Our Students

Aleyna Irem Karacan is a PhD student in the Social Anthropology program at York University. She holds an Honours BA in Anthropology and Marketing from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and an MA in Social Anthropology from York University.

Her master’s research investigated the role of herbalists (aktars) in preserving and transmitting local herbal remedies, and examined how these practices evolve and become medicalized within Istanbul’s contemporary healthscape. Building on this work, her doctoral research will explore how human–plant relations shape well-being and how local plant knowledge travels, transforms, and endures across new cultural and ecological contexts, with a particular focus on belonging, diasporic communities, and community gardens in Toronto.

cambutl@yorku.ca

Cameron Butler is a PhD student and Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar. His doctoral research follows phosphate fertilizers through agribusiness value chains in southern Ontario. He explores how actors across the chains are responding to phosphorus becoming an object of rising public concern, particularly around the depletion of phosphate rock reserves and increasing eutrophication. His project combines economic anthropology theories of value and environmental anthropology theories of metabolic rift. His research interests include: human/more-than-human relations, political ecology, science and technology studies, queer ecology, anthropology of infrastructure, and food studies.

His publications can be found on Google Scholar

Celia Ringstrom is a PhD student in the Department of Social Anthropology at York University. Her work investigates the ways that children growing up in Californian intentional communities understand, express, and act upon collective utopian aspirations for more just and sustainable futures. More specifically, this research seeks to understand how children’s play reconceptualizes the political, and provides space for children to imagine and realize utopian world-making.

Ciara Corrigan is a PhD student and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship holder. Her doctoral research centres on youth political engagement and youth activism. Her area of interest is understanding the intersections of becoming political while becoming gendered within school spaces. Furthermore, in developing an understanding of the presence of youth political engagement and civic involvement around issues of gender and sexuality among high-school students. The theoretical basis of her project is embedded in conversations of agency, affect, socialization, citizenship, social movements, gender, and sex. She hopes to focus her study in the Greater Toronto Area, particularly in Durham Region, to understand the diverse political and gendered experiences of youth in schools.

Ciara chose Social Anthropology at York through her previous research in sociology for her Master’s and Bachelor’s degree. She was introduced to the social anthropology program through the instruction of her supervisor as well as many other excellent faculty members, who invited her to consider her previous research through ethnographic and anthropological methods and theoretical frameworks. The Social Anthropology Department, both staff and support systems, have made the transition to anthropology one that is smooth and encouraging. The opportunities provided to explore different considerations and develop necessary academic skills has helped Ciara grow as a budding academic and anthropologist.

Elif (she/her) is a PhD student with a broad interest in the intersections of food, society, and the environment. Her research explores the political economy of food, food cultures, agri-food systems, migration, and the gendered dimensions of food production. She brings both professional kitchen experience and academic training to her work. Currently, her research focuses on food and waste, specifically food waste and the impacts of plastic waste on food production. Elif is actively involved in scholarly communities, including the Canadian Association for Food Studies and the Graduate Association for Food Studies.

As a student who took English & Cultural Studies in their undergrad and has discovered a growing interest for public health research- which has been built through Anthropological readings within said program- the Social Anthropology program at York felt ideal for me. Specifically, I chose the Social Anthropology program at York due to its emphasis on providing students from diverse academic backgrounds a space to honour a shared drive for exploring justice, intersectionality, and community relations within our respective research topics, bridging across many sectors that fall under the field of Social Anthropology. In my proposed research project, I set out to explore the short and long-term psychological effects of a secularized psychiatric system experienced by Muslim women in Ontario. Religious identity is often an inseparable aspect of a Muslim woman’s identity, and can significantly influence their relationship with a mental health system that seldom considers spirituality as a significant aspect of mental health care or treatment. I intend on using the institutional ethnography (IE) methodology for my project, as a means of keeping Muslim women’s individual experiences at the forefront of both the conduction and exploration of the data collected. My hope is to explore how a system meant to centre patient care may succeed -or fall short- in caring for a population that is already disproportionately impacted by poor mental health outcomes and is underrepresented within these healthcare spaces.

My research interests include folklore, semiotics, and military anthropology and history. I also have an interest in mortuary archaeology and the semiotics of death and its associated rituals. I chose the Social Anthropology program because I know that through this program. I will have a great group of people to work with and an opportunity to pursue areas of research that it might be harder to pursue elsewhere.

