Latoya Lazarus, Ph.D.

Fellow

Focus:

Sociologist, focus on the Sociology of Religion, Citizenship Studies and Gender and Sexualities

Email:

latoya.lazarus@cavehill.uwi.edu

Tel:

246-417-4483

Fax:

46-424-7291

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Bio

Latoya Lazarus is a Temporary Research Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, Cave Hill Campus. On joining the institute in September 2014, Dr. Lazarus served as the coordinator of the SALISES Developmental Talks and since 2015, she has been the Managing Editor of the Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies. In addition to these duties, she has participated in the institute’s contracted research, including a joint contract research for the Caribbean Development Bank, entitled “Youths are the Future: The Imperative of Youth Employment for Sustainable Develop- ment in the Caribbean.” This project was completed in April 2015. In October 2016, it won the award for Best Applied Research by team/researchers at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. Dr. Lazarus teaches both in SALISES as well as the Institute of Gender and Development, The Dame Nita Barrow Unit.

Dr Lazarus is one of the few Caribbeanists examining the intimate linkages between Christianity, sexual and reproductive rights and citizenship within the Anglophone Caribbean. Specifically, her work grapples with the question of the ongoing but changing role of Christianity in Anglophone Caribbean development, especially as it relates to social justice, law reform and the interpretations of international human rights discourses within the region. Through her publications as well as her conference presentations, she seeks to contribute to theoretical knowledge in this area. Additionally, she also has an interest in Caribbean feminist methodology, focusing on the complexities around doing ‘sensitive’ research and the critical analysis of diverse discourses.

Dr Lazarus’ initial focus was on developments in her native country Jamaica, as exemplified in her doctoral research on “The Church and the law: Exploring the role of Christianity in shaping sexual politics in Jamaica”. However, she has latterly broadened the scope of her study by examining these issues in other socio-cultural contexts in the Anglophone Caribbean, which includes undertaking comparative analysis to create more in-depth and nuanced understandings. In sum, her work increasingly considers and interrogates the relationship of the ‘local’, ‘regional’ and ‘global’ in shaping discourses and lived realities of people within the Anglophone Caribbean.

Dr. Lazarus’ passion for her scholarship informs her teaching, as she seeks to share insights and simultaneously encourage critical engagement and questioning amongst her students. To do so, she has designed and delivered both graduate modules on sexuality and citizenship as well as a course on “Regulating Sexual Citizenship in ‘Postcolonial’ Nations.” Moreover, Dr Lazarus has participated in interviews with activists as well as public lectures in churches, thus seeking to make her research accessible to a wider audience.

Academic Profile

Academic profile:

• Position: Research Fellow
• Profession: Sociologist
• Research Areas: Sociology of Religion, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Citizenship Studies, Feminist Methodologies

Education

• Certificate of University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) Programme. The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, 2017
• PhD in Sociology. York University, Toronto, Canada 2014

• Masters in Sociology, York University, Toronto, Canada, 2008

Publications

Publications:

Lazarus, L. 2021. “Studying Religious Mobilizations in the Anglophone Caribbean: A Feminist Critical Reading of Discourse.” In Methodologies in Caribbean Research on Gender & Sexuality, edited by K. Kempadoo and H. A. F. DeShong, 419-448. Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers.

Lazarus, L. 2020. “Enacting Citizenship, Debating Sex and Sexuality: Conservative Christians’ Participation in Legal Processes in Jamaica and Belize.” Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 58(3):366-368.DOI: 10.1080/14662043.2020.1773115.

Lazarus, L. 2019. “Debating Sex Education: The Politics and Framing of Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Barbados.” Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies, 44 (2): 12-37. https://www.jecsonline.com/product/special-issue-jecs-vol-44-no-2-august...

Lazarus, L. 2018. “Defending the Family, Safeguarding the Nation: An Examination of Evangelical Mobilisation in Present-day Barbados.” Culture and Religion 19 (4): 394-415.

Marshall, D., Lashley, J., Bailey, C., Lazarus, L., Lorde, K. and Smith, J. 2017. “Barbados at 50: National Values Assessment Survey.” Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies 42(1): 1-70.
https://www.jecsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/JECS-Vol-42-No.-1-....

Articles in Refereed Journals

Lazarus, L. 2020. “Enacting citizenship, debating sex and sexuality: conservative Christians’ participation in legal processes in Jamaica and Belize.” Commonwealth & Comparative Politics. DOI: 10.1080/14662043.2020.1773115

Lazarus, L. 2018. “Defending the Family, Safeguarding the Nation: An Examination of Evangel-
ical Mobilisation in Present-day Barbados.” Culture and Religion 19 (4): 394-415.

