Black studies | The Harriet Tubman Institute

Muna-Udbi Ali

rebsl — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:27:39 +0000

Dr. Muna-Udbi A. Ali (she/they) is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Environment and Urban Change (EUC), specializing in Black Studies in Geography and Environment, at �첥��Ƶ in Toronto, Canada. Before joining the faculty of EUC, Ali worked as an Assistant Professor at California State University San Marcos, and as a Visiting Faculty member at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. Trained as an interdisciplinary scholar, her primary research covers diverse theoretical foci including Black studies, critical refugee and migration studies, critical race studies, Black feminist studies, Black geographies, transnational feminism, environmental justice, popular education, critical Muslim studies, public policy, critical pedagogy, and higher education studies. She has published several book chapters and scholarly articles in journals including The Black Scholar, Darkmatter, Reconsidering Development, and The Conversation, among others. Outside of academia, Ali is a community worker, curriculum and policy consultant, researcher, and anti-oppression educator. She has designed curricula and policies on gender-based violence, Afrocentric education, and anti-racist praxis. She has worked in education and curriculum development in Canada, United States, Kenya, and Somalia.

Keywords: Black Studies, Black geographies, Black feminist theories and methods, critical refugee studies, higher education studies, critical pedagogy, popular education, environmental justice, public policy, and surveillance studies.

Margaret Ofori Asubonteng

rebsl — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:58:59 +0000

Margaret Ofori Asubonteng is a Black African Human Resource Management with interests in Black studies, labour, equity, law, student engagement, and community development. Her academic and leadership interests explore the intersection of Black lived experiences, institutional systems, social justice, and belonging within educational and professional spaces.

She currently serves as a Student Engagement Assistant in Liberal Arts & Professional studies �첥��Ƶ, where she supports student outreach, programming, and peer connection initiatives. Margaret has also contributed to student transition and leadership programming through York’s Student Leadership and Community Development team and has served as an Outreach Lead for a university case competition.

Her commitment to student engagement and service has been recognized through several honours, including a Certificate of Distinction for Excellence from the Student Community & Leadership Development, the Best College Crew Volunteer Award (2024–2025) from the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and recognition for her commitment to the Human Resources Student Association community. She also recently presented at �첥��Ƶ’s International Student Conference, where she spoke about navigating life as an international student.

Margaret is passionate about advocacy, and community-centered engagement, and she hopes to continue contributing to conversations that affirm the richness, complexity, and diversity of African and diasporic experiences.

Keywords: Black Studies, African Diaspora, Labour, Equity, Social Justice, Student Engagement, Community Development, Law, Belonging, Youth Leadership, International Students

Kai Butterfield

rebsl — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 20:09:52 +0000

Kai Butterfield is an artist, Ontario Certified Teacher, and PhD student in the Department of Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (University of Toronto). Their doctoral research employs hauntology as a methodological approach to assess the ways that antiblackness has shaped restorative justice theory in North America. Hauntology, a methodology that presences the enduring impact of historical harm, illuminates how the spectre of slavery haunts restorative justice theory and appears in schools as the continued subjugation of Black students within restorative justice processes.

Keywords: Restorative Justice, School Discipline, Social Justice Education, Black Studies, Black Canadian Studies, Black Feminisms, Hauntology, Haunting as Methodology

Michelle J. Martineau

rebsl — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 18:55:24 +0000

Michelle is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the Université de Montréal. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Law (Université des Antilles – Guadeloupe) and a Master’s in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations, Cooperation, and Development (Université du Québec à Montréal). Her Master’s research focused on departmentalization and independence in the Guadeloupean context, spanning from 1950 to 1990. Her doctoral project examines identity (both political and cultural) and its impact on Guadeloupe’s political future in a post-colonial setting. Specifically, she aims to deconstruct the notion of departmentalization, illustrating how epistemic violence has influenced the construction of political and cultural identity in the archipelago. She was the student representative for CRIDAQ (2021-2023) and received scholarships from CRIDAQ as well as the CÉRIUM writing grant (winter 2023). She is the founder of the blog identitescaraibes.org and a columnist for NéoQuébec.

Keywords: Colonization, decolonization, postcolonial and decolonial theories, race, ethnicity, identity, citizenship, assimilation, universalism, France, nationalism, Caribbean geopolitics, regional Caribbean governance, international relations, political violence, (De)colonial feminism, Black studies

Tracelyn Cornelius

rebsl — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 20:18:34 +0000

Tracelyn Cornelius is a doctoral candidate in the Sustainability Management program and a graduate of the Master of Environment and Business (MEB) program at the University of Waterloo. Her research primarily focuses on knowledge mobilization and issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Tracelyn's scholarly contributions involve the development of evidence-based frameworks for assessing knowledge mobilization and the formulation of processes that integrate EDI accountability within knowledge mobilization initiatives. Beyond her academic pursuits, Tracelyn serves as a Special Lecturer of Black Studies at the University of Waterloo. She also holds a part-time position as a Professor at Conestoga College, where she teaches courses such as sustainability operations, sustainability management, sustainable business plan, change management and facilitation, sustainable leadership, and supervisory and leadership practices. With over two decades of professional experience in Communications, Tracelyn is also the Director of Inclusive Communications in University Relations at the University of Waterloo. Her multidimensional engagement in academia, coupled with her professional expertise, underscores her commitment to bridging theoretical and practical aspects of sustainability and inclusive communications. Notably, Tracelyn's contributions have been recognized through her nomination for the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Woman of the Year Professional over 40 award, a testament to her impactful presence and achievements in her field.

Ola Mohammed

rebsl — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 19:29:22 +0000

Ola Mohammed is an Assistant Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Humanities Department at �첥��Ƶ. Her research is in the areas of Black Studies, Black Popular Music, Sound Studies and Diaspora Studies. She specializes in interdisciplinary research exploring Black cultural production, Black social life and Black being as sites of possibility.