Ian-Carlo Morales-Nunez is a PhD student in Social Anthropology at York University. He holds an Honours BA in Anthropology and an MA in Religious Studies both from McMaster University.

His master's research examined Christianity’s colonial history dating back to the conquest of the Americas and linked it to modern contemporary Latin American unequal social relations.

His doctoral research will explore the practices of relationality between the Navajo/Diné community and Latinx undocumented migrants in Southwest U.S. Particularly; he is interested in the practice of spirituality and the spiritual life conjointly between the two as a potential mode of intercultural and diasporic solidarity. Through an Indigenous-Latinx interconnectedness, he aims to prioritize spaces of inclusivity in hope of restoration and healing to the shared processes of coloniality.

“I chose SOAN because both academically and socially speaking, my project will get the necessary attention and help in this discipline needed to grow into a suitable project that would end up being my life's work and ideally create a positive contribution within this field”

I am a PhD student in Social Anthropology at York University researching how community-based art organizations foster connection, care, and belonging in multicultural Canada. Through ethnographic fieldwork, visual methods, and community engagement, my research examines how creative practices shape social life, foster collaborative learning, and cultivate a shared sense of community. With an extensive background in education and previous research in public art and experiential pedagogy, I am passionate about scholarship that connects academia with broader communities. I chose York’s Department of Social Anthropology (SOAN) for its vibrant intellectual environment and commitment to critical, public-facing ethnographic scholarship. The program’s emphasis on bridging academic inquiry with real-world communities aligns closely with my dedication to community-engaged research. I am excited to contribute to conversations around art, culture, and social connection as I grow as a scholar.

Johann Sander’s work meanders at the intersection of anthropology, spatial and sensory experience, and the role of storytelling in urban environments.

His research follows everyday encounters in Toronto, Tallinn, and Reykjavik as moments in which knowledge is produced, transmitted, and creatively played with. Making use of multimodal methodologies and different kinds of walking and mobility, this research strives for an imaginative approach that walks, wonders, and wanders with what was, is, could be, and what is yet to come.

Through an ethnographic study that uses moving, walking, waiting, and wandering as an assemblage of ethnographic encounters and the practices we study—this project ultimately asks how urban experiences are narrated, either permanently or fleetingly .... and what it means to notice in the city.

Luisa Isidro-Herrera is a PhD candidate and recipient of the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Her doctoral research focuses on the feminized and peasant-driven struggle of ex-FARC-EP women, examining how their search for missing persons in the Colombian post-conflict era constitutes a form of historical meaning-making in the current transitional process. Her research aims to demonstrate how ex-combatant women function as crucial historical agents, challenging systemic silences and generating alternative epistemologies of conflict, memory, and social transformation in post-conflict Colombia. Drawing upon anthropology of revolution, historical memory, and feminist decolonial approaches such as Body-Territory, she traces how these women embody personal and collective experiences around land and insurgency into powerful narratives of resistance. Her research interests include the aftermaths of revolutions, historical memory, forensic anthropology, Andean epistemologies, and the embodiment of lived experiences.

Maxine Brown is a PhD student and member of Connected Minds. Maxine’s research interests lie at the intersection of medical anthropology, the anthropology of the environment, and the social study of neurology. She investigates the complex relationships between nuclear waste and brain health, focusing on how scientists conceptualize the links between environmental contamination and cognitive impairment. Her work pays particular attention to interdisciplinary collaborations that shape scientific understandings of brain health amid growing environmental degradation. In addition, she explores how these scientific frameworks inform clinical practice and influence the ways healthcare providers approach diagnosis, treatment, and care.

Maxine’s research is driven by a commitment to understanding how environmental contamination intersects with human health and how scientific knowledge is produced. She chose to pursue a PhD in Social Anthropology to engage deeply with these questions and to learn from leading scholars whose expertise spans environmental and medical anthropology.

I am a PhD student in Social Anthropology at York University, originally from Balochistan. Prior to joining York, I worked as a visiting and ad-hoc lecturer at various public and private universities in Balochistan. My research interests include the Anthropology of Violence and Resistance, enforced disappearances, the politics of photographs, digital activism, and hashtag ethnography, with a regional focus on South Asia, particularly Balochistan and Pakistan.