Lazarus, L. 2016. "Religion and Rights: Is there Still Room for Christianity at the Table?” Culture
and Religion 17 (1): 35-55.

Lazarus, L. 2016. “Introduction: Negotiating Religions and Cultural Identities in Caribbean Societies.” Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies 41 (1):1-12.

Lazarus, L. 2015. “Sexual Citizenship and Conservative Christian Mobilisation in Jamaica.”
Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies 40 (1): 109-140.

Lazarus, L. 2013. “Working with Marginalised and Hidden Populations: Researchers’ Anxieties and Strategies for Doing Less Harmful Research.” Caribbean Review of Gender Studies 7: 1-22. https://sta.uwi.edu/crgs/december2013/index.asp

Lazarus, L. 2012. “This is a Christian Nation: Gender and Sexuality in Processes of Constitutional and Legal Reform in Jamaica.” Social Economic Studies 61 (3): 117-143.

Lazarus, L. 2011. “Heteronationalism, Human Rights and the Nation-State: Positioning Sexuality in the Jamaican Constitutional Reform Process.” Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies 36 (71): 71-108.

Book Chapter

Lazarus, L. “Studying Religious Mobilizations in the Anglophone Caribbean: A Feminist Critical Reading of Discourse.” In Methodologies in Caribbean Research on Gender & Sexuality. Edited by Halimah A.F. DeShong and Kamala Kempadoo. Ian Randle Publishers. (in press)

Lazarus, L. “Studying Religious Mobilizations in the Anglophone Caribbean: A Feminist Critical
Reading of Discourse.” In Methodologies in Caribbean Research on Gender & Sexuality.
Edited by Halimah APast Projects:

2018-2019: The Prison Survey and Correctional Needs Assessment Project.
Project conducted on behalf of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). May 2019. Dr. Lazarus was the lead researcher for the Correctional Needs Assessment.

2017: ‘Barbados National Values Assessment Project’ for the 50th Anniversary of Independence Celebrations Secretariat with Dr. Don Marshall, Dr. Jonathan Lashley, Dr. Corin Bailey, Dr. Karen Lord, Ms. Beverly Hinds, and Mr. Jamal Smith.

2015: ‘Youth are the Future: The Imperative of Youth Employment for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean’. Project conducted on behalf of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to investigate the current state of youth unemployment in the Caribbean as well as causes, consequences, costs and solutions. (Lashley, J.G., Marshall, D., Bailey, C., Lazarus, L., Crawford, C., Lord, K. and Hin.F. DeShong and Kamala Kempadoo. Ian Randle Publishers. (in press)

Projects

Past Projects:

Graduate Studies

Graduate Students:

1. August 2021-Ongoing: Supervisor for Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies’ MPhil (in Development Studies) Student, Kenisha Chase.

2. December 2020-Ongoing: Co-Supervisor for the Faculty of Social Sciences’ PhD (in Sociology Programme) Student, Angela Dixon.

3. January 2019-Ongoing: Co-Supervisor for Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies’ PhD (in Social Policy) Student, Vania Patrick-Drakes.

4. August, 2015-August 2018: A member of the Advisory Committee for Cultural Studies MPhil Student, Solomon Hunte.

5. January 2016- January 2019: Supervisor for the Institute of Gender and Development Studies: Nita Barrow Unit’s MSc Student, Katrina Hewitt.

Courses Taught

Courses Taught:

1. “Regulating Sexual Citizenship in ‘Postcolonial’ Countries.” SALI6001/GEND 6605.

2. “Sexualities, Bodies and Power,” GEND 6104, for the Institute of Gender and Development Studies: Nita Barrow Unit, 2018/2019 Semester II and 2020/2021 Semester II.

3. “Regulating Sexual Citizenship in ‘Postcolonial’ Nations,” GEND 6605, for the Institute of Gender and Development Studies: Nita Barrow Unit, 2016/2017 Semester II.2017/2018 Semester II.

4. Philosophical Foundations for Social Research, module for Social Research Methods, SALISES Mona, from September 07- September 28, 2015 and September 05-September 26, 2016.

5. Gender, Sexuality and Citizenship, for CLTR 6030, Cultural Dynamics in Cultural Studies designed and taught module in 2014; revised and taught in 2015.

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Latoya Lazarus, Ph.D.

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