Carolina Gallo Garcia and Kristine Dizon are the latest Concordia recipients of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship.
The Banting fellowship is one of the most prestigious academic awards by the Government of Canada. The fellowship seeks to support and promote the work of the finest researchers in their given fields, both nationally and internationally. Banting fellows receive $70,000 annually for two years.
Migrant women and entrepreneurship
Garcia is a postdoctoral fellow at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, supervised by professor Gada Mahrouse. Garcia will be investigating the complex relationship between immigration, entrepreneurship and citizenship among migrant women in Canada.
She aims to understand how migrant women shape their sense of belonging and citizenship through entrepreneurship.
Garcia's research defines "good citizenship" in Canada beyond legal frameworks, exploring how active participation in entrepreneurship contributes to being seen as a model citizen. By analyzing policy discourse and interviewing migrant women entrepreneurs, she says she hopes to uncover how social positions intersect to influence integration and identity formation.
While entrepreneurship can empower, it also perpetuates inequalities by individualizing systemic issues, she emphasizes.
"Entrepreneurial values often depict success as solely determined by individual choices. In reality, a multitude of social factors come together to either facilitate or hinder one's success."
Using an intersectional lens, she examines how factors like gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status shape opportunities for migrant women in entrepreneurship and integration. Her research aims to inform policy-makers and non-governmental organizations, highlighting the nuances of immigrant entrepreneurship and advocating for a more inclusive immigration system.
Her work underscores the need for structural change and a nuanced understanding of citizenship and entrepreneurship to foster inclusivity and equity in society.
New ways of listening to poetry and music
Dizon is a musician and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of English, supervised by professor Jason Camlot. Her research examines the emotions, meanings and cultural reflections that spoken poetry and music evoke, particularly in the contexts of race and identity.
She hopes to develop decolonizing listening methodologies that seek to challenge and expand the traditional ways audiences engage with sound. She will be analyzing both historical and contemporary poetic-musical works, conducting artist interviews and developing educational tools aimed at fostering reflective listening. In doing so, Dizon says she hopes to engage audiences in dialogues that enhance cultural awareness and promote a deeper understanding of complex social themes.
Traditional views often separate text and music, but Dizon's research highlights their interdependence and the profound impact this fusion can have on conveying complex social and cultural narratives. "Taking sound or music to elevate the meaning of words," as Dizon puts it, plays a crucial role in her study as she investigates the power of these artistic combinations.
Dizon plans to create a scholarly monograph detailing the cultural history of these performances. The monograph will be complemented by recordings and community performances designed to broaden public engagement with her findings.
"I want to shed light and educate people on issues in a way that makes people actually want to listen."
Learn more about Concordia's Simone de Beauvoir Institute and the Department of English.
