Past Events

You are invited to the launch of Soma Chatterjee’s new book, Skills to Build the Nation: Immigrant Labour Market and Canadian Nationalism (University of Toronto Press). Soma will be in conversation with York University faculty Shirin Shahrokni (Sociology), Lalaie Ameeriar (Anthropology) and Ethel Tungohan (Politics). Refreshments (Lebanese and Indian) will be served.

Click here to register.

Date: Thursday, March 12, 2026
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Venue: Another Story Bookshop
315 Roncesvalles Ave.
Toronto, ON
Canada M6R 2M6

This event is endorsed by the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, the Global Labour Research Centre, and the York Centre for Asian Research.

This is the inaugural event for of International Higher Education: Ethics, Politics, and Labour research cluster. More information about the cluster's research goals can be found here: https://www.yorku.ca/research/robarts/international-higher-education-ethics-politics-labour/.

Imagining Canada through Heated Rivalry: a queer of colour perspective

Wednesday March 11, 2026,1:00 – 2:00 pm EST | Register here

Speaker: Dr. John Paul (JP) Catungal, Assistant Professor, Social Justice Institute, University of British Columbia

Description

In this talk, I examine the ascendance of the TV series Heated Rivalry (HR) into a global phenomenon. I focus in particular on the work that Canadian national imaginaries do within the show’s internal universe and through its circulation in popular media and public discourse. I argue that the relatively easy integration of HR into national mythmaking needs to be understood within the longer history of the use of queerness for Canadian geopolitical self-positioning. Such homonationalist integration has limits, ones that can be gleaned from the show’s own narrative, if one looks closely. Engaging a queer of colour perspective, I highlight how Heated Rivalry‘s narrative socio-spatialities – especially the ice, the cottage and the international stage – shine light on key racial, gendered and sexual anxieties that haunt the making of Canada as a nation.

This talk will be moderated by Minelle Mahtani, Associate Professor and Chair of Canadian Studies at the University of British Columbia.

Speaker biography

Dr. John Paul (JP) Catungal (he/him) is Co-Director of the Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement and Assistant Professor in Social Justice Institute at the University of British Columbia. His scholarship generally concerns the community organizing and cultural production efforts of migrant, racialized and LGBTQ+ communities He has been especially active in the development of Filipinx Canadian studies: he co-edited Filipinos in Canada: Disturbing Invisibility (2012, University of Toronto) and the latest BC Studies special issue titled “Filipino Canadian studies in, on and through British Columbia”. He is also designer and author of the Heated Rivalry syllabus, available here. He received the UBC Killam Teaching Prize in 2025.

This “What is Happening in Canada?” event is a collaboration with the UBC Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement and the UBC Canadian Studies Program.

What is ‘public’ about public transportation? The question of accessibility

27 February 2026, 10:00 - 11:30 am EST | Register Here

Although ‘the public’ in public transportation is rarely defined or interrogated, discourses about public transportation are shot through with assumptions about public space, public goods, and public life. Who is the ‘public’ of public transportation? To what extent do existing public transportation offerings provide universal, accessible, sustainable, and democratic urban mobility?

In this panel, researchers from different disciplines whose work is grounded in questions of dis/ability share some of their research and thoughts on how we should frame and explore accessibility in public transportation as a question of urban politics.

Speakers

• Ron Buliung, Geography, University of Toronto
• Mahtot Gebresselassie, EUC, York University
• Aimi Hamraie, Social Science, York University
• Commentary from James Perttula, Director of Transportation Planning, City of Toronto

This event is organized by the CIVIS research cluster at the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and co-sponsored by the CITY Institute. The event will be supported with live captioning. Please contact robarts@yorku.ca for any access needs.

Robarts-CYPIRN Connects: Ethics in Research with Children and Young People
26 February 2026 | 11:30 am - 1:00 pm EST | Register Here

Are you conducting research with children and/or youth? Are you interested in learning more about research ethics with these populations?

Our speakers bring a range of research experience to this panel and will be sharing some of their encounters with ethical issues and dilemmas in their research projects with young people. Join us online for thought-provoking presentations followed by an open discussion with the speakers.

