York University Professor Carl James wins prestigious Killiam Prize for Research

BY PAUL JUNOR

It is fitting that long-time and outstanding York University Professor Carl James was awarded the $100,000 Killiam Prize for Research. The good news was posted on the universities website: www.yorku.ca.

For many years, Professor James has been one of Canada’s leading Black scholars on racial equity in education, social justice, community activism, and diversity, inclusion, and equity. The post describes the Killiam Prize, which is awarded by the Canadian Council for the Arts, as a distinguished program recognizing the work of active researchers who devote their careers to pushing the boundaries of knowledge and finding solutions to the issues we face every day.

Professor James was one of five recipients of the prestigious prize for his work in the social sciences. He receives this award for extensive scholarly contributions and research on identity, race, class, gender, immigration and creating more equitable societies. This award recognizes the outstanding work that Professor James has done and continues to do as he expands the horizons of Black excellence.

Robert Savage, Dean of the Faculty of Education states, “We in the Faculty of Education are delighted for Carl, as he received the Killam Prize. It is richly deserved. Carl’s sustained and genuinely ground-breaking work is both of the highest scholarly quality, and directly impactful in the wider community. His work drives our conceptions of diversity and of the methods needed to explore it.

His impact through this work on more equitable outcomes continues to grow. Carl’s work as a pure and applied scholar represents so much one might aspire to achieve as a leading 21^st century intellectual in education. We are extraordinarily proud of him.”

Areas of Professor James work include:

• Intersectionality of race with ethnicity, gender class and citizenship as they shape identification/identity
• The ways in which accessible and equitable opportunities in education and employment account for the lived experiences of marginalized community members
• The complementary and contradictory nature of sports in the schooling and educational attainments of racialized students

Professor James’ work brings light on how systemic and structural barriers such as racism intersect with other areas of oppression to limit the success of Black students. He seeks to address and move beyond the essentialist, generalized and homogenizing discourses that account for the representation and achievement of racialized people, particularly Black Canadians in educational institutions, workplaces, and society generally.

Carl currently holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in the Faculty of Education at YU and is the senior advisor on equity and representation at the Office of the Vice-President of Equity, People and Culture.

Anyone who is interested in learning about Carl James’ work can check www.edu.yorku.ca