Identity Dialogue

Ellen Lee is a Canadian born designer of Chinese descent who explores multiple aspects of her identity that she has created from a blank page as a piece of art. She tells us that the Canadian Ellen afforded her the freedom to create an identity of what she wants to be while also being able to maintain the Chinese person (Kit Yee) because it is what people see on the outside. As an athlete and arti...

Nahile est une jeune professionnelle d'origine française et marocaine qui, selon elle, ne peut être quantifiée en tant qu'identité unique, mais plutôt en tant que pluralité et ensemble. Pour elle, être français est un ensemble de sentiments, d'émotions, de souvenirs et d'attachement aux valeurs françaises de liberté, d'égalité, de fraternité et de laïcité qu'elle espère voi...

Marc, étudiant en histoire de l'art à Paris, parle de l'évolution de sa compréhension de son identité en tant qu'homosexuel issu d'une famille bourgeoise conservatrice française. Alors que la famille bourgeoise conservatrice insiste sur certains codes qui peuvent être associés aux privilèges et à l'intolérance, l'identité de Marc a tiré le meilleur parti de l'amour et d...

Alexander is a Russian, Israeli, Italian national who identifies above all as a human among all humans having the privilege to be a father. He is also Jewish and an atheist which for him is not a contradiction. He explores how speaking and living in the script of various languages allows him to assume various aspects of those identities enabling him to not be afraid of the other. He tells us how c...

Lamia is a professional woman living in the UK, born in the UAE carrying a Jordanian passport with roots in Palestine and Syria. She tells us about her rich heritage coming from Levantine as a woman but also the complicated nature of borders, passports and identity. She tells us what it means to be Palestinian and the story of what she has been told of where she is from and her ability to live amo...

Winnie and Manisha are young professionals who discuss their journey of exploring gender concluding that living in the absence of gender and a non-binary world gives them freedom and a safe space to live their authentic selves where the queer community has given them an anchor to express themselves and a feeling of belonging. They explore definitions and the role of language in understanding how g...

Dr. Susan Perry, a Professor at the American University of Paris and Director of Graduate Studies in International Affairs and Human Rights, discusses the role identity plays in global conflict drawing examples from global conflicts and the Ukrainian conflict in particular. She speaks about how the NATO alliance identity plays a role in the conflict and how a dynamic definition of identity can con...

Dr. Shukti Chaudhuri -Brill is a linguistic anthropologist who has worked extensively with the Roma and immigrant communities in Europe. She provides us with an understanding of identity from an anthropological perspective drawing on the notions of ascribed and versus achieved identities. Identity she says is at one moment ascribed to us at birth and yet another is constantly being created and per...

Flora Kakanou is a French young professional of Cameroonian descent who studied science and is currently a business consultant in pharma. She believes that taking control of your identity is a mindset that gives the opportunity to others to learn from your experience and how that lets one not be defined by skin colour but as a whole person who can surpass any obstacles.

Anaelle grew up in France and studied Postcolonial theory in the United Kindgom. She devoted her time to researching her family's Jewish heritage and memories from the Middle East. She aimed for these memories to be integrated into the wider and local post-colonial imaginaries. She hopes to better understand herself in relation to her own perspectives through this research. In this podcast, sh...

John Moses is an Indigenous Canadian and member of the Delaware and Upper Mohawk bands from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and Director of Repatriation and Indigenous Relations at the Canadian Museum of History. He speaks to us about reclaiming today’s indigenous identity the historical nature and legal relevance of the term “Indian” under Canadian administrative frameworks, the matr...

Dr. Dominique Charon has had an illustrious career as an epidemiologist, veterinarian in international development and as a leader in STEM and Global Health. She is the outgoing vice president of research and programmes at the International Development Research Centre in Canada. She speaks to us about the importance of having women in decision-making roles and in board rooms but also that it is no...

Naviya from Nepal, Fang Fang from Spain and Sara from Ecuador discuss the impact that social media has on identity. Coming from different parts of the planet they show how algorithms shape identity constantly reenforcing images and messages but also how the iterative process of engaging with it influences your sense of power, responsibility and self worth. Although social media can create a sense...

Dr. Anna Marie Ball is a Canadian Behavioural Scientist that has had an illustrious career in international development spending much of her time in Africa. She discusses the influence of growing up in Zambia in Africa as a white Canadian third culture kid and later her role as an expat has had on her identity and sense of belonging. She tells us of the realization that she couldn’t be Zambian bec...

Dr. Juan Román Mora is a Latinx Nicaraguan Physician, LGBTQI+ health care advocate and immigrant. He speaks to us about practicing in a heteronormative patriarchal system and how his identity and compassion speaks to communities that are underserved. He also discusses how the migrant identity exposes people to different health risks and how as a migrant physician he can identify the needs of this...

Welcome to our podcast on "Identity and Blended Origins." We are speaking today with Devon and Leila who are cousins who between them are of Swiss, Polish, East Indian, Dutch, Russian and Canadian descent carrying Canadian, French and Swiss passports. They speak to us about their experience as blended people and how place, geography, physical appearance and multicultural policies among other facto...

Hello and Welcome to our podcast series "Identity - Dialogue". I am your host Dr. Nita Chaudhuri; Through this series we hope to engage guests and listeners in an in-depth conversation on how we construct both personal and social identities and how these identities are influenced by social media, conflict, geography, gender among others. In this podcast series, we will be interviewing a variety of...