Faculty and staff
The College’s faculty and staff are a close-knit community of dedicated professionals from every field of expertise. Whether it’s in a flipped classroom, a green classroom, an international classroom or outside the classroom altogether, all our educators share a passion to provide a transformative learning experience that prepares students for university and beyond. All our faculty proudly subscribe to Marianopolis College’s Excellence in Teaching Profile. Meet some of them here!
Rebecca Bird ’86
Sociology
Background: B.A. Anthropology, McGill University; M.A. Sociology, University of Western Ontario; doctoral student in Sociology, McGill University.
Expertise: Sociology of the Family, Gender Studies, Development, Health and Illness.
Courses taught: Individual and Society; Dynamics of Social Change; Social Inequalities and Social Problems; Health and Illness in Society; Research Methods in the Social Sciences; Integrative Project.
Professional experience: data analyst, Centre for Health and Well-Being, University of Western Ontario.
Little-known fact: I am a Marianopolis alumna from the Class of 1986.
Kimberly Burton
Psychology
Background: Hons. B.A. Psychology, University of Winnipeg; M.A., Ph.D. Psychology, McGill University.
Expertise: Social Psychology, relationships, social cognition, motivation.
Courses taught: Introduction to Psychology; Forensic Psychology; Social Psychology; Research Methods in the Social Sciences; Quantitative Methods.
Little-known fact: I enjoy traveling with my family and we visit Italy as much as possible.
Josie Cavaliere
Student Affairs Administrative Technician
An integral member of the Student Affairs Office, Josie Cavaliere has helped thousands of students with everything from First Aid emergencies and financial aid to charity drives.
Jean-Michel Cohalan ’98
Geography, Quantitative Methods
A musician, environmentalist and world traveler, Geography Prof. Jean-Michel Cohalan ’98 led a popular international course on sustainability in Costa Rica — and remembers being a guitar-toting Marianopolis student.
Bruno Delorme
Business Administration
“It’s one thing to read about business in a textbook, it’s another to place students in front of a workplace scenario and ask them to think like leaders,” says Prof. Bruno Delorme, who shares his business-world experience with students who are eager to become tomorrow’s industry leaders. He also teaches a popular international-business course in Europe.
Background: B.Com., MBA, McGill University.
Expertise: Business, Marketing, Management, Entrepreneurship, Sales, International Business, Sports Management/Marketing.
Courses taught: Fundamentals of Business; Global Perspectives on Trade and Society; Sports Management; Quantitative Methods; Integrative Project.
Professional experience: partner, Business Development Bank of Canada Consulting Group; National Sales and Business Development Manager, SGS Canada; Administrative Officer, National Bank of Canada – International Division.
Media expert: over 125 expert media interviews, such as Bloomberg, Globe and Mail, Maclean’s and La Presse.
Jean-François Deslandes
Mathematics
Longtime Marianopolis Mathematics Prof. Jean-François Deslandes was named one of the top instructors in colleges and universities across North America. Watch what he told CTV’s Mutsumi Takahashi.
Matthew Flanagan
Librarian
Teaching students how to conduct effective research is one of the many ways in which Marianopolis College prepares students for the world’s top universities. Matthew Flanagan is one of several librarians who offer students support beyond the classroom.
Matthew Hays
Cinema
Background: journalist; BFA Film Studies, M.A. Media Studies, Concordia University.
Expertise: journalism, media, cinema.
Courses taught: Language of Film; History of Cinema; Contemporary Film; American Cinema.
Professional experience: I’ve written extensively on popular culture and politics for a broad range of publications and web sites, including The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, The Walrus, The Toronto Star, VICE, The Advocate, Haaretz, and Salon. I’ve taught film, media and journalism at Concordia since 1999.
Little-known-fact: I now admit to loving Alberta, despite having grown up there.
Kareen Latour
History
Background: B.A. Canadian Studies and History, McGill University; M.A. History, Université Laval (thesis: Quelle histoire pour quel avenir du Canada? Le débat sur la mise en histoire du passé du Canada depuis 1990).
