Dr. Shana Macdonald

Biography

Shana MacDonald is an Associate Professor and the O’Donovan Chair in Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo. Her interdisciplinary feminist research encompasses film, media, communication, and performance studies. MacDonald's work focuses on feminist, queer, and anti-racist social digital media, popular culture, cinema, visual culture, the rise of online hate, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, and disinformation online. She co-directs the SIGNAL (Strategies Intersectional Gender Justice, Networked Action, Liberation) Network, an international group of scholars, activists, and policy makers dedicated to tackling technology-facilitated gender-based violence. MacDonald serves on the editorial board of Women Studies Quarterly and is co-editor of (Un)Disturbed: Journal Feminist Voices. Among her notable publications is her lead editorial work on Networked Feminisms: Activist Assemblies Digital Practices (2022) and co-editorial work on Stories Feminist Protest Resistance: Digital Performative Assemblies (2023). Her forthcoming book, Art Memes Feminist Digital Culture (Ohio State University Press, 2025), reflects her ongoing investigations into the intersection of digital culture and feminist theory. MacDonald has previously held the position of past-President of the Film Media Association of Canada from 2020 to 2022, and she holds a Ph.D. in Communication Culture (2013), an M.A. in Cinema Media Studies (2005) from York University, and a B.F.A. in Image Arts (2001) from Ryerson University.

Research Interests

Courses