Melanie Adrian

Associate Professor

B.A. (Waterloo), M.A. (Essex), M.A. (Harvard), Ph.D. (Harvard)
Email Melanie Adrian

Chair in Teaching Innovation (2019-2022)

Dr. Melanie Adrian’s research focuses on the question of rights of minorities in religiously, ethnically and culturally diverse societies. She is examining how states integrate or accommodate culturally distinct peoples while maintaining a healthy balance between international and national rights and respect for national values. Amongst other publications, she is author of Religious Freedom at Risk: The EU, French schools, and Why the Veil was Banned (2016) and co-editor of Producing Islams in Canada: On Knowledge, Positionality, and Politics (2021). Dr. Adrian serves as Associate Editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam in North America (2026). More recently her research examines identity amongst Muslim youth in private Islamic schools in Canada. Her op-eds have been published in the Globe & Mail and the Ottawa Citizen. Dr. Adrian was invested into the Order of Ontario in 2019 and awarded the Senate Medal in 2017 for her work for at-risk scholars, breast cancer patients and community leadership.

Areas of Interest

Religious rights of minorities in Europe and the Americas
(Art. 18 & Art. 9)
Identity and self-expression among Muslim minority communities in Europe and the Americas
Intersections of multiculturalism, nationalism, religion and the law
Social Theory
Human Rights Law

Spotlight

Hussein, A., Adrian, M., Jackson, S.A., Al-Deen, A., Moore, K.M., Pastor, C. eds. (2026) . Oxford: Oxford.

Muslim Network TV (Nov. 8, 2022) “”

The Art and Science of Learning Podcast hosted by Dr. Kinga Petrovai (Aug 2022: Episode 6) – “” (with Emily-Jean Gallant)

New Book Network hosted by Prof. Shobhana Xavier (March 2022) on “” (with Amélie Barras and Jennifer Selby)

The Art & Science of Learning (April 21, 2021) Podcast episode “ “

CAUT (Sept. 2019)

University Affairs (March 2015) Profile Piece –

Selected Publications

Books

Barras, A., Selby, J.A., Adrian, M. (2021) . Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Adrian, M. (2016) Switzerland: Springer.

Articles

Adrian, M. (2019) “The principled slope: religious freedom and the European Court of Human Rights” in The European Court of Human Rights and Minority Religions: Messages Generated and Messages Received. Effie Fokas and James T. Richardson eds. New York: Routledge. P.9-20.
Adrian, M. (2017) “: Religious Freedom and the European Court of Human Rights.” Religion, State and Society. Vol. 45, no. 3-4. P. 174-185.

Book Chapters

Adrian, M. (2023) “Public to Private Schooling: A Research Agenda” in Anver Emon ed. Toronto: Toronto University Press.
Adrian, M. (2023) “On Being French: Understanding Citizenship and Belonging” in Transnational French Studies Series. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Adrian, M. (2016) “Freedom of Religion: A Change in Perspective?” HumanRights: Political and Legal Perspectives. Ed. DiGiacomo, Gord. Toronto:University of Toronto Press. ( in 2016 by The Hill Times)

Op-eds

Adrian, M., Fernandez, V., Smit, A., Ramanujam, N. (2019) “” Globe & Mail 3 Jan. Print and online.
Adrian, M. (2016) “” HuffPost 10 September.

Media Appearances

Charlatan (Apr. 10 2023)

Muslim Network TV (Nov. 8, 2022) “”

The Art and Science of Learning Podcast hosted by Dr. Kinga Petrovai (Aug 2022: Episode 6) – “” (with Emily-Jean Gallant)

University of Toronto Press Blog (June 28, 2022) – “”

New Book Network hosted by Prof. Shobhana Xavier (March 2022) on “” (with Amélie Barras and Jennifer Selby)

Charlatan (Jan. 29, 2021)

The Art and Science of Learning Podcast hosted by Dr. Kinga Petrovai (Apr 2021: Episode 37) – “”

Globe and Mail (Apr. 23, 2019) quoted in “.”

Toronto Star (Apr. 5, 2019) Quoted in “”

CPAC (Oct. 17, 2017) “”