Speakers: 

• Dr. Stephanie Fearon, Faculty of Education, York University
• Dr. Abigail Shabtay, Children, Childhood & Youth Studies, York University
• Dr. Julia Sinclair-Palm, Faculty of Education, The University of British Columbia
• Dr. Kael Reid, Children, Childhood & Youth Studies, York University

The Politics of Academic Voice in Canadian Immigration Debates

A "What is Happening in Canada?" Event

With Dr. Jennifer Elrick, Associate Professor, Sociology, Research Chair in Multiculturalism, McGill University

Wednesday February 18, 2026 | 1:00 - 2:00 pm EST | Register Here

What role should scholars play in public debates on political issues? The history of sociological theory offers two diametrically opposed visions. One sees the scholar as a neutral figure who pursues knowledge for its own sake and refrains from engaging in debates about its practical or political implications. The other sees the scholar as fundamentally embedded in the unequal social worlds they study, making neutrality impossible and political activism a valid component of professional duties. This talk considers the challenges faced by scholars on both sides of this spectrum in the context of increasingly polarized debates about immigration in Canada. In doing so, it provides the academic “backstory” to my forthcoming, co-authored book, Immigration and Canada: Sixteen Questions (MQUP).

This talk will be moderated by Daniel Béland, Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and James McGill Professor at the Department of Political Science at McGill.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Jennifer Elrick (she/her) is Associate Professor of Sociology at McGill University, where she also holds the Research Chair in Multiculturalism. Her research focuses broadly on how migration governance creates and perpetuates gender, racial/ethnic, and/or class inequalities, and how these affect both newcomers and receiving societies. While most of her work focuses on institutions, her most recent, SSHRC-funded project looks at public perceptions of the different immigrant groups that are defined by immigration policy. Her first book - Making Middle-Class Multiculturalism: Immigration Bureaucrats and Policymaking in Postwar Canada- was published in 2021 by University of Toronto Press. Her forthcoming book - Immigration and Canada: 16 Questions - draws on the latest research to provide readers with a comprehensive and accessible overview of Canada’s immigration system and its effects on immigrants and Canadian society. This compact “explainer” is co-authored with Mireille Paquet (Concordia University) and will be available soon as part of the Canadian Essentials series at McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Emerging Scholars Roundtable (CYPIRN)

30 January 2026 | 11:30 - 1:00 pm | 7th Floor, Kaneff Tower

Please join us for an interesting and varied panel by emerging scholars who conduct research that focuses on children and young people. All of the presenters are currently engaged in graduate-level research (MA, M.Ed., and PhD) here at York University. A discussion will follow the presentations and refreshments will be served.

Come and learn about important research projects and network with some of York's emerging scholars!

This event is co-hosted by the Children and Young People Interdisciplinary Research Network (CYPIRN) and the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies.

100 Years of Labour Migration and Race in Atlantic Canada

A "What is Happening in Canada?" Event

With Dr. Claudine Bonner, Associate Professor, Mount Allison University

Wednesday, January 28, 2026 | 10:00 am - 11:00 am EST | Register Here

This paper examines migrant worker experiences in Atlantic Canada and situates them within Canada’s national temporary labour regime. Drawing on the 2024 Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative’s report, Falling Short: Troubles with the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program in Nova Scotia, as well as on national scholarship on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, it argues that Atlantic Canada exemplifies dominant regulatory logics relative to migrant labour. Here, despite smaller scale and lower visibility, migrant workers face employer-tied permits, employer-controlled housing, restricted mobility, and limited access to healthcare. The paper contrasts contemporary experiences with that of Caribbean industrial migration to Nova Scotia in the 1920s, highlighting how settlement has been systematically foreclosed, especially to those in low-wage sectors.

This talk will be moderated by Krista Johnston, Associate Professor in Feminist & Gender Studies and Canadian Studies at Mount Allison University.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Claudine Bonner (she/her) is an Associate Professor of racial justice and African Diaspora migration in the Atlantic region. Her teaching focuses on issues of equity and racial justice. She served as the inaugural Vice Provost of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Acadia University.

Her forthcoming publication, The Black Press: A Shadowed Canadian Tradition, is a collection of essays co-edited with Drs. Nina Reid-Maroney and Boulou Ebanda de B bèri. This collection, spanning the period from the 1850s to the early twentieth century, is the first in the field to bring together original historical and Communication Studies research that position pioneering Canadian Black journalists as effective intellectual activists. Her current research explores early twentieth century African-Caribbean and Canadian migration networks, inserting Nova Scotia into the discussion as more than simply a point of transit as has often been suggested.

Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies 2026 Council of Members

21 January 2026 | 2:00 - 2:30 pm EST | Register Here

The Robarts Centre invites you to the annual Council of Members to learn more about ongoing and future activities. The session will feature a short presentation from Robarts Centre Director, Jean Michel Montsion, followed by a Q&A discussion. The Council of Members will be chaired by Robarts Faculty Associate, Laura Kwak (Associate Professor, Sociology York University).

Afterwards, join us for a research conversation with Aysha Campbell (MA in Humanities): Scarborough Through the Lens of Sound and Literature. Aysha was awarded the Leslie Sanders Prize and Canadian Studies Network Prize for her contributions to advancing critical Canadian Studies. The discussion will be moderated by Ola Mohammad (Assistant Professor, Humanities, York University)

Questions? Email robarts@yorku.ca.

Scarborough through the Lens of Sound and Literature - A Conversation with Aysha Campbell

21 January 2026 | 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm EST | Register Here

Join the Robarts Centre and the CITY Institute for a generative presentation and discussion with Aysha Campbell (MA in Humanities) about her award-winning major research project, Scarborough through the Lens of Sound and Literature. Her work investigates the intersections of race, space and sound through Scarborough literature. She will discuss her textual and cultural analysis of Scarborough literature to explore the ways in which sound is used to regulate and marginalize Scarborough and its residents, but also how residents use countersounds to challenge and undermine said governance and subjugation.

This conversation will be moderated by Dr. Ola Mohammed (Assistant Professor, Humanities, York University).

About the Speaker

Aysha Campbell is a recent Master of Arts in Humanities graduate from York University. She is the recipient of the Robarts Centre’s 2024 Leslie Sanders Prize for the Study of Canada, and was awarded the 2024 Canadian Studies Network Best MA Thesis/MRP in Canadian Studies. She is also a recipient of the Blishen-Richmond Award in Sociology (2021-2022), Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (DARE) (2021), the York University Continuing Student Scholarship (2019-2020), Sayre Award for Best Undergraduate Research, and the Humanities Education and Research Association (HERA) Undergraduate Research Prize (2020).

On Disability Arts & Culture

A 'What is Happening in Canada?" Event

With Dr. Emilia Nielsen, Associate Professor, Health & Society, York University

Tuesday December 9, 2025 | 12:00 - 1:00 pm EST | Register Here

Disability arts and culture constitute a vibrant force in Canada with recent examples of this generativity emblematic of a commitment to make creative worlds for disability and disabled people—in the past, in the present and in the future. This presentation will be less of a lecture and more of an invitation to explore together the rich cultural landscape of disability arts and culture in Canada with specific attention paid to just a few of the great many artists, creators, and organizations at work today. It could be argued there is still much to do to reimagine the place of disability arts and culture within critical, interdisciplinary studies of Canada. As such, there are opportunities to envisage collaborative research projects that incorporate a critical disability studies framework when engaging with Canadian disability arts and culture.

This talk will be moderated by Jean Michel Montsion, Associate Professor in Canadian Studies at Glendon Campus (York University) and Director of the Robarts Centre.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Emilia Nielsen is an associate professor in the Health and Society program at York University. She is the author of two critically noted collections of poetry, Body Work and Surge Narrows, and her scholarly book, Disrupting Breast Cancer Narratives: Stories of Rage and Repair (University of Toronto Press, 2019), received the Elli Köngäs-Maranda Prize. Her most recent funded research explores experiential knowledge of chronic illness, hybrid forms of life-writing, and critical-creative approaches. She hosts and executive produces the podcast “On Being Ill”: Conversations on Creativity, Disability and Identity with support from the Creative Entanglement Collaboratory.

The Borealis Research Cluster at the Robarts Centre invites you to the Northern Studies Symposium 2025. Join us for a glimpse into the Arctic as students share their amazing research being conducted in the North.

Date: December 4, 2025
Time: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location: HNES 140

To RSVP, click here: https://forms.gle/uD3GpsnghCUySSiG8

Thursday, November 27 | 1:00 - 2:00 pm EST on Zoom | Register Here

Join the Robarts Centre and the Centre for Feminist Research for a virtual conversation about navigating the postdoc application process. After a brief information session on such applications, current postdocs at York University will share their insights and experiences.

This event will be moderated by Jessica Parish, Assistant Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University.

Speakers

Kim McIntyre
Postdoctoral Services & Professional Skills Coordinator, Faculty of Graduate Studies

Ashlee Christoffersen
Adjunct Professor, Department of Politics and Associate, Centre for Feminist Research

Hazal Goktas
Postdoctoral Visitor, 2SLGBTQ+ Poverty in Canada: Improving Livelihood and Social Wellbeing Project, York University

Alexandra Mourgou
MITACS Elevate Postdoctoral Fellow, York University, Dept. of History