Beatrice Anane-Bediakoh (She/Her)
Senior Lecturer
B.A. (Hon) (Wilfrid Laurier University), M.Ed. (University of Toronto), Ph.D, ABD. (York University)
Classes I teach:
- SOCI 2220H-Intersecting Social Inequalities
- SOCI 3601H-Critical Criminology
- CRIM 2619H- Families of Prisoners
Research Interests:
- Black Studies
- Critical Criminology/Carceral Logics
- Sociology of Race and Racism; Racialization
- Community-Engaged Research
- Black Geographies
How does your research translate into your teaching, both through courses and supervision?
My research permeates all aspects of my teaching. Diverging from the conventional wisdom of leaving personal experiences at the classroom door, my pedagogical ethos, teaching in the departments of Sociology and Criminology, embodies a bridged trilogy concertedly anchored in academic scholarship, community practice, and personal experience. Informed by holistic practices, my academic and supervisory approach recognizes the interconnectedness of learning and draws from various sources of knowledge(s) within a larger community context. As such, I encourage opportunities for students to bridge their lived realities and community practices with their classroom and academic experiences. By incorporating self-reflective exercises and interactive activities into my teaching, I help students to connect the micro level of individual experiences to the macro level of the socio-historical contexts. This approach challenges students to rethink logics and practices that may be taken as ‘neutral’, reframing the knowledge of the world as an interpretation of discourses among various peoples and groups, crafted in a contextualized space, which is itself influenced by larger systems of power.
Five publications that exemplify your work:
Anane-Bediakoh, B. (2024). Kwame Ture. In C.W. Barrow. (Ed.)., Encyclopedia of Critical Political Science. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Kyriakides, C. & Anane-Bediakoh, B. (2024). Racialization. In C.W. Barrow. (Ed.)., Encyclopedia of Critical Political Science. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Ali, N. N & Anane-Bediakoh, B. (Jul 2020). Anti-Blackness is by design not by accident. ByBlacks.
Anane-Bediakoh, B & Ali, N. N. “Unpacking White Supremacy: Racial Violence and the Politics of Non- Human and the Note-quite Human” [In Review]
Anane-Bediakoh, B. “Under the conditions of removal: Green dispossession, white gentrification, and Black elimination.” [In Review]
What achievements and/or contributions in research are you most proud of?
Social justice work has driven much of my efforts outside of academia over the past decade. I have been part of various community-based partnerships, contributing to research and analysis across the non-profit and policy sectors. Notably, I am proud of my role in leading a community-based research initiative, co-designing and co-developing the 2019 Peel District School Board We Rise Together policy report. This policy report outlined student findings and recommendations for the Peel District School Board, aiming to identify, understand, minimize and eliminate achievement gaps among Black students. As a result, this report led to the creation of a Black Student Success Strategy, targeting the elimination of anti-Black racism within Peel District School Board staffing, leadership, and operations resources. As a researcher, I look to continue centring an ethos of collaboration across disciplinary, institutional, and community-academic lines in my research work.