For more information on how to pursue your graduate studies with us, please visit the School of Kinesiology and Health Science’s graduate program webpage. Here are some of our current students.
Valerie Bhupaul (she/her) is a PhD student in Kinesiology and Health Science under the supervision of Dr. Amanda De Lisio and Dr. Hala Tamim. She is interested in qualitative methodologies, maternal theory and reproductive justice. Her research focuses on anti-Black racism in maternal health in Canada, with consideration of future possibilities for anti-racist care.
Danny Carrillo (she/her) is a second-year Master’s student working under the supervision of Dr. Amanda De Lisio. She is especially interested in how Sport Mega-Event development leads to change, and in finding ways to ensure youth have access to the resources needed to live long and healthy lives.
Calum Doherty (He/Him) is a first year Master’s student who has recently graduated from the University of New Brunswick (BA Sociology) and received the Carlisle Hanson Essay Prize, as well as the Douglas R. Pullman Prize in Sociology. While transitioning from life as an athlete Calum will research safe sport with a focus on the actors and social forces that perpetuate deviant, risk-taking, and injurious sport. Calum is looking forward to collaborating with his like-minded peers and learning from his supervisor, Dr. Parissa Safai.
Julia Ferreira Gomes (she/her) is a PhD student in Kinesiology and Health Science, studying under Julia is a PhD student in Kinesiology and Health Science interested in sport for development, gender equity, and sexual and reproductive health promotion. Under the guidance of Dr. Lyndsay Hayhurst, her research revolves around trauma-and violence-informed sport for development and physical activity for gender diverse youth.
Lensa Hassan is a Master’s student supervised by Dr. De Lisio. Her thesis is situated at the nexus of Black feminist geographies, law, and harm-reduction. She explores how drug use by Black women and gender-diverse people (BWGDP) exists as an opening to experience their bodies in pleasurable and life-affirming ways, and how BWDGP create spaces beyond organized state and gendered violence.
Isra Iqbal is a Master’s student in Kinesiology and Health Science who is working under the supervision of Dr. Lyndsay Hayhurst. Her research interests include examining Sport for Development (SFD) initiatives and public policy interventions to target social inequities within sport. In addition, Isra hopes to explore the dimensions and perspectives of sport and physical activity in women and children on a local and international scale.
Natan Levi (he/him and they/them) is currently a PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Lyndsay Hayhurst and Dr. Parissa Safai. Natans’ research interests include Marxist theory, sport for development, capitalism and livelihoods. In 2023, he completed his MSc under the supervision of Dr. Jessica Fraser-Thomas where his work explored the participant experiences of individuals enrolled in a Sport for Development and Livelihood program.
Wajeeha Rasul (she/her) is currently pursuing her Master’s under the supervision of Dr. Parissa Safai. Given her commitment to gender and racial equity in sport, her current research focuses on examing the range of impression management techniques Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) female sport coaches often employ in their respective workplaces in an attempt to navigate the unique challenges and discrimination they face in their sport work.
Given her research interests in sport, postcolonialism, gender, diaspora and equity, Gobi Sriranganathan‘s doctoral research, under the supervision of Dr. Yuka Nakamura, investigates sport leadership in the Greater Toronto Area Tamil diaspora. Studies have suggested that sport plays an important role for members of diasporic groups. It can strengthen groups’ diasporic identities, socio-emotional bonds, and sense of belonging. Despite these findings and the growth of Tamil sport organizations in the GTA, there is little scholarly work on the roles, histories, leaders, and significance of these sport groups – a gap in knowledge that Gobi hopes to help fill. Before coming to York University, Gobi completed a BSc in Medical Sciences at Western University and a MSc in Health Studies and Gerontology at the University of Waterloo. Gobi has been awarded the N. Sivalingam Award in Tamil Studies from the York Centre for Asian Research and a Seed Grant from E-Alliance: The Canadian Gender+ Equity in Sport Research Hub.
Jess Nachman (she/they) is a PhD student at York University, studying under the supervision of Dr. Lyndsay Hayhurst. Jess’ research interests include decolonial methodologies, arts-based methods, physical culture, and mobility. Jess completed their undergraduate degree of Kinesiology at the University of Toronto, and their MA degree of Kinesiology and Health Science at York. Jess’ MA research involved collaborating with a non-profit mutual aid bicycle organization to support racialized and 2SLGBTQ+ cyclists.