Ryan Persadie

Ryan Persadie serves as Visiting Assistant Professor in Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectionality Studies at Connecticut College since 2023, specializing in transnational feminisms, queer diasporas, and Caribbean cultural production with emphasis on Indo-Caribbean communities and performance studies.

His academic credentials include:

• PhD (ABD) in Women and Gender Studies and Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto
• MA in Ethnomusicology and Sexuality Diversity Studies, University of Toronto
• Bachelor of Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
• Honours Bachelor of Music in Music Education, University of Western Ontario

Persadie's research centers on how queer and trans Indo-Caribbean communities in Toronto and New York City create "queer fêtes" through soca music, dance, and vocalities as sites of resistance against nationalist ideologies. His work bridges ethnomusicology, gender studies, and queer of colour pedagogy to examine sound and movement as methodologies for self-making, with particular focus on post-indenture societies and Afro-Asian intimacies. He actively incorporates anti-colonial and community-based approaches into his scholarship.

His publications (2019-2022) reveal consistent interdisciplinary engagement across gender studies, musicology, and cultural geography, with recurring themes of diasporic identity, mental health stigma in Caribbean music, and the politics of celebration. Key contributions include analyses of chutney genealogies, soca feminisms, and transgressive drag performance in urban spaces.

No scientific awards are documented in the provided materials.

As an educator, Persadie teaches foundational and advanced courses including Introduction to Gender Studies, Queer Diasporas, Contemporary Feminist Theory, and Queer Theory and Activism. He extends mentorship beyond the classroom through community-engagement projects with Caribbean diaspora groups and invites student collaboration on research related to his expertise. His pre-academic experience includes secondary school teaching using queer and trans of colour critical pedagogies in Toronto's private school system.

Persadie maintains active community ties through organizing with the Caribbean Equality Project in Queens, NY, and artistic practice as drag performer Tifa Wine. His short film "GYAL" (2023), co-produced with Premika Leo, exemplifies the integration of his academic research with creative expression in documenting queer Caribbean experiences.