Rebecca Tiessen
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Rebecca Tiessen (b. 1970) is a Canadian academic whose work focuses on international development and gender. She assisted
Global Affairs Canada Global Affairs Canada (GAC; ; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department of the Government of Canada that ...
in developing tools to measure the effectiveness of development projects. Her work typically evaluates whether development strategies utilized by bureaucracies can be transformational or whether change within systems is hampered and requires an outside structure to be effective. She served as chair of international development studies and director of the Centre for African Studies in
Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...
at
Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...
from 1999 until 2007. That year, she became an associate professor of sociology at the
Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...
in
Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...
. She joined the faculty of the
University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...
in 2013 and is currently a full professor and director of their Gender, Peace, and Security Collaboratory.


Early life and education

Rebecca Lee Tiessen was born in 1970 in
Leamington, Ontario Leamington ( ) is a municipality in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. With a population of 29,680 in the Canada 2021 Census, it forms the second largest urban centre in Windsor-Essex County after Windsor, Ontario. It includes Point Pelee Nationa ...
. Tiessen was the daughter of Erika (née Penner) Tiessen, who had immigrated as an infant in the late 1940s from , Germany to Canada. Erika's parents, Helen and John Penner were
Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...
s and farmed in what is now
Point Pelee National Park Point Pelee National Park (; ) is a National parks of Canada, national park in Essex County, Ontario, Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada where it extends into Lake Erie. The word is French for 'bald'. Point Pelee consists of a peninsu ...
. Erika married in 1964, divorced in 1981 and raised her daughter and two sons in Leamington. Tiessen obtained a bachelor's degree in political science from
Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...
in 1993. She completed her master's degree in 1995 with a thesis titled ''Treading Water: Survival Strategies by Smallscale Women Farmers in Zimbabwe'' from the
University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...
. Continuing her education, Tiessen completed her PhD at Guelph under the guidance of Belinda Leach in 1999 with a thesis ''Navigating Gender Terrain: Gender Inequality and Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (ENGOS)''.


Career

After graduating, Tiessen was hired in 1999, as an assistant professor in International Development Studies at
Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...
in
Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...
. Her research focused on Canadian foreign aid policies, and specifically examined those policies dealing with
gender mainstreaming Gender mainstreaming is the public policy concept of assessing the implications for people of different genders of a planned policy action, including legislation and programmes. The concept of gender mainstreaming was first proposed at the 1985 ...
and the HIV/AIDs crisis in Africa. She participated in field research in Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe examining the relationships between NGO partners and local populations, and evaluating youth work and study-abroad programs which attempt to promote global citizenship. In 2006, she was promoted to chair of the International Development Studies department and Director of the Centre for African Studies. Thiessen left Dalhousie and became the Canada Research Chair of Global Studies at the
Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...
from 2007 to 2013. Her research focus remained as gender inequality and people's security in the
Global South Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global South broadly com ...
,
global citizenship Global citizenship is a form of transnationality, specifically the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader global class of "humanity". This do ...
, and youth volunteer programs. She continued to conduct research abroad, focusing on countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Tiessen became an assistant professor at the
University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...
in 2013, working in global studies and international development. By 2020, she was a full professor and the associate director of the School of International Development and Global Studies. In addition to her work as a professor, Tiessen assisted
Global Affairs Canada Global Affairs Canada (GAC; ; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department of the Government of Canada that ...
, the Canadian
foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...
department, in designing tools which measure the impact of development funding and projects. The goal was to eliminate the practice of counting only the number of participants and funding in empowerment and equality projects, and instead evaluate in a qualitative manner whether target goals were reached. For example, an audit looking at global aid funding in Canada from 2018 to 2021 revealed that funds targeted for
development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...
in Africa had been diverted for the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and the
Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
. The audit also found that poor tracking made it difficult to evaluate funds spent if recipients of aid met more than one development target. In other words, better accounting of funds was needed to see if goals had been reached if a recipient was both disabled and a child, or elderly and a woman, for example. As of 2024, Tiessen was serving as director of the University of Ottawa's Gender, Peace, and Security Collaboratory.


Selected works

* * * * * * *


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiessen, Rebecca 1970 births Living people People from Leamington, Ontario Wilfrid Laurier University alumni University of Guelph alumni Academic staff of Dalhousie University Academic staff of the Royal Military College of Canada Academic staff of the University of Ottawa Canadian Africanists Canadian gender studies academics Canadian sociologists Development specialists International relations scholars 20th-century Canadian women educators 21st-century Canadian women educators Canadian women sociologists