The Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) recognizes the importance of postdoctoral training as a critical stage of academics’ professional training.  In 2020 we created the LA&PS Postdoctoral Fellowships Program to respond to this need. The Program is now in its third year, and we will launch this year’s call shortly. 

“Many of our faculty have held postdoctoral fellowships prior to their appointment as full-time. It is usually a period where junior researchers begin to develop more fully independent research programs and to move from their doctoral projects to a wider range of research interests and activities” said Ravi de Costa, Associate Dean Research and Graduate in LA&PS.  He further added; “It is a time where they can concentrate on their research, with few obligations to teach or to do academic service. It really is a very valuable time and we have been exceptionally lucky with the quality of Fellows we have been able to attract to the Faculty.” 

LA&PS Postdoctoral Fellows receive one year of funding to conduct their proposed research under the guidance of a faculty supervisor. Each of them is paid $50,000 over the academic year. Our current Postdoctoral Fellows are: 

Dr. Teddy Atim holds a PhD from Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands. Atim is supervised by Professor Annie Bunting from the Department of Social Science and her project is titled “The legacies for wartime sexual violence in northern Uganda: Social reintegration of women survivors and children born of war in northern Uganda”. 

Dr. Patrick Owuor completed his PhD from the Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Illinois. Owour is working with Professor Denielle Elliot from the Department of Social Science on the project titled “An ethnographic study of human bio-banking in clinical trials in Eastern Africa”.  

Dr. Kael Reid is an instructor of Children, Childhood & Youth Studies at York University, Faculty of LA&PS. Reid also holds a PhD from Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. She is supervised by Professor Andrea Emberly from the Department of Humanities. Dr. Reid’s project is titled “Teaching my Story in my Voice”. 

Dr. Alicia Christina Edwards received a PhD in Gothic Studies from Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester UK. Dr. Edwards is supervised by Professor Markus Reisenleitner from the Department of Humanities. Her project is titled “Re-locating Canada’s Black Canadian Geographies and Heritage through Folk Monsters, Hauntings, Legend, and Horror.” 

Dr. Blair Fix holds a PhD in Environmental Studies from York University. Dr. Fix is working with Professor Jonathan Nitzan from the Department of Politics. His project title is “Does Hierarchy Drive Income Inequality?” 

Dr. Gerson Scheidweiler holds a PhD in Communication from the University of Brasilia. Dr. Scheidweiler is supervised by Professor Yvonne Su from the Department of Equity Studies. The project is titled “Gendering Migration Policies: An Intersectional Response to Venezuelan Women Refugees in Brazil”. 

LA&PS Postdoctoral Fellows are a vital part of York University’s research community and make critical contributions to York’s strategic priorities and its goal of research intensification.  The Fellowship opportunity will help them demonstrate their status as emerging research leaders in their fields through the impact they have on York’s research centres and programs, and on national and international academic communities.