Rebecca MacAlpine is a PhD Candidate in History at the University of Waterloo. She received her Bachelor and Master of Arts from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Teaching from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Her current research explores the relationship between illegitimacy and gender-based violence in seventeenth century Somerset, England. These connections help to illuminate how institutional structures perpetuated and created systems of gender-based violence, which marginalized unwed mothers in early modern Somerset.
In addition to her research interests, Rebecca is also a graduate educational developer with the Center for Teaching Excellence. In this role she works with graduate educators across the six faculties at the University of Waterloo to mentor and develop their teaching practices. While engaged in educational development, Rebecca has become interested in incorporating a variety of innovative pedagogies into the classroom to develop democratic spaces to talk about hard subjects.
Education
- M.T. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
- M.A. University of Waterloo
- B.A. University of Waterlo0
Research and Teaching Interests
- Women’s History
- Early Modern Britain
- Gender-based Violence
- Illegitimacy in the 17th Century
- Legal History
- Digital History
- Trauma-Informed Pedagogies
- Feminist Pedagogies
Courses Co-Taught
- HIST 422: Special Topic: Gender-Based Violence in Early Modern Europe
- HIST 422: Sex and Gender in Early Modern Europe
- HIST 347: Witches Wives and Whores
Selected Honours and Awards
- SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship 2021 – 2023
- Arts Award – Excellence in Teaching, 2021
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship 2020
- Wendy Mitchinson Graduate Award in History, 2019