BA (With Distinction), MA
Instructor, Psychology
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
School of Social Sciences
Psychology
604.986.1911 ext. 3431
Fir Building, room FR461
connormacmillan@capilanou.ca
Education
MA, Arts and Social Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 2023.
BA (With Distinction), Psychology, Simon Fraser University, 2020.
Bio
Connor MacMillan (MA, Simon Fraser University, 2023) is a researcher within the stream of social psychology, whose main area of interest is inter-group relations, race, power/control, radicalization and intimate partner violence. MacMillan has a strong interest in researching and understanding power relations within society. His current research seeks to better understand how these power relations are upheld and maintained within privileged groups in society (e.g., gender or racial based) and how they are defended against increasing demands for greater equality and equity within society. Within this research, MacMillan is interested in studying how subversive group ideologies are spread and adopted as both the normative rhetoric and centralized group identity.
MacMillan is an avid researcher and educator with a strong passion for student centred learning. He seeks to move beyond merely disseminating information and instead aims to make an impact upon both his students and that of society at large. His teaching pedagogy and philosophy are centred around inclusivity, compassion, and collaboration.
MacMillan is originally from what is now known as Vancouver, BC, which is the traditional, unceded and continually occupied territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musquem), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.
I am very passionate about my role as an instructor. I enjoy the engagement with students and working through new concepts or revisiting older concepts within psychology.
My philosophy for teaching is a student-centred learning environment in which I aim to foster the growth of each student through hands on learning experiences. I believe that the university is a great place to learn and grow, regardless of career aspirations, and I seek to uphold this within the courses I teach.
As such, whether taking an intro to psychology course, or research methods, I am to build and foster within students the means in which to begin to critically analyze and interpret the world around us.
My research remains focused on issues of power and control, specifically as it is wielded by dominant groups within society. I am interested in how dominant in-groups utilize their privilege and power to enact and maintain their hierarchal position within society to the detriment of other groups. Specifically, I have researched the dominance of men over women, enacted through forms of domestic violence.
Recently I have begun to research larger groups within Canada who uphold the "white dominance" imposed through far-right radicalism and who subsequently foster the radicalization of others. This work intersects with previous work on inter-group relations and that of social and populist movement theory.
MacMillan, C. (2023). An omni-present gaze: Men's enactment of coercive control in the private sphere. Journal for Social Thought, 6(1), 1-13.
Yercich, S., Jackson, M. A., & MacMillan, C. (2022). Domestic violence and COVID-19 through an intersectional lens: Safety, security and rights. British Columbia's Office of the Human Rights Commissioner.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellow, Freedom is never free: A convoy to radicalization, 2024.