Muna-Udbi Abdulkadir Ali - EUC

Assistant Professor

Credentials

PhD, Curriculum & Pedagogy , OISE, University of Toronto
MA, Sociology , York University
BA (Honours), Gender & Women’s Studies and Canadian Studies , Trent University

Research Keywords

Black Studies, Black geographies, Black feminist theories and methods, critical refugee studies, higher education studies, critical pedagogy, popular education, environmental justice, public policy, and surveillance studies.

Contact Information

4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3

416 736 2100

muali@yorku.ca

Research Interests

I specialize in Black Studies in Geography and Environment, with an interdisciplinary research program that draws on Black feminist theories and methods, Black geographies, critical refugee and migration studies, critical race theory, transnational feminism, environmental justice, critical Muslim studies, public policy, critical pedagogy, popular education, and higher education studies. My scholarship examines the intersections of race, place, power, and social justice, with a particular focus on Black life, displacement, institutional transformation, and struggles for liberation. My work has been published in both scholarly and public-facing venues, including The Black Scholar, First Monday, Darkmatter, Reconsidering Development, and The Conversation, among others.

Before joining York University, I held academic appointments as an Assistant Professor at California State University San Marcos and as Visiting Faculty at Christopher Newport University in Virginia.

In addition to my academic work, I am an experienced community organizer, curriculum and policy consultant, and anti-oppression educator. I have led the development of curricula and policy initiatives addressing gender-based violence, Afrocentric education, and anti-racist praxis. My professional and community-based work spans multiple international contexts, including Canada, the United States, Kenya, and Somalia

Research Project

2024-2027 – Insight Development Grant, SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council). Project: “Bridging gaps, building futures: Exploring the impact of Black faculty cluster hires in Canadian universities” (Principal Investigator)
2022-2026 – Race, Gender and Diversity Initiative, SSHRC. Project: “Refugee States” (Collaborator)

Research Output

(2026) Lim, E., Lisker, M., Hess, L., Engeler, M., Friedman, L. & Lingel, J.). Privacy will not protect us. In U.A. Mejias, J. McNealy, & M.Miceli(Eds.), Handbook of Critical Data Studies. De Gruyter Brill.

(2025). (with Abu-maye, M. & Mills, J.) Follow the rain: Freedom summer 2020 and Somali-American political consciousness. The Black Scholar, 55(3-4) 109-124.

(2025). (with Lim, E., Lisker, M., Hess, L., Engeler, M., Friedman, L. & Lingel, J.). Abolish privacy. First Monday, 30(2).

(2017). Un-mapping gay imperialism: A postcolonial approach to sexual orientation-based development. Reconsidering Development, 5(1), 1-20.

(2016). Unsettling the “Failed State”: An anti-racist approach to state and state formation – A study of Somalia. In G.S. Dei & M. Lordan (Eds.), Anti-colonial theory and decolonial praxis (pp. 85-100). Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

(2015). Henry Giroux and critical pedagogy. In K. Cooper & A. Yendell (Eds.), Five research contexts for understanding critical and interpretive inquiry (pp. 196-204). Life Rattle Press.

(2015). (with Brimpong, M. & Abdul-Rahman, L.). How did we get here: From critical

inquiry to Afrocentric schooling. In K. Cooper & A. Yendell (Eds.), Five research contexts for understanding critical and interpretive inquiry (pp. 161-190). Life Rattle Press.

(2009). (with Murad, Z.). Unravelling narratives of piracy: Discourses of Somali pirates. Darkmatter 5, 91-102.

(2026, Feb-May). (with co-curators: Espert, Y., Ekpunobi, U., Wiafe, S. & Joseph, A.). Politics/Poetics of Migration. Crossroads Gallery, Toronto, Canada. Institutional collaboration: The Harriet Tubman Institute. Feb-May 2026. [Art Exhibition].

(2025, Apr. 17). (with Grey, C. & Latty, S.). Reckoning and resistance: The future of Black hiring commitments on campus. The Conversation.

(2025). (with co-creators/producers: Phu, T., Lee, E.O.J., Ngo, A., Aguilera-Moradipour, M., Nyers, P., Hamila, A., Nguyen, V., Madokoro, L., Mahrouse, G., Taher, S., Abdulle, H., Ali, F., Ali, S., Arias, O., French, H., Gure, L., Siyad, A. N. H., Khanyare, F., Rokay, M., Shiddo, S., Ali, Yusuf, M. & Jumale, M.). Refugee States [Digital Archive].

(2024). (with co-creators/producers: Phu, T. & Taher, S.). If you close your eyes. [Digital Story].

(2024). (with co-creators/producers: Taher, S. & Phu, T.). From bloom to bloom. [Digital Story].

(2020, Aug. 5). Misogynoir and other racist aggressions in the ivory tower: An open letter to my colleagues. The Professor Is In.

(2016). (with Verma, A.R. & Horie, H.). Understanding and responding to sexual violence in immigrant and refugee communities. [Curriculum]. Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants.

Recognition and Awards

Dean’s Award for Teaching (Environmental and Urban Change, York University)
Curriculum Inquiry Writing Fellowship (University of Toronto)
New College Senior Doctoral Fellowship in Equity Studies (University of Toronto)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship
Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholar
Ontario Graduate Scholarships
Lincoln M. Alexander Award

Courses

Course Code	Title
ENVS 6150	Popular Education for Social Change Theory and Practice
ENVS 4800	The Black Atlantic and Environmental Justice
GEOG 4820	Spaces of Development
ENVS 3160	Race/Racism and Environmental Justice
GEOG 3610	Black Geographies