Hi there! My name is Kira A. Smith (she/her) and I am currently a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow in the History department at the University of British Columbia. I am also an instructor at Carleton University in the History Department and at Toronto Metropolitan University in the School of Disability Studies.

I graduated with my Ph.D. from York University in October 2024 with a nomination for the Faculty of Graduate Studies Outstanding Dissertation. My dissertation explores the experiences of children in Canadian provincial asylums from the period of 1880-1930.

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.