Each academic year, the JHI sponsors interdisciplinary Working Groups composed of graduate students and faculty who conduct research or engage in other scholarly exchange. To learn more about each group, click on the title of the group. To request to join a group, email the group lead(s) linked in the list. You can also find out about groups from previous years on the Working Groups Archives page.
Current Working Groups
The groups and leads for 2026-27 are:
AI and the Future of Scientific Knowledge: Ethics, Power, Security & Geopolitics (new)
- Sergio Montero, Associate Professor, Department of Human Geography and Director, Institute of Inclusive Economies and Sustainable Livelihoods (IIESL), UTSC
- Julian Prieto, Seasonal Lecturer, and postdoctoral researcher OISE, and Department of Human Geography, UTSC
- Christine Weidenslaufer, PhD Student, OISE
Animals, Science, Law and History: Canadian & Global Contexts (new)
- Mark Solovey, Professor, Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST)
Asexuality and Aromanticism Studies (renewal)
- Liza Blake, UTM English & Drama
- Theo Northcraft, PhD Student, English/Sexual Diversity Studies
Bridging Theories of Anti-Zionism (new)
- Melissa Levin, Assistant Professor, African Studies and New College
Circulating Italian Theory and Feminisms in a Global Context (new)
- Paolo Frascà, Assistant Professor, ISPLAS and Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies
- Teresa Valentini, FAS Postdoctoral Fellow, ISPLAS
Critical Animal Studies (new)
- James Cahill, Associate Professor, Cinema Studies/French
- Naisargi N. Davé, Professor, Anthropology
- Parth Pant, PhD Student, Cinema Studies
From the Horn to the Caribbean Basin: Black Geographies of Anti-Imperialism, Extractivism, and Land (new)
- Nisrin Elamin, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology and African Studies Centre, UTSG
- Rachel Goffe, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Geography, UTSC
Gestures (renewal)
- Tia Glista, PhD Candidate, English
- Kass Banning, Associate Professor, Cinema Studies
Habermas and the 21st Century Public Sphere (new)
- Fernando Calderón Figueroa, Assistant Professor, Human Geography UTM
- Zach Richer, Associate Professor, Sociology UTM
- Daniel Silver, Professor, Sociology UTM
Hong Kong-Canada Connections (renewal)
- Ting Guo, Assistant Professor, Language Studies UTSC
- Bernice Hoi Ching Cheung, PhD Candidate, Music
- Maria Lau, Director, Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library
- Mitchell Ma, PhD Candidate, Anthropology UTM
- Chris Song, Assistant Professor, Language Studies UTSC
Infrastructure’s Environments (renewal)
- Ultan Byrne, Postdoctoral Fellow, Daniels Faculty
- Katie Filek, PhD Candidate, Daniels Faculty
- Yara Saqfalhait, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
- Claire Zimmerman, John M. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design
Medieval World Drama (renewal)
- Matthew Sergi, English
Queer & Trans Negativity (renewal)
- Kanika Lawton, Ph.D. cand., Cinema Studies/Sexual Diversity Studies
- Jas Rault, Department of Arts, Culture and Media UTSC
- Avneet Sharma, Ph.D. student, Cinema Studies/Sexual Diversity Studies
Situated Ethics: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue on Ethnographic Research (new)
- Sanniah Jabeen, Graduate Student, Art History
- Katharine Rankin, Professor, Geography and Planning
Theories and Praxis of Digital Labour: The Fault Lines in Digital Capitalism (renewal)
- Julie Yujie Chen, ICCIT UTM
- Vera Khovanskaya, Faculty of Information