Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the Graduate and Postdoctoral Research Grant. In its inaugural year, $7,750 was awarded to provide support for interdisciplinary, innovative and/or experimental public humanities graduate and postdoctoral research projects, imagined broadly.
Caroline Barnes, PhD Student, Department of Ancient Mediterranean & Near Eastern Studies (AMNE), Faculty of Arts.
Title: From Stones to Stories: a trilingual zine about building techniques in Late Bronze Age Cyprus
Abstract: Our project publishes a multilingual ‘zine’ (a small-format magazine), that shares findings from a two-year study of Late Bronze Age masonry and building techniques on the island of Cyprus. In a contemporary landscape of post-colonial rule and the physical division of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, our zine combines visual storytelling and multilingual text to make archaeological findings relevant and understandable, while contributing to a broader, on-going peace movement in Cyprus. By their very nature, zines are local, non-commercial publications rooted in social justice; they diverge from mainstream power structures and traditional hierarchies of communication. Easily readable and accessible, they challenge top-down methodologies especially prevalent in archaeology, which often prioritize the histories of elites over the experiences of ordinary people. While grounded in the scientific rigor of our archaeological study, the zine emphasizes an empathetic approach that recognizes ancient masons not as mere executors of elite demands but as active agents shaping their local worlds. By using art to convey this human dimension through colorful depictions and storytelling, the zine connects readers across the island and across millennia, creating community between ancient masons, the artist, and the reader.
Rafael Capó, PhD Student, Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy (EDCP), Faculty of Education.
Title: Detour: Imaginando futuros viequenses
Abstract: Detours are public history walking tours that critically explore heritage and local histories through decolonial lens. This project is a collaboration between Memoria Decolonial, a non-profit public humanities organization which I direct, and the Historical Archive of Vieques, which is based on the island municipality of Vieques. Building off my previous work with Memoria Decolonial, this detour brings together residents to narrate Vieques from place using participatory methodologies and tell the stories that the whitewashed tourism sector usually avoids. Our main audience are students, but the project will also target locals and tourists, and problematize the relationship between Vieques, an internal colony of Puerto Rico, an external colony of the United States.
Daniel Gallardo, PhD Student, Department of Educational Studies (EDST), Faculty of Education.
Title: Dragging education to imagine otherwise: cultivating decolonial learning environments for Indigenous queer belonging
Abstract: My doctoral research contributes to the emerging field of Indigenous-informed sexual orientation and gender identity scholarship as it proposes to interrogate heteropatriarchal and colonial assumptions of gender binaries performed within the normative culture and context of education in Mexico. It involves examining the ideological leverage of settler-colonialism and its impacts on race, sexuality and gender in education. The purpose of this research is to engage with educators and community leaders who partake in the art of drag to create brave spaces for the exploration of identity among 2S/LGBTQ+ youth in Mexico. The research described begins with the question, how can the art of drag inside educational spaces cultivate a sense of belonging for 2S/LGBTQ+ youth? The focus of my doctoral work is to support community organizations in Mexico that are creating equitable, diverse and inclusive learning environments for 2S/LGBTQ+ youth. It works to develop and facilitate programs that support educators recognize the relationships between sexual orientation, gender identity, racialization, and settler colonialism through drag pedagogy. It collaborates with these public organizations to develop, test and inform curricular practices and educational tools that positively affect the well-being of those who regularly experience gender-based violence especially 2SQT BIPOC people.
Laen Hershler, PhD Student, Department of Language & Literacy Education (LLED), Faculty of Education.
Title: Memory in Motion: Exploring Holocaust Survivor Reflections through Performative Inquiry
Abstract: Memory in-Motion is a community-engaged, Research-Based Theater (RbT) initiative building on REMNANTS, a play developed from psychologist Hank Greenspan’s decades of conversations with Holocaust survivors in Michigan and Ohio. Greenspan’s unique approach (2010; 2019) emphasizes deep, ongoing relationships over one-time testimonies, capturing both wartime trauma and survivors’ evolving reflections on postwar life. With the support of Dr. Greenspan, this doctoral project adapts his work into a pedagogical performance, enabling Jewish actors to explore survivor narratives as a foundation for engaging with contemporary Jewish identity and community challenges. In June 2025, with guidance from a director, I will lead an immersive exploration of six survivor monologues with five Jewish actors, including myself. Through performative inquiry (Fels, 2012), each actor will deeply engage with themes like dehumanization, loneliness, and reclaiming agency, drawing from both the characters’ perspectives and personal responses. This iterative, reflective approach, grounded in a performative paradigm (Haseman, 2006; Bolt, 2016; Østern et al., 2023), re-envisions RbT as a dynamic process of meaning-making rather than a static portrayal of historical testimony.