Dr. Nima Naghibi is a Professor of English at Toronto Metropolitan University, specializing in postcolonial and diasporic studies with a focus on Iran. She holds a PhD from the University of Alberta. Education: PhD in English, University of Alberta Research Interests: Explores postcolonial theory, diasporic literatures, trauma narratives, and human rights through the lens of immigrant/refugee experiences. Her work emphasizes Middle Eastern studies, particularly Iranian contexts, and the intersections of social justice with literary forms. Publications: Authored two monographs and contributed to journals like English Studies in Canada and Radical History Review . Her 2016 work Women Write Iran examines diasporic Iranian women's narratives, while earlier scholarship interrogates Western feminist frameworks in relation to Iran. Awards: No awards explicitly mentioned in the text. Advisees/Grants: No current advisees or grant details listed. She teaches courses related to life narratives and exile literature.
Julie Rak is the HM Tory Chair and Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. She holds a BA and PhD from McMaster University and an MA from Carleton University. Her research focuses on auto/biography, life writing, and nonfiction in North America, with specialties in gender, Canadian literature, and publishing studies. She has authored or co-edited numerous books, including False Summit: Gender in Mountaineering Nonfiction (2021) and The Routledge Introduction to Auto/biography in Canada (2023). Rak’s academic roles include interim Chair of the EFS Department (2023–2024) and leadership in the Stories of Change research group. She has received prestigious awards such as the J. Gordin Kaplan Award (2023) and the Killam Annual Professorship (2017–2018). Her research explores marginalized narratives, including Inuit literature and digital life writing, with a commitment to inclusivity and community engagement. Her teaching spans undergraduate and graduate courses on autobiography, gender theory, and Canadian literature. She actively supervises research projects and supports student initiatives like the Roger Smith Undergraduate Research Award. Rak’s work bridges academic rigor with public scholarship, with over 90 media engagements. Education: PhD in English, McMaster University MA in Canadian Studies, Carleton University BA in English, McMaster University Grants & Projects: SSHRC Insight Grant for Government Agents, Literary Agents: Inuit Books and Government Intervention, 1968–1985 Leadership in the Stories of Change initiative Awards & Honors: Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2022) Henry Marshall Tory Chair (2019–2025) 2024 Visiting Professor at Merton College, Oxford
Lisa Stevenson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at McGill University. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley (2005). Her research focuses on imagistic forms of thought in contexts of violence, particularly among Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic and Colombian refugees in Ecuador. She is the author of *Life Beside Itself: Imagining Care in the Canadian Arctic* (2014), which won the 2015 Victor Turner Book Prize and the 2020 Staley Prize. Stevenson’s work integrates experimental ethnographic methods, including filmmaking. Her films, such as *Into Unknown Parts* (2017) and *Era Un Lunes* (2018), explore the human impact of displacement and violence. She collaborates with researchers like Eduardo Kohn, blending anthropology with visual storytelling. Her recent projects include a Mellon New Directions Fellowship to study filmmaking, aiming to deepen her exploration of lived experiences of violence. She has also contributed to peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes on topics ranging from care ethics to the anthropology of sound and imagery. Awards: Victor Turner Book Prize (2015), Staley Prize (2020) Grants: Mellon New Directions Fellowship Collaborations: Eduardo Kohn (film projects), Cristiana Giordano (theatre experiments) Stevenson’s research bridges anthropology, film, and visual arts, emphasizing innovative ways to represent marginalized voices and experiences.