Expertise: History of Quebec, Canada; historiography of the late 20th Century. Prof. Latour was the 2019 recipient of Marianopolis College’s Excellence in Teaching Award, conferred annually to a faculty member who embodies the College’s Excellence in Teaching Profile.
Courses taught: Quebec History; Canadian History; History of Western Civilization; Regional History – History of Montreal; Integrative Project.
Outside the classroom: faculty advisor, Marianopolis Model UN Club.
Professional experience: Parliamentary Guide; Parks Canada Guide.
Little-known fact: an avid yogi since 2007, I became a yoga instructor in 2010.
Isabelle-Luce Levasseur
German, French
Background: B.A. Joint Honours German Language and Literature and French Literature and Translation, McGill University; M.A. French Literature, Royal Holloway College, University of London (U.K.); M.A. German Literature, McGill University.
Expertise: autobiography in 20th Century French Literature; psychoanalytical readings of German fairy tales.
Courses taught: German I-II-III-IV, French, all levels. I am one of several teachers in the College’s Modern Languages and Science departments who use the flipped classroom approach. A pedagogical model in which the lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed, the flipped classroom is just one way that we prepare students for university. Factual knowledge is transmitted outside class and class time is used to help students assimilate this knowledge. Research shows that this method yields higher levels of cognitive engagement and better long-term retention of learning. The faculty function as expert advisors or coaches, encouraging students in collaborative effort and individual inquiry.
Outside the classroom: coordinator of the College’s international exchange course in Germany.
Little-known-fact: I fell in love with the German language and became extremely curious about its culture after watching The Sound of Music and Heidi as a little girl.
Cory McKay
Music, Humanities
Background: B.Sc. Physics, McGill University; B.A. Music and Computer Science Honors Double Major, University of Guelph; M.A., Ph.D. Music Technology McGill University
Expertise: musical recording and production; computer-generated music; machine learning and data mining; digital signal processing; and automated music analysis.
Professional experience: I’ve written dozens of peer-reviewed academic journal and conference publications; won six major government research grants. You can find out more about my research grants here. I’ve done commercial work as a research consultant on automatic music mastering systems and as an audio engineer. I’m a researcher at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology and an instructor at McGill.
Little-known-fact: I coach the Marianopolis Reach for the Top Trivia team, which has won the provincial championships in two of the last three years. I’m also the director of MLOrk, the Marianopolis laptop computer orchestra. I’m an active developer of open-source music research software, with over 17,500 downloads of my work.
Sylvain Pagé
French
With a doctorate in French Studies from Université de Montréal, Sylvain Pagé teaches in the Modern Languages and Liberal and Creative Arts departments. He has published Le mythe napoléonien De Las Cases à Victor Hugo, L’Amérique du Nord et Napoléon and over a dozen articles on the War of 1812.
Marcel Sankeralli
Physics
Background: B.Eng. (Honours) Electrical Engineering, Minor in Management; M.Eng., Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, McGill University; Research Fellow, McGill University (Department of Ophthalmology) and Université de Montréal (School of Optometry)
Expertise: Physics
Courses taught: Classical Mechanics; Electricity and Magnetism; Waves, Light and Modern Physics; Digital Electronics; Topics in Applied Physics
Professional experience: I enjoy teaching. In all my courses, I seek to engage the student with a love of the subject, my broad interests and general good humour. Outside of class, I have been involved in Robotics, Science Fair and Catholic Action. As a university student, I was involved as an international student organizer.
Little-known fact: I have seven ethnic backgrounds from four continents.
Vanessa R. Sasson ’92
Religious Studies
Trained as a scholar of comparative religion after graduating from Marianopolis with a DEC in Social Science, Vanessa R. Sasson specializes in Buddhist hagiography, gender, children and childhoods. She has been teaching Religious Studies at the College since 1999 and co-teaches a popular course through which students travel to Nepal to explore Himalayan history and culture.
She is also a Research Fellow for the International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice at the University of the Free State in South Africa, a Research Member of the Centre d’études et de recherche sur l’Inde, l’Asie du Sud et sa diaspora (CERIAS) at UQAM, as well as Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Religious Studies of McGill University.
Professor Sasson is the author of several academic books and the novels Yasodhara, about the Buddha’s Wife, and The Gathering, which explores the experiences of early Buddhist women.
Michèle Saumier
Biology
With enthusiastic support from students, Professor Michèle Saumier spearheads the Pollinator Project and Green Classroom, which includes a butterfly garden, an apiary, vermicomposting and other initiatives that make Marianopolis a recognized leader in environmental stewardship, per the College’s Vision, which calls for the Marianopolis community to “practice responsible stewardship of the natural environment.”
The 2017 winner of the Association of Private Colleges of Quebec’s Innovation Award, leading the College’s environmental efforts while at the same time incorporating them into her teaching, she has an undergraduate degree in Zoology and a Master’s in Parasitology, both from McGill University. She also holds a Graduate Studies Diploma in Ecotoxicology from Concordia University.
Professor Saumier helps coordinate the College’s Environmental Studies Certificate.
Megan Spriggs
Art History, Humanities
Background: B.A. Hons. Art History and Architecture, Carleton University; M.Arch. Architectural History and Theory, McGill University.
Courses taught: Perspectives in Arts and Literature I and II; Integrative Project in Arts, Literature and Communication; Medieval and Renaissance Art; 20th Century Art; Humanities 101: Making Montreal: Architecture and Urban Identity; Humanities 102: Architecture: A World View
Professional experience: Outside the classroom, I help with ArtsFest and plan the annual Arts Trip. I was an archivist and researcher at the Canadian Centre for Architecture and I continue to edit scholarly publications in architectural history.
Little-known-fact: I wanted to avoid going to CEGEP by leaving Quebec, but ended up doing a D.E.C. in Creative Arts and loved it. I’m now a strong advocate for the strengths of the system as a time of exploration and excellent preparation for university.
Javier Vasquez
Italian, Spanish
Background: B.A. Hispanic Studies, Concordia University; M.A. Hispanic Studies, Université de Montréal; M.A. Teaching Methodology of Italian as a Second Language, University of Perugia for Foreign Students.
Courses taught: Italian and Spanish.
Little-known-fact: I have a passion for cooking; people love the breads I bake.
Norma Vite-Leon
Economics
Background: B.A. Economics, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México; M.A. Economics, University of Essex, UK; Ph.D. Economics, New School for Social Research, New York, N.Y.
Expertise: Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Economic Development, Institutional Economics and Quantitative Methods.
Courses taught: Macroeconomics; International Economics; Quantitative Methods.
Outside the classroom: Chair of the Social Science Department
Professional experience: research associate, Desautels Faculty of Management and Institute for Health and Social Policy, McGill University; research analyst, Center for Economic Policy Analysis, New School for Social Research; economic advisor, Central Bank of Mexico; research analyst, Banco Nacional de México and Mexican Ministry of Public Education; program coordinator, Government of Mexico City.
Barry Webster
English
Many Marianopolis faculty are recognized experts in their fields. For students who take Professor Barry Webster’s classes, that means learning from a widely published and critically acclaimed writer. His first book, The Sound of All Flesh, won the ReLit Award for best short-story collection in 2005. Stories from that collection were also shortlisted for the National Magazine Award and the Hugh MacLennan Award. In addition to writing non-fiction for such newspapers as The Washington Post and The Globe and Mail, he spends his summers as a visiting writer in artists’ colonies in North America and Europe. Included in the Canadian Who’s Who and with a background in piano, he enjoys advising creative-writing students at the College.
Hear him discuss his novel The Lava in My Bones, on CBC Radio.
