Kiera Mitchell PhD Candidate
Supervisor: Dr. Valerie KorinekMy dissertation is a legal history project studying the origins and ongoing impact of three Canadian Supreme Court cases during the 1970s and 1980s: Murdoch v. Murdoch (1973), Rathwell v. Rathwell (1978), and Pettkus v. Becker (1981). Through applying legal and historical research methods to the study of these three cases, this project investigates how Canadian women’s experiences of property division at the end of marriage and common-law relationships significantly changed, legally and socially, beginning in the 1970s. Combining case law with popular publications like Chatelaine and The Western Producer, I’m interested in understanding how the ending of three relationships in rural, agricultural Canada impacted living, working, and loving under family property law for all Canadians in the latter twentieth century. I’ve co-authored articles on the histories of gendered labour in Canadian academia in the Canadian Historical Review and London School of Economics Impact Blog
Research Area(s)
- History of Gender and Sexuality
- Canadian History
- Legal History
- Labour History
Thesis Title:
Publications:
Conference Presentations:
"From Partners-in-Beekeeping to Same-Sex Spouses: A Common Law Journey to Legally Recognize Unmarried Intimate Relationships." American Society for Legal History Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. 26 October 2024 (Accepted/To Be Presented).
“Farm Folk Behind the Bronze Doors: Saskatchewan’s Impact on the Judgment of Rathwell v. Rathwell (1978) in The Supreme Court of Canada.” Western Canadian History Conference, Saskatoon, SK. 13 September 2024 (Accepted/To Be Presented).
““Done in by the very unliberated faults of trusting their men”: Murdoch v. Murdoch & Rathwell v. Rathwell in Canadian Media.” Canadian Historical Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, QC. 9 June 2024.
"'The law is all right, until some clever lawyer drives a team of horses through it:' Alberta’s Legal and Cultural Impact on Irene Murdoch, Murdoch v. Murdoch (1973), and Canadian Matrimonial Property Law." The Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History Workshop Series, 6 March 2024.
"Poster Session: The Feminist Potential of Space: The Hone-James Studio.” Annual Meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, University of Regina, Regina SK, May 29, 2018.
"Roundtable: New Muslim Public Spheres in the Digital Age: Stages of Research, Methodology and Mentorship.” Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, University of Regina, Regina SK, May 28, 2018.
"Fertile Clay: Beth Hone, Art and Activism in the Prairies West.” The Simone de Beauvoir Institute 40th Anniversary Conference, Concordia University, Montreal QC, May 9, 2018.
With Donica Belisle. “Creating Historical Canons: Mary Quayle Innis, Harold Innis, and the Production of Intellectual Authority.” Annual Meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, Ryerson University, Toronto ON, 29-31 May 2017.