EDUCATION
Education
Ph.D., Sociology, Women’s and Gender Studies, Virginia Tech, 2022
MS, Clinical Psychology, University of Kentucky 2005
BS, Psychology, BA, Spanish, Howard University, 1999
Certificates
Graduate Certificate in Future Professoriate, Virginia Tech, Expected 2021
CITI Program (Basic Responsible Conduct of Research – Stage 1 – RCR), Virginia Tech, September 2019
CITI Program (Social & Behavioral Research – Stage 1 – Basic Course), Virginia Tech, April 2020
Level-A Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Group, Teachers College Global Health Summer Institute, Columbia University, 2017
Analyzing Disruptive Health Systems in Conflict Situations, Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) & World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, 2017
Research Interests
Black, Caribbean, and transnational feminisms, sociology of sexuality and reproductive health, Qualitative Methodology, Race and Technology, Gender, and health systems in the Caribbean and Latin America.
Research Experience
Graduate Assistant, Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance 2021-present
Research Assistant, Caribbean Migration Project, Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech 2020-2021
Research Assistant, Reimagining DiVersiTy Project, Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 2020-2021
Technical Officer, Child, Adolescent, and Maternal Mental Health Report, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO), World Health Organization, Cairo, Egypt. 2016-2017
Teaching Experience
Instructor, Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. Courses: Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies. 2021
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. Courses: Introduction to Sociology; Systems of Justice; Introduction to African American Studies 2019-2020
Lecturer, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Department of Psychiatry, MSc in Clinical Psychology Programme. Champ Fleurs, Trinidad, West Indies. Courses: Clinical Interviewing; Caribbean Psychology; Clinical Supervision. 2020-2021
Training and Consultation
TAP This Valley Works and Virginia Tech Institute of Policy and Governance. Working with People Living with Mental with Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders
Medical Research Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (MRF) Youth Health Partnership.
Americares, Emergency Response Team, Oaxaca, Mexico
Publications
Toney, L., Harris, C. (Forthcoming, December 2021). School Violence in Trinidad: A Case Study. In S. Morris-Francis (Ed) Youth and Gender Violence and Crime in the Caribbean. Lexington, KY, Lexington Books.
Toney, L. (in press). Petticoats and Bloomers: The Geometry of Black Female Aesthetic Expression in Trinidad African Spirituality. In Andrea N. Baldwin and Nana Brantuo (Eds) Black Feminist Decoloniality: Theorizing Toward Futurity. Blacksburg: Virginia Tech Publishing.
Toney, L. (in press). Psychosocial Uncertainty: Psychosocial and Cultural Impacts of Interfacing with Non-functioning, Oppressive, Institutions of Power. In Andrea N. Baldwin and Tonya Haynes (Eds) Global Black Feminism: Cross Border Collaboration Through an Ethics of Care. New York: Routledge.
Baer, RA, Smith, GT, Hopkins, J, Krietemeyer, J, & Toney, L (2006). Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment. 13 (1) 27-45.
Panels Organized
Caribbean Women and Girls: Manifesting Agency in Patriarchal Society. 44th Annual National Conference of the National Council for Black Studies, Atlanta, Georgia.
Presented Papers
Toney, L. (2021) Fugivity in Trinidad & Tobago Carnival: an exploration of modes of resistance using Black and transnational feminist frameworks. Lecture presented for the Women’s and Gender Studies of Fugivity. Virginia Tech.
Toney, L. (2019) The Role of Psychosocial Uncertainty in Trinidadian Women’s Innovative Approaches to Reproductive Healthcare: An Intersectional Analysis. Paper presented at the National Council for Black Studies 44th Annual Conference, Atlanta, Georgia.
Toney, L. (2018) Using Culture to Transform the Mental Health Landscape. Paper presented at the 43rd Annual Caribbean Studies Association Conference, Havana, Cuba.
Toney, L. (2018). (Exhibit and paper) Faith in the Open: African traditional religious practice of Orisha in Trinidad & Tobago. 43rd Annual Caribbean Studies Association Conference, Havana, Cuba.
Other Scholarly Work
Toney, L. (2019) A Two-Faced Resistance: Syncretism, Picong, and Mas in Trinidad & Tobago Carnival. Biennial Juried Student Exhibit, Perspective Gallery, Virginia Tech. October 26 to December 18, 2021.
Grant Awards
2020 Virginia Tech Department of Sociology Graduate Student Research Grant. Awarded $3240 (not paid out due to university-wide budget freeze due to pandemic).
2020 Virginia Tech Department of Sociology, Women’s and Gender Studies Research Grant. Awarded $500
2015 Ministry of Sustainable Planning, Government of Trinidad and Tobago, Lumination Challenge Award. Awarded TT $193,600 (US $30,000).
Professional Service
2021 Reviewer peer reviewer for the Child Welfare League of America’s Child and Family Serving Systems: A Compendium of Policy and Practice.
2020-2021 President, Sociology Graduate Students Organization, Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech