Hello! I am Nico Mara-McKay (they/them) and I am researcher, writer, editor, and currently a SSHRC-funded PhD student at the University of Toronto in History with a collaborative specialization in Sexual Diversity Studies.
My research focuses on nonnormative gender expressions in late Medieval Europe and the emerging field of Medieval Trans Studies, for which I created an extensive bibliography. I’m also interested in witchcraft, monsters, and visual and material history.
I am experienced in research and analysis, presenting complex material to non-specialists audiences, and developing diverse products using universal design and inclusive design, including lectures, presentations, workshops, conferences, exhibitions, papers, articles, and reports.
What I do
I’m a researcher, writer, editor, and analyst, and I’m always at work on a variety of projects.
Writing
My academic work has appeared in the Journal of History, and my nonacademic work has appeared in Art/iculation Magazine, Broken Pencil Magazine, Quill & Quire, This Magazine, among other places. For more, see my select publication history.
Events
I love giving talks, and I’ve spoken at the Art Gallery of Ontario about the visual history of tarot, Canzine about the history of magical zines, and for the Toronto District School Board about witchy artifacts.
Exhibitions
I’ve been involved in curating several exhibitions, including Illuminating Life: Manuscript Pages of the Middle Ages (Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph, 2020) and Between (Blackwood Gallery, Mississauga, 2018) and was the sole curator for Genderqueer in Canada (The ArQuives, Toronto, 2020).
Icons provided by Creative Stall, Milinda Courey, and ArmOkay, all from the Noun Project.
Latest endeavours
Upcoming and recent events, publications, and personal news.
- Medium: How to Bluesky
- Encounters in Medieval Trans Studies at Kalamazoo 2023
- Paper presented at the American Historical Association Annual Meeting 2023
- CFP: Encounters in Medieval Trans Studies 2023
- Interviewed for the History Forward podcast
- See me at the International Congress on Medieval Studies 2022
