Hi there! My name is Kira A. Smith and I am currently Ph.D. candidate at York University. I am also an instructor at Toronto Metropolitan University in the School of Disability Studies, and at Carleton University in the History Department. Before coming to York, I worked full-time at Know History – a historical research company, and completed my Master’s in Public History at Carleton University.

My current research explores the experiences of children in Canadian provincial asylums from the period of 1870-1940. Using archival materials and secondary sources, I plan to write an account of this history blending both traditional narrative styles and fiction. This will be the first full account of mad children in Canada.

That being said, my research interests vary beyond mad studies and psychiatric history. Some of my areas of interest are as follows: history of childhood, performance and narrative theories, Inuit and Arctic history, Métis history, social history, public history, and Canadian history. In the past, I have worked extensively on the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the Inuit intersection with the story of the Franklin Expedition, and Métis ethnogenesis in Ontario. I consider myself a radical and activist historian regarding my subject matter.

In my spare time, I play historical board games, and remain politically engaged through activism. My activism informs my historical practice in many ways. I believe in doing work that makes a difference, and education plays a key role in that.