Tiffany Muller Myrdahl
Education
- PhD, Geography with a Feminist Studies Minor, University of Minnesota, 2008
- MPP, Public Policy, University of Minnesota, 2002
- BA, History with a minor in Women’s Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1994
Biography
Originally from Wahpekute Oceti Sakowin (Sioux) territory, I am an immigrant settler to Canada, first to the University of Lethbridge where I was an assistant professor from 2008 to 2012. I came to SFU via a visiting stint at York University’s Centre for Feminist Research and held the Ruth Wynn Woodward Junior Chair at SFU from 2012 to 2015. I am now grateful to hold a cross appointment with GSWS and Urban Studies, which truly reflects my interdisciplinary interests and training as a feminist geographer.
Broadly speaking, I am interested in how cities work for those who have historically been left out of planning and decision-making processes. I am also invested in understanding how to improve the sense of safety and belonging of structurally marginalized communities, especially through community-designed and community-driven research. This podcast interview and its associated Twitter thread provide a picture of my work.
I live in East Vancouver with my partner and kid, where we work to be good guests on the unceded territories of the hən̓q̓əmin̓em- and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh-speaking peoples.
Research
My research examines urban inequalities and inclusion strategies, especially those targeting women and 2SLGBTQ+ communities. Recently, I have written about trans inclusion and welcoming and inclusive cities policies, as well as the installation of and controversy over symbolic municipal infrastructure like rainbow crosswalks. My research has also involved collecting LGBTQ+ oral histories in Lethbridge, Alberta and with the Twin Cities Oral History Project. In the way back, I conducted research on the interplay between lesbian community and women’s professional sport spaces (specifically, at WNBA games).
Community Engagement
I have been involved in SFU’s Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERi) from its inception in 2019 and organized one CERi’s first community events, a workshop on Participatory Approaches to Quantitative Research presented by Dr. Brett Stoudt. During his visit, I interviewed Dr. Stoudt about critical participatory action research and his role in the Public Science Project and the Morris Justice Project/Researchers for Fair Policing. Listen to the interview here, and read the associated blog post here.
I have long been involved with NGOs working to create safe, inclusive and equitable cities and communities. I served on the board of Women in Cities International (now an initiative with the European Forum on Urban Safety) and have been actively affiliated with the local organization Women Transforming Cities since its launch in 2012. Through my involvement with the REACH-Cities project and CHATR Lab, I am currently supporting the YWCA City Shift with their work helping cities undertake action on equity.
Publications
2023. “At the intersection of equity and innovation: Trans inclusion in the City of Vancouver.” Urban Planning, 8:2 DOI:10.17645/up.v8i2.6461.
2022. “LGBTQ+ Communities” in D. Pojani, Ed. Alternative Planning History and Theory. Routledge.
2021. “We’ve painted a rainbow crosswalk. Now what?” Plan Canada, special issue on Social & Racial Equity. Canadian Institute of Planners, Spring 2021.
2019. Canadian Feminist Geography in the 21st Century. Gender, Place and Culture, DOI:
10.1080/0966369X.2018.1563525.
2019. “Gendered Space” in A. Orum, Ed. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies. John Wiley & Sons. DOI: 10.1002/9781118568446.eurs0116.
2018. “Theatre Outre and Lessons from a Welcoming and Inclusive Community” in C. Andrew, F. Klodawsky and J. Siltanen, Eds. Promoting Equity and Inclusion in Canadian Cities. McGill-Queens University Press.
2016. “Visibility on their own terms? LGBTQ lives in small Canadian cities” in G. Brown & K. Browne, Eds. Companion to Geographies of Sex and Sexualities. Surrey, UK: Ashgate.
2014. “A Geographer in the Gallery: The value of making sexual difference visible” in J. Mills, Ed. Complex Social Change: teaching/performing/exhibiting/designing/mapping, pp. 34-53. Lethbridge, AB: University of Lethbridge Art Gallery.
2013. Ordinary (small) cities and LGBQ lives. ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 12, 279-304.
2011. “Queerying creative cities” in P. Doan, Ed. Queerying Planning: Challenging heteronormative assumptions and reframing planning practice, pp. 157-167. Surrey, UK: Ashgate.
Muller, T. 2007. ‘Lesbian community’ in WNBA spaces. Social & Cultural Geography, 8, 9-27.
Muller, T. 2007. Liberty for all? Contested spaces of women’s basketball. Gender, Place and Culture, 14, 197-214.
Co-authored texts
2019. Marchbank, J. & T. Muller Myrdahl. “Queering Timmies: Theorising LGBTQ Youth Claiming and Making Space in Surrey, BC, Canada” in S. Habib and M. Ward, Eds. Youth, Place and Theories of Belonging. BSA/Routledge.
2016. With G. Brown & P. Vieira. “Editor’s Introduction: Urban Sexualities” in G. Brown & K. Browne, Eds. Companion to Geographies of Sex and Sexualities. Surrey, UK: Ashgate.