Tonya Davidson has spent many years living in, teaching in, and studying Ottawa. She is an associate professor of sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University, where she has taught introduction to sociology, a sociology of Ottawa course for first-year students, urban sociology, and a variety of sociology of Ottawa courses in Carleton University’s Lifelong Learning program. These experiences shaped her broad-ranging interest in the sociology of Ottawa, including its parks, schools, workplaces, bars, and so on.

Her earlier research focused on the social lives of a series of Ottawa monuments, published in journal articles and the book Tours Inside theSnow Globe: Ottawa Monuments and National Belonging. She is the co-editor of Seasonal Sociology, an introduction to sociology textbook that won the American Association of Publishers award for “Best Textbook in the Social Sciences” in 2021. A second edition of Seasonal Sociology is forthcoming in 2025.