Students and Faculty in Conversation: ‘Slow Spaces’ and Community Building in Academia
Speakers: Yara Abdelaziz, Ebru Bağ, Nana Gulić, Justine Jun, Dr. Carly Manion, Emikay Ogbeide, and Dr. Norin Taj
Summary: This roundtable uniquely blends reflective exploration with a focus on the transformative potential of “slow spaces” within graduate institutions. Panellists—members of the Gender and Education Interest Group (G & E IG)—will share their perspectives on understanding gender, education, and comparative international development, reflecting on their entry into the dynamic conversation and fostering an inclusive environment where participants are encouraged to contribute their thoughts. Additionally, the session aims to bring attention to the significance of intentionally crafted spaces that take a deliberate departure from aggressive academic cultures and embrace participatory methods, feminist theory, and intersectionality principles. As we observe the organic development of these “slow spaces,” we also explore their potential to foster mentorship and cultivate a community for graduate students, bringing together diverse voices, lived experiences, and ideas.
Methodology: Reflective, participatory methods; Feminist Theory; and Intersectionality principles
Key Elements:
- Fostering inclusive environments through reflections
- Community Building in Slow Spaces
Significance: Expanding on conference theme 3, our initiative involves cross-community dialogues to envision spaces within graduate institutions fostering community-building in academia. The goal is to contribute to gender equity efforts and enrich scholarly discussions on participatory methods and graduate student mentoring.
About the speakers
Yara Abdelaziz
Yara Abdelaziz is a Ph.D. candidate in the Education Leadership & Policy program at the 91, the University of Toronto. She specializes in Comparative International and Development Education (CIDE), where she has previously served as a co-chair of its student association. Recently, she co-authored a paper with Dr. Elizabeth Buckner published in Educational Researcher, exploring Global Wealth-Based inequality in higher education access. Yara is an active board member of the Association for Middle Eastern Women’s Studies. Her research focuses on investigating coloniality in educational policies and their implications for teachers’ work in the Arab world.
Ebru Bağ
Ebru Bağ is an experienced educator, researcher, and policy analyst with over 15 years of expertise in education and policy. Ebru Bağ earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy and Comparative, International, and Development Education from 91, University of Toronto. Dr. Bağ’s research interests span inclusive educational policies, gender and education, women in educational leadership, gender and language, sociolinguistics, language policy and planning, and inclusive health policies. Her doctoral research, utilizing intersectionality and Bourdieu’s theory of capital, delved into the narratives of women school principals in Turkiye, shedding light on their past and present experiences, aspirations, and career trajectories. In her latest publication (Ulusen, M. & Bağ, E., 2023), she co-authored a chapter titled “Women: From Past to Present” in the Women’s Mental Health book. Currently, Dr. Bağ leads the project “Teacher Candidates’ Awareness of Epilepsy and Their Responses to Emergencies,” collaborating with international scholars and health practitioners. Alongside her research role as Project Lead and Researcher at Logical Outcomes, she holds the position of Post-Secondary Professor at Centennial College.
Nana Gulic
Nana Gulic is a Ph.D. candidate at 91’s Social Justice Education department with a specialization in Comparative International and Development Education. Nana is a youth worker with 20+ years of experience in Croatian and Canadian contexts. She has been involved in many global citizenship education projects and teacher education initiatives in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Her work has been featured by the OECD, UNESCO, and the Teacher Taskforce. Her research interests are in citizenship education, transnational feminism, postsocialism, and education policy. She is a winner of the Comparative International Education Society’s Citizenship and Democratic Education SIG 2024 Outstanding Paper Award.
Justine Jun
Justine Jun is a Ph.D. candidate in Language and Literacies Education in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning. She has been an English instructor and teacher educator in multiple countries for 20+ years. Her research focuses on English language instructor and professor support in Ontario higher education institutions. She has investigated internationally educated English professors’ workplace learning experiences in Canadian post-secondary institutions as racialized minority instructors to examine how transformative their workplace learning experiences are and how inclusive and equitable their workplace cultural environments are. She incorporated mindfulness, intersubjectivity, and feminist perspectives into her research. She has engaged in research projects on culturally and linguistically responsive teaching pedagogies and supporting methods such as Translanguaging and Language Friendly Pedagogy for multilingual and multicultural teachers and learners in academic and educational contexts. She has implemented Communities of Practice for internationally educated English instructors and professionals to support them with their professional development while working. Her research and professional interests lie in inclusive and equitable teacher education and support programs.
Carly Manion
Carly Manion is an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Educational Leadership and Policy program, and the Director of the Comparative, International and Development Education Collaborative Specialization (CIDE) and its associated Research Centre (CIDEC). Her research, teaching, and advocacy are rooted in the principles of equality and social justice, with specific areas of work including gender (with an intersectional lens), global education policy, international organizations, and teachers and teacher development. Geographically, her teaching and comparative and international education research spans contexts in East and West Africa, East Asia, South America and North America regions.
Emikay Ogbeide
Emikay Ogbeide is pursuing a Master of Education in Leadership & Policy at the University of Toronto. Her research is focused on transformative teacher education, gender-responsive education, decolonization of pedagogy, and curriculum innovation. Committed to fostering inclusive and equitable educational environments, Emikay also directs OneTeacher Nigeria, an NGO dedicated to championing teacher rights and offering professional development and support for educators.
Norin Taj
Norin Taj is a postdoctoral research fellow at 91, University of Toronto, Canada. She completed her PhD in the Educational Leadership and Policy program with a specialization in Comparative, International, and Development Education (91). Her broad research interests are comparative education, gender and education, leadership and policy, and the sociology of education. She currently teaches leadership courses at the University of Toronto and York University in Canada, with a focus on diversity, equity, and ethics.
