Shyam Patel is a fourth year doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Education at York University. His scholarship and writing engage and provoke intergenerational stories, lived experiences, and teaching life through creative and literary writing such as life writing and poetic inquiry. He focuses on a range of topics including but not limited to antiracism, critical race theory, diaspora studies, queerness, radical feminism, South Asianness, and transformative justice. He is guided by his relations, especially his late paternal grandmother, and profound scholars and thinkers like bell hooks, George Yancy, Sara Ahmed, and Thich Nhat Hanh.
Monica Tang is a fourth year doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Education at York University. Her research focuses on cross-racial solidarity, critical race theory, and Asian Canadian identity. Her other research interests include occasional teaching and outdoor. Her work as an educator and researcher aims to support racialized and marginalized students and educators. Outside of her studies, she is an elementary occasional teacher in the Greater Toronto Area.
Ari Para is a third year doctoral student in the Faculty of Education at York University. Their research focuses on their Tamil Sri-Lankan heritage and Queer Futurities, looking at the intersectional marginalization that Queer Tamils and Queer South Asians face, both from their cultural community and Western society. Outside of their Ph.D. and research, Ari is a jewelry maker, creative writer, and hot yoga teacher.
Ayesha Menezes is a second year doctoral student in the Faculty of Education at York University. As a multicultural person of colour whose background is rooted in her upbringing in Ghana, West Africa, her work is guided by decolonizing perspectives and a commitment to equity. Her scholarship centers on reimagining early childhood education through a focus on more-than-human relationalities, challenging colonial legacies, and integrating Indigenous worldviews. Her research uses practices like "muddy play" to disrupt conventional schooling practices and separation from nature. Her life and research are guided by the saying: "Those who want rain must also accept the mud," a reminder to embrace the beautiful messiness of life.