Two educators led a conversation on learning and unlearning the theoretical, practical, and intersectionality of LGBTQ2+ during the third in Niagara University in Ontario’s Critical Conversation Series. The session was presented on July 28 via Zoom.
Moderated by Dr. Patricia Briscoe, associate professor in the College of Education’s leadership department, panelists Lindsay Cavanaugh and Jenny Kassen offered their ideas and experiences on how to create safer and more accepting schools, communities, and societies for 2SLGBTQ2+
Cavanaugh is a cisgender queer femme chronically-ill white settler educator, researcher, and poet, with Irish, British, and French ancestry. Currently, she lives and works on Dish with One Spoon Land in Tkaranto as a Ph.D. candidate in curriculum and pedagogy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Cavanaugh researches educational futurities with femme youth and educators. She grew up on the traditional lands of the Chippewas of the Thames, Oneida Nation of the Thames, and Munsee Delware Nation and has lived on the territories of Esquimalt, Songhees, Tsawout, W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip), Pauquachin, MÁLEXEŁ (Malahat), and Tseycum First Nations as well as on the lands of North Spirit First Nation. She has worked as a high school teacher with the Victoria District School Board, Maria Montessori Academy, and Keewaytinook Okimakanak School Board, as well as with a number of organizations, such as the ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives, Victoria Pride Society’s Youth Leadership Council, The University of Victoria’s Centre for Accessible Learning, BC’s Ministry of Advanced Education, and Royal BC Museum. Cavanaugh is passionate about critical and compassionate antioppressive teaching that is trauma-informed.
Kassen is a white, nonbinary educator and researcher based in London, Ontario, on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples. Kassen is a Ph.D. candidate at the Faculty of Education at the Western University and their research focuses on the experience of trans and gender diverse youth accessing mental health support in Ontario secondary schools. In addition to this work, Kassen is a sessional instructor in Western’s Teacher Education program, a secondary school teacher focusing on Alternative Education, and an illustrator specializing in translating research findings into visual narratives.
The final conversation in the series, Minoritized Parents in Education, will take place 3:30-4:45 p.m. and on Wednesday, Aug. 11.