Timothy Cheek is a Professor at the University of British Columbia with dual appointments in the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and the Department of History. He holds the prestigious Louis Cha Chair in Chinese Research and serves as Co-Director of the Centre for Chinese Research at the Institute of Asian Research (IAR). Having joined UBC in 2002, Professor Cheek is a leading scholar of modern Chinese history with expertise in Chinese intellectual history and the Chinese Communist Party. Professor Cheek's educational background includes: Ph.D. in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University (1986) M.A. in History from The University of Virginia (1980) B.A. in Asian Studies (Honours) from Australian National University (1978) His research focuses on three interconnected areas of modern Chinese history: the history of the Chinese Communist Party within China's twentieth-century revolutionary context; contemporary Chinese thought and society, particularly the role of intellectuals in public life; and Mao Zedong studies. Professor Cheek leads the "Revisiting the Revolution" collaborative translation project, bringing Chinese scholarship on revolutionary history to English-speaking audiences. He is also working on a major project mapping Chinese statecraft from the Ming Dynasty to the present. Professor Cheek's scholarly output reveals consistent engagement with Chinese intellectual history and political development. His recent work shows increasing focus on contemporary China under Xi Jinping, examining ideological governance and the reassertion of party control. He maintains strong interest in the historical roots of current political developments, particularly through the lens of Mao-era political practices and their legacy. Among his notable recognitions: Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) in the Academy of Arts and Humanities (2023) Professor Cheek actively supervises graduate students, co-mentoring MA and PhD candidates in modern Chinese history with Dr. Jeremy Brown of Simon Fraser University. His research has been supported by multiple SSHRC grants, including a major 2014-2019 project on "Reading and Writing the Chinese Dream" examining public intellectuals in contemporary China. As Co-Director of the Centre for Chinese Research at UBC's Institute of Asian Research, Professor Cheek leads one of Canada's premier institutions for China studies, facilitating research collaborations between Canadian and Chinese scholars and supporting the "Revisiting the Revolution" translation project that brings Chinese historical scholarship to international audiences.
Jonathan F. Vance is a distinguished academic and historian at Western University, serving as the Distinguished University Professor and J.B. Smallman Chair in the Department of History. His research focuses on military history, Canadian history, and social memory, particularly regarding the First and Second World Wars, prisoners of war, and commemoration practices. He has authored numerous books and chapters, including The True Story of the Great Escape and Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning and the First World War . He holds a PhD from York University (1993) and has received prestigious awards such as the Charles P. Stacey Prize, Floyd S. Chalmers Award, and membership in the Royal Society of Canada. His research is supported by the Ley and Lois Smith War, Memory, and Popular Culture Research Collection, a key resource for studies on war and society. Teaching includes courses like HIST 1810E - Wars that Changed the World and supervises graduate students at both master’s and doctoral levels. His work bridges historical analysis with cultural studies, examining how societies remember and represent conflict.
Nicholas Ng-A-Fook is a Full Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa, where he has served as former Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Director of Teacher Education and Indigenous Teacher Education Programs. His work is deeply engaged with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action, working in partnership with Indigenous communities and school boards to disrupt colonialism, systemic racisms, and inequalities in educational curricula. Dr. Ng-A-Fook's educational background includes a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Louisiana State University (2006), an M.A. in Education (Multicultural Education) from York University (2001), a Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary Science and History) from the University of Western Sydney (1998), and a B.A. in Classical Studies from the University of Ottawa (1996). His research interests span Curriculum Studies, History of Education (particularly oral history), Life-writing research (autobiography and narrative inquiry), Critical Youth Studies (focusing on first-generation immigrant and Indigenous youth), Community-based research, and Contemporary perspectives in philosophy, science and technology including AI, genomic education, and anti-racist science education. Dr. Ng-A-Fook approaches his work as a curriculum theorist who draws on life writing research methodologies to co-create culturally responsive, relevant, and relational curriculum with educators. Dr. Ng-A-Fook's publications reveal a strong focus on reconciliation education, decolonizing curriculum, and addressing systemic racism in educational contexts. His work increasingly engages with digital technologies and artificial intelligence from a critical, decolonial perspective, examining how these technologies intersect with historical and ongoing colonial structures. His research shows a clear evolution toward more interdisciplinary work connecting curriculum studies with Indigenous knowledge systems, technology studies, and social justice movements. Among his notable honors are the 2024 Coutts Prize, the Ted T. Aoki Distinguished Service Award (2018), and the R.W.B. Jackson Award for an outstanding article in the Canadian Journal of Education. He also serves as Director of the EdCan Network and was Past-President of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education. As a supervisor, Dr. Ng-A-Fook currently mentors several graduate students including Melissa Daoust, Lisa Ambaye, Bahareh Samsamiardekani, and Madelaine McCracken. He created the FooknConversation podcast to address educational challenges with colleagues, community activists, artists, education leaders, teachers, and politicians, and maintains the Canadian Curriculum Theory Project website as a resource for his research.
