele. "Gender/Sexuality/Desire: Subversion of Difference and Construction of Loss in the Adolescent Drama of My So-Called Life.", Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (Summer - 1998), 711-734
Byers Michele. "Constructing Divas in the Academy: Why the Female Graduate Student Emerges in Prime-Time Television Culture.", Higher Education Perspectives (Winter - 1996), 99-118

Editorial Work

Byers M. (Ed.) (2005) Growing Up Degrassi: Television, Identity and Youth Cultures. Toronto, ON: Sumach Press
Byers M. (Ed.) (2005) Growing Up Degrassi: Television, Identity and Youth Cultures. Toronto, ON: Sumach Press
Byers M. (Ed.) (2005) Growing Up Degrassi: Television, Identity and Youth Cultures. Toronto, ON: Sumach Press
Byers M. (Ed.) (2005) Growing Up Degrassi: Television, Identity and Youth Cultures. Toronto, ON: Sumach Press

Other Publications

Byers M. "Not just a Princess: Beyond the JAP in Jewish Girlhood" (Winter - 2004)