The Mycelium Project
With Dr.Jennifer Ma of McMaster University's Social Work department
I co-authored this project focusing on how racialized migrants build communities and cultivate collective wellbeing, using participatory arts-based research as an antiracist and decolonial practice. Particularly, this project focuses on the ways in which communities resist systems of oppression while promoting cultural identity and knowledge, which is fundamental in supporting the wellbeing of racialized migrants and refugees.
For the first phase of the project, we used the photovoice methodology where I facilitated discussions with the participants, provided a camera & photography training and contributed to the data analysis.
Acting as lead for the second phase of the project using foodmaking and cellphilming as methodologies, I handled most logistics. This involved managing participants, building a partnership with FoodShare, providing storytelling trainings, facilitating discussions and co-analyzing data.
I am incredibly proud of my involvement in this project and hope it impacts immigration policies.
Dismantling white supremacy through anti-racist and decolonial pedagogies:
Mapping postsecondary education’s capacity for shifting dynamics of privilege and marginalization
About
I worked within a research team with Dr. Jennifer Ma of McMaster University's Social Work department on this SSHRC-funded knowledge synthesis.
By first conducting a scoping review through several digital databases using keywords related to the topic, hundreds of articles were pulled.
Those hundreds of articles were then screened to ensure their relevancy to the research question and that shortlist was extracted for data. This data was used for examining patterns that emerge,assessing current approaches, and highlighting practices through an intersectional approach.
"Existing research has demonstrated that educators express racist attitudes and beliefs andoften uphold systemic racism in their work. What remains unknown is the broader knowledgelandscape regarding anti-racist and decolonial pedagogies, programs, and practices that educatorsengage with to contribute to efforts to dismantle white supremacy and to shift the dynamics ofprivilege and marginalization. This synthesis will bridge this knowledge gap by working to respond tothe following questions:
1. How are anti-racist and decolonial pedagogies taken up and received in postsecondaryeducation?
a. What work do these pedagogies do for the universities as part of the colonial project(non-performativity)?
b. How are schools/faculties being held accountable?
2. How are anti-racist and decolonial pedagogies implemented in postsecondary educationalsettings? What are the approaches and methods employed?
a. What are the conditions that allow us / do not allow us to do this work?
3. What are the main characteristics of these anti-racist and decolonial pedagogies?
4. What are the intended outcomes or impact of these pedagogies?
a. How are we measuring its effectiveness and how it’s working?
5. How do white supremacy and whiteness show up in knowledge production?"
Find article here.
Upcoming Website
One of the many cool things about this knowledge synthesis report is that it's getting turned into an online database, a digital library, for any one interested in finding anti-racist and decolonial pedagogies.
And I did the branding and copy!
"This database holds a growing collection of research on anti-racist and decolonial pedagogies in postsecondary institutions. This resource was created as a way to dismantle the reproduction of white supremacy in postsecondary education, by offering educators and students resources to eradicate white supremacy by immersing themselves in anti-racist and decolonial pedagogies."
