Dr. Kael Reid (they/she) is a Postdoctoral researcher at York University in Children, Childhood, and Youth Studies in the Department of Humanities. The title of their research project is called, "Teaching my Story in my Voice: Using songwriting and recording with refugee children to develop culturally relevant resources for Ontario service providers and educators."

Conducting arts-based research with newcomer and refugee children and young people with a particular focus on storytelling, songwriting, singing, and recording, Reid is co-applicant on three funded projects, including the SSHRC Race, Gender, and Diversity Initiative competition funded project “Singing our stories: Networking community musical practices with refugee and newcomer children and young people”. Partnering with several community organizations across the GTA, these projects mobilize the knowledge and voices of newcomer and refugee children and young people to teach others about their lives and activate social change.

“Through these collaborative, participatory research projects, children and youth participants build networks, articulate their perspectives, express musical agency, and amplify their voices through art and song. What is also exciting about these projects is that we work with young people to use their creative outputs and songs to teach others about their lived experiences and what’s important to them,” says Reid.

Other projects Dr. Reid is a co-collaborator on are: “Singing my story: Building capacity with newcomer youth through songwriting, recording, and creative arts-based pedagogies” (Child and Youth Refugee Research Coalition); and “Singing our stories together: Supporting community-based music programs for equity-seeking young people through creative arts-based pedagogies” (Helen Carswell Chair in Community-Engaged Research in the Arts).

Dr. Reid also teaches undergraduate courses in Children, Childhood, and Youth Studies at York, and engages in community work by delivering concerts, presentations, workshops, and keynotes for public schools, teachers federations, and other service providers.

Connect with Dr. Kael Reid to learn more about their work at katereid@yorku.ca.