Aimée Morrison is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo. She holds a PhD from the University of Alberta, an MA from the University of Guelph, and a BA from York University. Her research focuses on the intersection of technology, social media, and identity, particularly examining how individuals construct and negotiate self-representation in digital spaces. Education: PhD (Alberta), MA (Guelph), BA (York) Her work explores topics like neurodivergence in academic accommodations, hashtag activism, selfie culture, and the rhetorical affordances of social media platforms. She has conducted research in digital humanities labs across multiple universities and maintains an active public scholarship presence. Current projects include a book on 1980s personal computers and a critical analysis of selfies as modern communication tools. Recent scholarship emphasizes viral communication, digital identity politics, and the ethical dimensions of technology mediation. Her grants include a 2019 Trudeau Fellowship and SSHRC funding for studies on selfie rhetoric and digital life writing. Awards: 2020 Waterloo Teaching Excellence Award, 2019 Trudeau Fellowship Supervises graduate work in New Media Studies, Photography Studies, and intersectional critical studies (race/gender/disability). Active in rethinking public scholarship paradigms through digital platforms.
Sophie McCall is a Professor in the Department of English at Simon Fraser University (SFU), specializing in Indigenous literatures. Her research focuses on decolonization, resurgence, and the ethics of collaborative authorship, particularly examining how Indigenous writers challenge settler colonialism through storytelling. She holds a BA from Queen’s University, an MA from UBC, and a PhD from York University. McCall is the author of First Person Plural: Aboriginal Storytelling and the Ethics of Collaborative Authorship (2011), which received critical acclaim, and editor of foundational texts like Devil in Deerskins: My Life with Grey Owl (2014). She co-edits Read, Listen, Tell: Indigenous Stories from Turtle Island (2017) and directs SFU’s Masters of Arts for Teachers of English (MATE) program. Her work bridges literary criticism and activism, addressing residential school narratives, Indigenous-Black solidarity, and the politics of reconciliation. She co-chairs the Indigenous Voices Awards and leads SSHRC-funded projects exploring Indigenous-led literary collaborations. Key themes in her scholarship include textualizing orality, ethical representation, and multidisciplinary Indigenous arts. Awards: Gabrielle Roy Prize finalist (2011), Canada Prize finalist (2011) Projects: SSHRC-funded collaboration with NunatuKavut scholar Kristina Bidwell Roles: Director of MATE, Co-chair Indigenous Voices Awards McCall’s publications span scholarly articles, edited collections, and anthologies, emphasizing Indigenous agency in storytelling. Her teaching and research prioritize decolonizing methodologies and amplifying Indigenous voices across disciplines.
Naisargi N. Dave is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto. Her work spans sociocultural anthropology, queer theory, and animal studies, with a regional focus on India. She is affiliated with the Centre for South Asian Studies and the Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies. PhD, University of Michigan (2006) Research interests include interspecies ethics, affect theory, and the politics of imagination in South Asia. Her ethnographic work explores how activists navigate legal systems, emotional exhaustion, and intersectional inequalities. She has published extensively on queer communities and animal rights in India, arguing for ethics of indifference and creative relationality. Key awards: 2024 Gregory Bateson Prize for Indifference , 2013 Ruth Benedict Prize for Queer Activism in India , and an honorable mention for the Ruth Benedict Prize for her latest book. Advises graduate students in queer anthropology and animal activism Teaches courses on animality, literary anthropology, and affect Current projects include a book titled Murder: The Social Life of Violent Death in Queer India , examining violence against queer communities.
