Life at the Intersection

Carl E. James holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora at York University, where he teaches in the Faculty of Education and in the Graduate Program in Sociology. For many years, he taught annually in the Teacher Training Department at Upsala University, Sweden. With an interdisciplinary lens, he explores how race intersects with other identity markers - like ethnicity, gender, class, generational status, etc. - to shape individuals' experiences and life trajectories. A Distinguished Research Professor and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he also holds the 2022 Killam Prize in Social Sciences, the Outstanding Contribution Award (Canadian Sociological Association), and honorary doctorates. With the belief that that longitudinal studies provide significant, in-depth and valuable insights into people's lived realities, Carl often conducts follow-up studies with research participants - one of which is represented in the short NFB film Making It. In his work, he highlights the significant ways in which economic, social, and cultural conditions structure institutional policies, programs, and practices which mediate the educational, employment, and career opportunities and achievements of Canadian youth. He seeks to move us beyond the essentialist and homogenizing discourses that are used in the representation of racialized.