Dr. Renee Sylvain

Biography

Renee Sylvain is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Guelph. She joined the department in 2002 and has extensive experience in academic research and teaching. She received her undergraduate degree in Anthropology from Wilfrid Laurier University and both her Master's and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Toronto. Prior to her current position, she spent years as a postdoctoral fellow at Dalhousie University, where her research focused on indigenous peoples' rights issues. Her research interests lie at the intersections of gender, race, ethnic and class inequalities, human rights, and indigenous issues in Southern Africa. Sylvain has conducted significant fieldwork in the Omaheke Region of eastern Namibia, where the San (Bushmen) live and work on white-owned farms. Her current research closely examines human rights issues through a social justice lens, particularly focusing on the perspectives of the San and the changing nature of harms and injustice in the post-apartheid context.

Research Interests