Kelly Train

Areas of Expertise:

race and ethnicity; diaspora; immigration and nation-building; Jews; whiteness; feminism and gender; families; work; sexualities; Jews of colour and the concepts of authenticity and belonging

Research:

Dr. Train’s research focuses on how the concept of authenticity is used to regulate notions of belonging and membership within Jewish community construction.  In particular, she explores the experiences of Arab and Indian Jews and how they negotiate their identities within the broader Jewish community in Toronto. In 2010, Dr. Train was awarded the Dr. Stephen Speisman – Ontario Jewish Archives Award for this research project.  She is currently working on a number of large projects, including a book exploring the marginalization of the voices of Sephardi, Mizrahi and Jewish women of colour within Jewish feminist thought, and a book examining the experiences of Arab and Indian Jews in the Toronto Jewish Community.

Pedagogical Approach:

Dr. Train’s pedagogical approach focuses around the application of sociological theory and methodology to how the study of society is relevant in students’ everyday lives and professional practice.  She practices inclusive learning by emphasizing a critical feminist, anti-racist, anti-homophobic, queer perspective that interrogates common sense assumptions of race, class, gender, sex and sexuality, and highlights the subjugated knowledges, histories, experiences and contributions of women, racial, ethnic and religious minorities.

Courses:

• SOC 608: Women, Power and Change
  
• SOC 606: Families and Care Work
• SOC 605: Families: Difference and Diversity
• SOC 603: Sociology of Gender
• SOC 502: Violence and Families
• SOC 300: Sociology of Equity and Diversity
• SOC 111: The Social World I
• SOC 103: How Society Works

Community Activities:

Dr. Train is the Unit 1 VP for CUPE Local 3904, representing sessional and part-time Contract Lecturers at Toronto Metropolitan University, and the former VP Campaigns for CUPE Local 3904.  Dr. Train was the Lead Negotiator for CUPE Local 3904 for the 2024-2027, 2021-2024 and 2017-2021 Unit 1 Collective Agreements and a member of the bargaining committee for the 2014-2017 Unit 1 Collective Agreement.  She has been invited to act as a reviewer for a number of journal editorial boards, including Journal of Modern Jewish Identities, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, Canadian Jewish Studies, Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education, Journal of Family Issues, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Journal of Education and Training Studies, Journal of Mundane Behavior and Social Problems, and has been invited to assess book proposals for scholarly publishers such as Pearson Education and Nelson Education, as well as grant proposals for the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).  She has been a member of the Jews and Multiculturalism research working group since 2009, as well as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Research Centre at Toronto Metropolitan University since 2014, and has been invited to speak at various scholarly and academic conferences as well as community organizations on issues of diversity (race, ethnicity, gender, sexualities and class).

Recent and Key Publications:

Train, K.A. In progress. “Indian Jewish Communities in Canada.” In Jews of Colour: Histories & Futures, edited by S. Mehta & S. Imhof. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society.

Train, K.A. 2024. “Strangers in a Strange Land: Indian Jewish Families in Canada.” (external link, opens in new window)  In The Jewish Family in Global Perspective, edited by H. Hartman (pp. 269-91).  Charn, SUI: Springer.

Train, K.T. 2023. “Indian Jewish Experiences and the Creation of Congregation BINA (Ontario 1979).” In Jews Across the Americas: A Sourcebook, 1492-Present (external link, opens in new window)  (pp. 430-4), edited by A. Brodsky & L. Leibman. New York: NYU Press.

Train, K.T. 2021. “Patriarchy and the “Other” in the Western Imagination: Honour Killings and Violence Against Women.” (external link, opens in new window)  International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies 12(1): 143-57.

Train, K.T. 2018. “Negotiating New Territory: Indian Jewish Women in the Family in Toronto. (external link, opens in new window) ” Canadian Jewish Studies 26: 31-55.

Train, K.T. 2016. “East Meets West: Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews in Canada and the United States.” In Neither in Dark Speeches nor Similtudes: Reflections and Refractions Between Canadian and American Jews, (external link, opens in new window)  edited by B. Stiefel & H. Tesler-Mabe. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Train, K.T. 2016. “Well, How Can You Be Jewish and European? Indian Jewish Experiences in the Toronto Jewish Community and the Creation of Congregation BINA.” (external link, opens in new window)  American Jewish History, Special Issue on Jews of Colour 100(1): 1-23.

Train, K.T. 2016. “Breadwinner Role,” “Divorce Law,” “Household Labour,” and “Judaism and Families.” In The Encyclopedia of Family Studies, (external link)  edited by C. Shehan. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Train, K.T. 2013. “Am I That Jew? North African Jewish Experiences in the Toronto Jewish Day School System and the Establishment of Or Haemet Sephardic School.” (external link, opens in new window)  Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education: Studies on Migration, Integration, Equity and Cultural Survival, Special Issue on Rethinking Jewish Education 7(1): 6-20.

Train, K.T. 2012. “Anti-Semitism,” “Canadian Minority Communities,” and “Immigration to Canada.” In The Twenties in America, edited by C. Rollyson. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.

Train, K.T. 2011. “Immigration to Canada,” and “Jews in Canada.” In The Thirties in America, edited by T. Lewis. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.

Train, K.T. 2010. “Immigration to Canada,” “Jews in Canada,” and “Refugees in North America.” In The Forties in America, edited by T. Lewis. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.

Train, K.T. 2006. “Carving Out a Space of One’s Own: The Sephardic Kehila Centre and the Toronto Jewish Community.” In Claiming Space: Racialization in Canadian Cities, (external link, opens in new window)  edited by C. Teelucksingh. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Train, K.T. 2002. “As Long As It’s Not in My Backyard: September 11th and Other Apocalyptic Events.” Journal of Mundane Behavior 3(3): 337-349.

Train, K.T. 2000. “Whiteness, White Otherness and Jewish Identity.” Journal of Mundane Behavior 1(2): 135-142.

Corsianos, M. & K.T. Train (editors). 1999. Interrogating Social Justice: Politics, Culture and Identity. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press.

Train, K.T. 1999. "The Crime of Authenticity: Regulating Boundaries of Identity Around Jewish Community Through the Image of Russian Jewish Criminality." In Interrogating Social Justice: Politics, Culture and Identity (pp. 143-54), edited by M. Corsianos & K.T. Train. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press.

Train, K.T. 1996. "AIDS, Race and the Construction of Jewish Community: Ethiopian Jews in Israel." Response: A Contemporary Jewish Review 66: 51-55.