Darian Mahmi was in Dr. Kathryn Holland’s Gender 219: Feminist Theories and Foundations course when she discovered a passion for studying feminist literature and human sexuality.

“I immediately reached out to see if there were any research opportunities I could help with,” says the Bachelor of Arts student majoring in Psychology and minoring in both Sociology and Gender Studies. 

Over the summer of 2021, Mahmi learned a lot about digital scholarship – helping Dr. Holland, an instructor in the Department of English and Gender Studies minor, identify and assess peer-reviewed materials to support a feminist literary-historical article for the Modernist Archives Publishing Project. 

Then Mahmi got involved in Orlando: A Podcast on Women’s Writing, providing research support. She learned an incredible amount as she spent dozens of hours developing annotated bibliographies for each of the nine podcast episodes co-hosted by Dr. Holland.

“The Orlando Project does an amazing job of highlighting not only women’s voices but also queer voices and the voices of women of colour,” says Mahmi. “As I worked on the annotated bibliographies, I learned so much about women who we do not often have the opportunity to hear about.”

Flexing her research muscles in a way that allowed Mahmi to meet her academic and athletic commitments (she’s also a forward on the Griffins women’s basketball team) left her with newfound confidence.  

“This experience grew my skills in research, communication and attention to detail, and it helped prepare me to apply for master’s programs in human sexuality and counselling psychology,” says Mahmi. “I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity.”