Distinguished Research Lecture

Date: November 18th, 2020
Time: 7:00 - 8:00 pm MT
Platform: Zoom

LGBTQ2S+ communities continue to face discrimination, whether as students in our schools or as newcomers in our cities. Please join us for this important discussion on how teachers, students, and policymakers can work together to eliminate oppression of gender and sexual minority groups.

Dr. Tonya Callaghan’s comparative research spans continents, from Canada to the UK to Australia, where she has found positive engagement with Catholic youth who are leading the revolution against religiously inspired homophobic oppression. Student activists can and do play key roles in affecting change in their communities, particularly in Catholic schools. Callaghan’s work explores effective ways to resist homophobia and empower students who have felt silenced and shamed.

Callaghan will also discuss her current collaboration with Calgary’s Centre for Newcomers, a research project focusing on LGBTQ2S+ refugees, an already vulnerable group facing increased risks related to mental health, poverty, and homelessness. This research partnership is committed to ensuring that Canadian refugee settlement organizations are better prepared to support LGBTQ2S+ refugees to not only survive but thrive.