I chose the Anthropology Department at York University for its diverse and accomplished faculty whose research aligns with my interests, and its commitment to decolonizing anthropology. The availability of funding and opportunities for Teaching and Research Assistantships were also key factors in my decision. Moreover, York’s vibrant international environment and resources like the South Asian Research Center have been invaluable for connecting with scholars working on related topics, further enriching my academic journey.

Samantha Boyd is a PhD student and Ontario Graduate Scholarship holder whose research lies at the intersections of urban anthropology, power, and resistance. Building on her SSHRC-funded Master’s Thesis, her doctoral work examines the tensions around state-led urban redevelopment in Singapore and the community responses to this urban change. Specifically, she works with artists and young entrepreneurs working out of 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace, a former colonial police barracks turned art enclave. Her work explores the nuanced interplay between urban space, community, and creativity through theories of placemaking, infrastructure, informal practices, everyday resistance, and subtle reworlding, particularly in the Southeast Asian context.

Samantha’s inspiration to pursue a PhD in Social Anthropology is deeply rooted in her lived experiences growing up with limited material resources but within strong, supportive, and inspiring communities. From elders in community housing who fostered care and resilience, to punk kids imagining and creating spaces of belonging amid the erasure of venues and artist hubs, these environments shaped her understanding of the human condition in profound ways. They instilled in her a deep appreciation for the knowledge embedded in everyday life and a desire to bridge the gap between institutional academic knowledge and lived experience. Her research is driven by a commitment to producing critical, accessible work that not only interrogates systems of power and resistance but also brings untold stories into the light with care and integrity.

Seemil Chaudhry is a Toronto/Tkaronto-based visual artist and Ph.D. student in Social Anthropology at York University. Her research explores intergenerational memories, trauma, and heritage preservation in transnational South Asian diasporic contexts. Seemil’s primary research interests are memory studies, arts and culture, diaspora studies, gender and feminism, and history.

Tabitha (she/her) is Chinese-Canadian, and a daughter of immigrants from Hong Kong. She is an interdisciplinarian pursuing her PhD studies in social anthropology. Her previous academic experience includes theology (MDiv), business (MSc, BBA), and food security (Certificate). She brings a wealth of professional experience in both for-profit and non-profit organizations, including food banks, supply chain management, post-secondary administration, and religious programming. Her research interests lie at the intersection of religion (specifically Western Christianity), food security, capitalism, diaspora studies, decolonization, and multimodal ethnography.

Tomée Tzatzanis is a PhD student in Social Anthropology at York University. She holds an Honours BA in Art History and Italian Studies from the University of Toronto, an MSc by Research in Collections and Curating Practices from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in Immigration and Settlement Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University.

Her research interests lie in the intersection of socially engaged art, subaltern practices and migration in Greece. Her previous work has focused on the politicization of migration through graffiti and she plans to continue this research through her PhD journey. Particularly, she is interested in the the production of discourses and counter-discourses on migration in Greece through individual and community participation in subaltern practices.

Tomée chose this program and York University as it is the ideal program to strengthen her interdisciplinary research.

Vedanth Govi is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Department of Socio-Cultural Anthropology, York University. They are interested in tracing how international South Asians students exist within the larger infrastructures of internationalisation and Canadian higher education. They are a Graduate Research Associate at the York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR), Centre for Feminist Studies (CFS) and hold a fellowship from the Centre for Black, Brown and Queer Studies in Baltimore, USA and are also the lead RA on a project funded by the Urban Challenge Grant, School of Cities, University of Toronto.

Yuliya Chorna is a PhD candidate in social anthropology and a graduate student scholar at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research at York University. She has an extensive work experience in the field of global health, including senior leadership positions for not-for-profit NGOs focused on social equity and rights in the fields of Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS. Yuliya’s doctoral research will aim to analyze the social space of global health funding and financing for TB. Her doctoral project involves interviews with a wide range of actors working within the global TB community to learn about their experiences in global TB policy-making circles, especially with regard to resource allocation and its impact on TB care practices. She hopes that knowledge produced by the research can be applied for a better understanding and reforming global health philanthropy and international aid/development for the global TB response and global health.