2023 Provost’s Program Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Scholar: Stuart Schussler (he/him)

Social movements make history. They bring about the advances in rights and values by which we measure progress, and in this era of rapid change they will do so even more. As we have seen with the Black Lives Matter movement, migrant justice movements, and those responding to the housing crisis, member-led community organizations are the driving force of social movements. Yet the very characteristics that create such dynamism – their inclusive and non-hierarchical membership, the flexibility of not having legal status – mean that universities seldom engage community organizations as viable sites of service learning. This is a missed opportunity because, if they are to become innovative leaders, the next generation of graduates must be able to bridge these gaps with community organizations making social change.

My postdoctoral research explores how to remedy this. "Bridging the Gap: The Makings of Constructive Service Learning with Community Organizations" is an inquiry into effective collaboration. Students and professors at universities like Waterloo have much to learn from these practices, and to responsibly do so they must engage in ways that are accountable to community organizations, rather than treating them as mere research subjects. My research will provide tools for doing so.

My book Entre Sospecha y Ciudadania [Between Suspicion and Citizenship] explores how well-intentioned government workers can deny refugees their human rights, and how - nonetheless - these refugees organize to assert these rights.

Making Social Movement, which I am currently preparing for publication, is an exploration of what exactly it means to "organize," comparing the efforts of the Zapatistas, student-activists who have learned from them, and a US-based solidarity group.

I am currently translating into English Jerome Baschet's book on Zapatista political philosophy, entitled Rebellion, Resistance and Autonomy.

• Fulbright grant for study in Ecuador, 2006-2007. This grant allowed me to complete my master's degree and learn about how undocumented Colombian refugees were organizing for their human rights despite being denied asylum.
• SSHRC Doctoral Scholarship, 2018-2021. This scholarship supported my research into how undergraduate students who have studied with the indigenous Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico are mobilizing those lessons in their activism back home.

My dissertation focused on nutrition risk in community-dwelling Canadians at midlife and beyond using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. So far, two of the manuscripts from this work have been published, one has been accepted, and one has received a revise and resubmit.

Mills CM, Keller HH, DePaul V, Donnelly C. (2023) Social factors predict the development of high nutrition risk: data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Canadian Journal on Aging, In press.

Mills CM, Keller HH, DePaul V, Donnelly C. (2023) Social network factors affect nutrition risk in Canadian middle-aged and older adults: results from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, 27, 46–58. doi: 10.1007/s12603-022-1877-6

Mills CM, Keller HH, DePaul V, Donnelly C. (2023) Nutrition risk varies according to social network type: data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. BMJ Family Medicine and Community Health, 11:e002112. doi: 10.1136/fmch-2022-002112

Mills CM, Keller HH, DePaul V, Donnelly C. Social factors associated with changes in nutrition risk scores measured using SCREEN-8: data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, Revise and resubmit.

Other research conducted during my doctoral studies focused on naturally occurring retirement communities, and novel programs in these communities to support aging in place. As part of this work I also co-mentored three occupational therapy masters students in conjunction with my doctoral supervisor, Dr. Donnelly.

Mills CM, Parniak S, DePaul V, Donnelly C. (2023) Oasis Seniors’ Supportive Living: a model for aging-in-place in a naturally occurring retirement community. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 84(2): 119-122, doi: 10.3148/cjdpr-2022-040

Mills CM, Parniak S, Hand C, McGrath C, Rudman D, Chislett C, Giberson M, White L, DePaul V, Donnelly C. (2022) The Impact of a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Supportive Services Program on Older Adult Participants’ Social Networks: Semistructured Interview Study, JMIR Aging, 5 (4), e37617, doi: 10.2196/37617

As I am also interested in primary care, as most of my work experience as a registered dietitian has been in primary care, I also assisted with research projects on how primary care teams responded in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Donnelly C, Mills C, Mehta K, Gill S. Ashcroft R. (2022) The experience of primary care teams during the early phase of COVID-19: A qualitative study of primary care practice leaders in Ontario, Canada. BMC Primary Care, 23, 294, doi: 10.1186/s12875-022-01907-4

Donnelly C, Ashcroft R, Bobbette N, Mills C, Mofina A, Tran T, Vader K, William A, Miller J. (2021) Interprofessional Primary Care During COVID-19: The Provider Experience. BMC Primary Care, 22(1), 1-12, doi:10.1186/s12875-020-01366-9

I'm compelled by Waterloo's mission to "connect imagination with impact," as it is the same mission that guides my scholarly work: to reflect on people's attempts to change the world, find lessons, and use them to strengthen ongoing efforts to make social change. UW supports this mission through an array of institutions across campus, and I'm excited to see what sorts of impacts we can create together.

I am looking forward to working with the team in the Nutrition and Aging lab under the direction of Dr. Keller. It will be exciting to work on a variety of projects in nutrition and aging and receive exposure to new research methods while enhancing my existing research skills. I am looking forward to working with and mentoring both undergraduate and graduate students. I am also looking forward to enhacing my teaching skills as an instructor of record.

A few of the things I love are playing with my daughter, organizing for migrant justice, canoeing, guerrilla gardening, and beach volleyball.

• Visit Stuart's personal website