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Nerida Bullock’s socio-legal scholarship holds a mirror to the institution of marriage
Through her thesis research in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies (GSWS) at 91泡芙 (SFU), Nerida Bullock (PhD, 2025) used the legal archive produced in the Charter Reference on Polygamy to critically reflect on how systems of patriarchy are embedded in the institutions of law and marriage.
鈥淢y research asks tough questions about what mainstream society projects onto polygamy,鈥� explains Bullock. 鈥淭he patriarchal logics that we find so distasteful about polygamy are the very same logics that underscore state enforced monogamous marriage.鈥�
Alongside analyzing family and marriage laws, Bullock was a passionate educator while pursuing her PhD. Bullock designed courses in GSWS and Sociology & Anthropology, including Critical Studies of Marriage, Sexuality & Law and Friendship as a Liberatory Politic.
We asked Bullock to answer a few questions about her experiences as an educator and graduate student in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies.
Tell us about your PhD thesis. How did you become interested in researching polygamy in British Columbia?
Although appears to be about polygamy, it is really about marriage and the state鈥檚 power to shape our personal intimacies and kinship arrangements.
Through my thesis, I compared the discourse on polygamy to changes in BC鈥檚 Family Law Act in 2013, wherein couples are automatically considered married by the state after two years of cohabitation. 鈥淐oercive conjugality鈥� makes cohabitating couples subject to the same laws of property division as formally married couples if the relationship dissolves. It is a doubling down on the institution of marriage by the state, absent couples saying 鈥淚 do.鈥�
While I was working on my thesis, both the United States and Canada seemed to be doubling down on marriage regimes, even though feminists have long argued that the institution of marriage disproportionately benefits men and contributes to the oppression of women. When questioning women鈥檚 rights becomes a political rallying cry, these ideas become easily animated into laws.
Although my PhD thesis appears to be about polygamy, it is really about marriage and the state鈥檚 power to shape our personal intimacies and kinship arrangements.
What is your approach as an educator?
I want my students to feel seen, understood and valued. Both of my children are university students, so my approach to teaching blends my maternal instincts and my instructor instincts. I care deeply about the well-being of my students and want them to succeed not only in my classroom, but in their personal relationships and professional lives as well.
Do you have a favorite memory or experience from your time at SFU?
Happiness in life is about the relationships we develop and maintain. Prior to embarking on my PhD journey, I developed a 鈥減ersonal intention statement鈥� to center myself and guide my decisions. My statement, which I use daily, is: 鈥淚 have an abundance of love, connection, engagement and peace.鈥�
My time at SFU has provided me with each of these elements. I have met amazing people in our small, yet powerful, GSWS department who provide me with connection, love and community. Pursuing my intellectual curiosities is the embodiment of engagement. And there is no greater peace than pursuing one鈥檚 dreams. My time at SFU has truly been 鈥�an abundance of love, connection, engagement and peace.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;
I am deeply committed to expanding upon my critical exploration of family formation and marriage at the intersection of gender, sexuality and law.
What is next for you? Do you have any other projects or plans on your horizon?
I am deeply committed to expanding upon my critical exploration of family formation and marriage at the intersection of gender, sexuality and law. I hope to travel this fall, while I also complete manuscripts to submit for publication. In the new year, I will be applying for post-doctoral research opportunities in the hope of continuing my feminist socio-legal research.
Do you have any advice to share with potential or current PhD students?
My advice is specifically for other mature students who are thinking about tackling a later-in-life intellectual project. Having started my PhD after a 20-year absence from academia, I would encourage anyone to follow their dreams. It is going to be tough. It is going to humbling. But, if you have a natural curiosity that can propel you forward, a willingness to be vulnerable, and an intellectual tenacity, then graduate work is for you. You are quite capable of doing really challenging things, so GO FOR IT!
Learn more about the SFU Gender, Sexuality, and Women鈥檚 Studies doctor of philosophy (PhD) program.