Yvon Wang is an Associate Professor at the Department of History , University of Toronto (St. George Campus), specializing in East Asian history with a focus on gender, sexuality, and everyday life. He coordinates the Chinese History Grad Group and directs the Faculty & Postdoc Writing Workshop . His research spans imperial to modern China, including material culture, suicide studies, and Cold War socio-political dynamics. PhD and MA from Stanford University AB from Princeton University Current projects include SSHRC-funded studies on suicide in Chinese history and global responses to the Sinosphere during the Great Leap Forward . His publications examine topics like pornography in modern China, masculinities in early People's Republic media, and legal constructions of sexuality in Beijing. Recent articles include: Gray Markets in the Great Leap (2022) exploring economic deviance in 1950s Shandong Everyday Lives in China's Cold War Military-Industrial Complex (2022) analyzing worker experiences in Shanghai Reinventing Licentiousness (2021) tracing pornography's historical trajectory Scientific honors include SSHRC-funded research projects . He maintains affiliations with the Department of East Asian Studies and teaches courses covering Chinese history from prehistory to the 21st century.
Julie Murray is an Associate Professor at Carleton University’s Department of English Language and Literature, part of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. She holds a B.A. from Queen’s University, an M.A. from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. from York University. Her research focuses on eighteenth-century British literature, British Romanticism, feminist theory, and the intersections of literature with cultural theory and modernity. Current work includes a book manuscript on feminism, modernity, and life narrative, challenging conventional historiographies of women’s roles in progress narratives. She co-organized the 2017 NASSR conference on 'Romantic Life' and has published extensively on Mary Wollstonecraft, literary theory, and gender studies. Murray’s awards include the 2019-20 Faculty Graduate Mentoring Award and SSHRC grants. She teaches graduate courses on eighteenth-century culture, Romanticism, and human rights. Supervised doctoral students include Amal El-Mohtar and Emma Peacocke, while co-supervising Ingrid Reiche’s digital edition project. Education: B.A., Queen’s University M.A., University of Toronto Ph.D., York University Her research bridges historical literary analysis with contemporary feminist debates, emphasizing critical re-evaluations of Wollstonecraft’s legacy and the socio-political dimensions of literature.
Bruce Fulton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Arts. As the inaugural holder of the Young-Bin Min Chair in Korean Literature and Literary Translation, he is a leading scholar in Korean literary studies. He is currently on leave for the 2024-2025 academic year but remains an active faculty member. His research interests focus on modern Korean fiction and its translation; intertextuality and intermediality in Korean literature past and present; and non-mainstream Korean literature, including women's literature, military camptown fiction, and the literature of the Korean diaspora. In his literature courses, he emphasizes close reading and textual analysis to distinguish the variety of voices and narrative techniques within Korea's millennia-old literary tradition. Fulton has an extensive publication record spanning several decades, with numerous translations of Korean literature into English, scholarly articles, and edited volumes. His translation work often collaborates with his spouse Ju-Chan Fulton. Recent publications show continued engagement with contemporary Korean fiction, particularly works exploring social issues, psychological realism, and historical memory. Specializes in translating modern Korean fiction Focuses on non-mainstream literature including women's writing Explores intertextuality and intermediality in Korean literary tradition Active in promoting Korean literature through translation and scholarship As a supervisor of graduate students, he works closely with Dr. Ross King to provide practical training in literary translation, field mastery, and reading of Korean texts both modern and premodern. He encourages students to publish and present their work at conferences and workshops, emphasizing professional development alongside academic growth.
