Kate Rossiter

Over the last decade my research has focused on the social phenomenon of institutional violence, particularly as experienced by people with developmental disabilities. This work began with a project entitled Recounting Huronia, in which I worked alongside survivors of the Huronia Regional Centre to make sense of the violent history of this institution.  This work was supported by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant and led to the publication of Institutional Violence & Disability: Punishing Conditions (Routledge) and Canada Prize winner Population Control: Theorizing Institutional Violence (McGill Queens University Press).  I then worked with survivors and colleagues to create a large digital archive cataloging experiences and artifacts from Huronia (https://exhibits.wlu.ca/s/huronia/page/recountinghuronia).  Most recently my work has focused on the politics of care and caregiving in Canada.   

Other arts-based projects include the creation of a research-based play that uses ethics to make sense of pandemic planning and response (supported by the Canadian Program of Research on Ethics in a Pandemic). I am also the co-creator of The Last Straw: A Board Game about the Social Determinants of Health.

• Winner:  2025 Canada Prize, awarded by th Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences for my edited collection Population Control: Theorizing Institutional Violence.

I supervise students in the areas of critical social science and health, the body and embodiment, public health research and practice, disability studies, arts-based research and studies about institutionalization and trauma.

Books: 

Rinaldi, J., & K. Rossiter (Eds.) (2024). Population Control: Theorizing Institutional Violence. Kingston: McGill-Queen University Press.  (Winner of the 2025 Canada Prize)

 Recent Refereed Journal Articles:

Rossiter K. (2026). Despite all our rage: An autoethnographic analysis on the role of shared affect in dementia caregiving relationships. Social science & medicine (1982), 389, 118802. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118802

Rinaldi, J., & Rossiter (2026). Reading as Responsibility: An Analysis of Disability Service Providers’ Work of Witnessing Documented Institutional Abuse. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability.

Rossiter, K., J. Rinaldi, J., & S. Saravanamuttu (2026). Friendly but not Friends: Tying Emotional Labour to Moral Distressing Disability Service Work. International Journal of Care & Caring. 

Recent Book Chapters:

Rinaldi, J., & K. Rossiter (2024). “I’m Not Really Here”: Recovering Traces of Institutional Survivors in their Records. In L. Steele & E. Punzi (Eds.), Sites of Conscience and the Unfinished Project of Deinstitutionalization: Place, Memory & Social Justice (pp. 91-108). Vancouver: UBC Press. 

Rinaldi, J., K. Rossiter, & S. Saravanamuttu (2023). The Weight of It All:   Methodological Implications to Community-Engaged Research on Violent Memory. In Carter & C. Temple Jones (Eds.), Contemporary Vulnerabilities, Plans Unraveled: Reflections on Social Justice Methodologies. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.

Rossiter, K. (2024).  Maternal Expectations.  In M. Parr & BA Martin (Eds).   Mothering Outside the Lines:  Tales of Boundary Busting Mamas.  Toronto:  Demeter Press. 

Digital archive: 

Recounting Huronia Community Archive 

Project Description: This is a large scale digital archive that works to capture and recount the history of the Huronia Regional Centre through exhibits and collections of  resident files, survivor interviews, photographs, artifacts, recordings and more 

URL:  https://exhibits.wlu.ca/s/huronia/page/recountinghuronia 

Published scripts:

• Gray, J., K Rossiter, Kontos, P. Colantonio, A., Gilbert, J. Keightley, M. James, S. Machin Gale, S. Nacos, M. (2011). “After the Crash: A Play About Brain Injury.” Canadian Theatre Review 146: 66-86.
• Rossiter, K. and Godderis, R. (2010). “Abide With Me: A Story of Two Pandemics.” Refereed Working Paper for the Comparative Program on Health and Society, Munk School of Global Affairs. Accessed July 12, 2013.

Creative knowledge mobilization tools:

• Rossiter, K. and Reeve, K. (2007). The Last Straw!©: A Board Game about the Social Determinants of Health. Published Board Game. 

Information about The Last Straw!©:

• The Last Straw!© is distributed by Another Story Books
• The game has  been translated into four different languages (French, Spanish, Tagalog and Flemish) used in many diverse cultural settings.
• The game has been acquired by 16 of Canada’s 17 medical schools and has been incorporated as a teaching tool in public health medical curricula. The game is also used as a teaching tool at schools of public health and public health units across Canada.
• The Last Straw!© was ranked 12th of the top 25 teaching resources on the Social Determinants of Health by Health Nexus.
• More information can be found at www.thelaststraw.ca.

• Community Living Ontario recognizes Laurier professor’s work with Huronia survivors
• Laurier researchers receive over 2.7 million in federal social sciences and humanities funding
• Not involving Huronia Survivors early in design would be a missed opportunity in development of new arts centre
• Toronto Star: Recounting Huronia Cabaret performed in Toronto