a brown man smiling directly at the camera, wearing a hat and wearing a blue shirt.

Dr. Alan Santinele Martino

PhD
Pronouns: He/Him

Positions

Assistant Professor (Teaching)

Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Community Health Sciences

Affiliations

Affiliated Member

O'Brien Institute for Public Health

Contact information

Email

alan.martino@ucalgary.ca

Web presence

Professional Website

Location

Office: TRW3E44

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Research partners

Funding

Background

Educational Background

B.A. (honors) Sociology, St. Lawrence University, 2011

M.A. Sociology, University of Lethbridge, 2014

Ph.D. Sociology, McMaster University, 2020

CV

Biography

Dr. Alan Martino (he/him) is an Assistant Professor in the Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies program in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. His main research interests include critical disability studies, gender and sexualities, feminist and critical disability studies theories, and qualitative and community-based research, particularly participatory and inclusive methodologies. His work has been published in multiple journals, including Disability Studies Quarterly, Sexuality and Disability, and Sexualities, as well as in edited volumes on disability and sexualities studies. He leads the Disability & Sexuality Lab at the University of Calgary. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the 2024 Early Investigator Award by the Canadian Sociological Association and the 2024 Early Career Award by the Sociology of Sexualities Section of the American Sociological Association.

Research

Areas of Research

Critical Disability Studies; Gender & Sexualities; Qualitative Research; Community-based Research (Particularly Participatory and Inclusive Research Methodologies)

While it is normative for non-disabled people to desire and be in intimate relationships, the same expectation often does not apply to people with disabilities. Due to infantilization and de-sexualization, disabled people are commonly assumed to lack romantic and sexual desires, and thus, their sexual rights are often denied. The intersection of disability and sexuality also remains a taboo topic among families and service providers. As a response to these silences, my research program has focused predominantly on the sexualities and intimate citizenship of disabled people. My research agenda theorizes and empirically examines the perspectives, challenges, and triumphs of people labelled/with developmental and intellectual disabilities concerning sexuality. More importantly, my research makes space for disabled people themselves to share their own experiences with love and intimacy acknowledging this often-silenced social group as a knowers.

Participation in university strategic initiatives

Human dynamics in a changing world

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
CORE 591 Advanced Study Topics in Community Rehabilitation Fall 2021
CORE 594 T03 Practicum I Fall 2021
HSOC 408 Health Research Methods and Research Field Practicum Fall 2021
CORE 435 L02 Social Research in Disability, Health and Rehabilitation Disablement Fall 2021
MDCH 700 Directed Study Course: Queering the Family: Reimagining the Family Fall 2021

Projects

"Are We Allowed to Be Feminists?": Women with Intellectual Disabilities and Feminism
The Romantic and Sexual Lives of LGBTQS2+ Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Disability and Digital Sexual Fields

Awards

  • Early Investigator Award, Canadian Sociological Association. 2024
  • Early Career Award, Sociology of Sexualities Section, American Sociological Association. 2024
  • Societal Impact Award, O’Brien Institute for Public Health. 2023
  • Creating with Communities Award, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary. 2022
  • Students’ Union Teaching Excellence Award for Medicine, University of Calgary. 2023

Publications

  • “I don't want to get in trouble”: A Study of How Adults with Intellectual Disabilities Convert and Navigate Intellectual Disability Sexual Fields. . Santinele Martino, A. . Culture, Health & Sexuality. (2021)
  • “I hang out with non-Christians all the time. I just won't date them”: The Role of Religion in the Intimate Lives of People with Intellectual Disabilities. . Santinele Martino, A. . Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities. . (2021)
  • Cues, Emotions, and Experiences: How Teaching Assistants Make Decisions about Teaching. . Marquis, E., Cheng, B., Nair, M., Santinele Martino, A., & Roxå, T. . Journal of Further and Higher Education. (2020)
  • “I don’t know if I can talk about that”: An Exploratory Study on the Experiences of Direct Care Workers Regarding the Sexual Expression and Practices of People with Intellectual Disabilities. . Santinele Martino, A. & Perreault-Laird, J. . Disability Studies Quarterly. (2019)
  • "Normal” Citizens and the Transabled Other: A Sociological Analysis of Online Commenters Reactions to Transability. . Santinele Martino, A. & Andrejek, N.. Deviant Behavior. (2019)
  • When Good Intentions Backfire: University Research Ethics Review and the Intimate Lives of People Labelled with Intellectual Disabilities. . Santinele Martino, A. & Fudge Schormans, A. . Forum: Qualitative Social Research. (2018)
  • Cripping sexualities: An analytic review of theoretical and empirical writing on the intersection of disabilities and sexualities. Santinele Martino, A. . Sociology Compass. (2017)
  • Dating in the Digital Age: A Content Analysis of Dating Websites Designed for Disabled People.. Santinele Martino, A. & Moumos, E.. Sexuality and Disability. (2022)
  • Ethically Important Moments: Researching the Intimate Lives of Adults Labeled/with Intellectual Disabilities.. Santinele Martino, A.. Qualitative Research. (2022)
  • “It’s Just More Complicated”: The Experiences of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities When Navigating Digital Sexual Fields.. Santinele Martino, A. & Kinitz, D. J.. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. (2022)
  • Disability is Associated with Sexually Transmitted Infection: Female Sex, Severity and Disability Domain are Important Risk Factors.. Brennand, E. & Santinele Martino, A.. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. (2022)
  • The Intersection of Sexuality and Intellectual Disability: Shattering the Taboo. . Santinele Martino, A.. Introducing the New Sexuality Studies. 460-469. (2022)
  • Theoretical Developments: Queer Theory Meets Crip Theory. . Santinele Martino, A., & Fudge Schormans, A. . Routledge Handbook of Disability and Sexuality. (2021)
  • Doing Age, Doing Disability: The Lived Experiences of Older People Receiving Home Care. . Barken, R. & Santinele Martino, A. . The Aging/Disability Nexus . (2020)
  • Also Here, Also Queer: The Work of Queer Disabled Activists/Scholars in “Cripping” Sexualities.. Santinele Martino, A. . Young, Disabled and LGBT+: Voices, Identities and Intersections . (2020)
  • Exercising Intimate Citizenship Rights and (Re)Constructing Sexualities: The New Place of Sexuality in Disability Activism. . Santinele Martino, A. & Campbell, S. M. . The Routledge Handbook of Disability Activism . (2019)
  • “It is totally a power struggle”: Struggles over the sexuality of individuals with intellectual disabilities in Southern Alberta. . Santinele Martino, A. . Dis/consent: Perspectives on Sexual Violence and Consensuality. (2019)