Margaret Y. MacDonald is a Professor of Religious Studies at Saint Mary’s University (Halifax), where she served as Dean of Arts from 2014 to 2020. Previously, she taught at St. Francis Xavier University and the University of Ottawa. She held the McCarthy Chair in Biblical Studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome during 2018. Her research focuses on Early Christianity’s social dynamics, particularly Pauline studies, gender roles, and children’s roles in religious contexts within the Roman world. She earned her BA (1983) with distinction from Saint Mary’s University and a DPhil (1987) from Oxford University under a Commonwealth Scholarship. Her research interests include the Roman context of Christian origins, women and gender in early Christian communities, education systems in antiquity, and Corinthian Christianity. Current projects explore education in early Christianity and ancient Corinth’s religious landscape. She has authored/co-authored five major books and numerous articles, with a notable focus on family structures in early Christian communities and house church networks. Her publications span socio-historical analysis of Pauline epistles, gender dynamics in early Christian communities, and children’s societal roles. Awards include the prestigious Faculty of Arts Medal and Governor General's Medal from SMU (1983). She has held significant academic leadership roles, including deanship and visiting professorships in Rome, reflecting her scholarly prominence in religious studies.
Pilar Riaño-Alcalá is a Professor at the Social Justice Institute (SJI) within the Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She is also a Faculty Associate in the Department of Anthropology at UBC and a Senior Fellow at the Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS). As co-lead of the Transformative Memory International Network, she directs major SSHRC-funded research on memory, violence, and social repair. Her academic and public intellectual work is deeply collaborative with Black and Indigenous communities in Colombia and transnational peace initiatives. Fields of Research: Witnessing and lived experiences of political violence, war, and genocide Landscapes and practices of memory and social repair Ecologies of absence and presence in memory work Epistemic justice and relational methodologies Sound memory, oral history, and social practice art Forced migration and transnational diaspora organizing Her recent publications reveal a consistent focus on transformative memory, especially through the voices of marginalized communities such as the Wayuu and the cantadoras of the Atrato River. Her work bridges academic research with public art, most notably through her two-decade collaboration with artist Suzanne Lacy on The Skin of Memory . The thematic trends in her articles show a deep commitment to decolonial methodologies, community-based knowledge production, and the integration of artistic practices in memory and justice work. Scientific Awards: Senior Fellow, CALAS, 2021 Academic Writing Fellow, Bellagio Center, Rockefeller Foundation, 2019 Faculty Fellow in Residence, Liu Institute for Global Issues, UBC, 2009–2015 Advising and Grants: Riaño-Alcalá has supervised numerous PhD and MA students at UBC, focusing on themes of decolonial solidarity, environmental justice, and memory. She currently leads three major research projects: Transformative Memory: An International Network (SSHRC Partnership Grant), Exhumations and Burial in Colombia , and Sacred Responsibilities to Water: Indigenous Knowledge Exchanges, Canada-Colombia . Her advising reflects a strong commitment to interdisciplinary, community-engaged scholarship, particularly with Indigenous and diasporic communities. Labs and Networks: She co-directs the Transformative Memory International Network, a transnational research collective that fosters collaborative memory practices across Latin America, Canada, and Europe. Her work is deeply embedded in community-university partnerships and public scholarship, including multimedia exhibitions and collaborative publications.
Nicole Cohen is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, affiliated with the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology and the Faculty of Information . Her research focuses on the political economy of communication , media labor precarity , and cultural worker organizing , with a particular emphasis on journalism , alternative media , and digital labor . Institution : University of Toronto Primary Affiliation : Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology Secondary Affiliation : Faculty of Information Academic Rank : Associate Professor Her research explores: Worker Empowerment : Unions, co-operatives, and collective action in digital journalism Platform Labor : Exploitation on Substack, social media, and freelance platforms Media Precarity : Gendered and racialized dimensions of insecure work Alternative Media : Resistance, autonomy, and labor activism Recent research trends identified in her publications include: 2025 Focus : Platform governance, writers of color, and labor education reforms 2024-2023 : Intersectional analysis of media labor, audience commodification theories 2020-2015 : Unionization strategies, unpaid internships, and coworking politics Scientific awards: Gertrude J. Robinson Book Prize (2017) CWA Canada/CAJ Award for Labour Reporting (2013) She supervises graduate students like Christine H. Tran and Darsana Vijay , and participates in the SSHRC-funded Cultural Workers Organize project.
