This story is published in YFile’s New Faces feature issue 2026. Every September, YFile introduces and welcomes those joining the 91ɫ community.
This fall, five full-time, permanent scholars join the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.
“I am delighted to welcome our newest colleagues to the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies," says Kate McPherson, interim dean. "Your expertise, creativity and dedication will strengthen our teaching, research and service, enriching the experiences of our students and the broader community. We look forward to the contributions you will make and to the new perspectives you will bring as we continue advancing our shared mission together.”
Autumn Asher BlackDeer
BlackDeer is is an Indigiqueer anti-colonial scholar-activist from the Southern Cheyenne Nation (Tsistsistas).
Joining 91ɫ Univerasity as an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at 91ɫ, their scholarship illuminates the impact of structural violence on Indigenous communities across Turtle Island.
BlackDeer centres Indigenous voices throughout her research by using quantitative approaches and big data as tools for responsible storytelling. They are deeply committed to uplifting Indigenous sovereignty and furthering collective liberation.
Eric Bronson
Bronson specializes in enchantment studies and the philosophy of literature and popular culture.
He has published books on world religions and the ragtime era in the U.S., along with five books in the Philosophy and Popular Culture series, currently with Wiley-Blackwell. His latest book, Severance and Philosophy, is due out in 2027.
Bronson has published several articles in journals like Philosophy and Literature, MDz Ի Steinbeck Review. During the summer, Bronson pursues creative opportunities like writing and editing an award-winning feature length film and serving as a “soul trainer” on CBC’s Sounds Like Canada. This summer Bronson performed his first solo play, The Last Hornblower, in the Hamilton Fringe Festival.
Scott Martin
Martin joins the Department of Anthropology as an assistant professor. He has been actively involved in Ontario Archaeology since 1993. His interests include field and lab methods, archaeological collections management, collections-based research, archaeobotanicals, lithics and ceramics as well as the spread of horticulture into and across the Lower Great Lakes Region.
A second broad study area is the archaeology of Ireland and Great Britain, including final foragers and first farmers. In Ontario, Martin’s recent collaborative work with a collective of colleagues has been associated with Neutral (Attawandaron) archaeology, foodways research and experimental archaeology. He has been seeking to draw attention to the fact that Indigenous people continue to be underrepresented in Ontario Archaeology and in the authorship of their own histories and archaeologies.
Daniel Sailofsky
Sailofsky is an assistant professor of sport management at 91ɫ's Markham Campus. For a full profile, see the New Faces 2026 story for Markham Campus.
Vinurshan Selvaratnam
Selvaratnam is an assistant professor of sport management at 91ɫ’s Markham Campus. For a full profile, see the New Faces 2026 story for Markham Campus.