Individual residencies / Olot
S. NOMBUSO DLAMINI
From Wednesday, 6 March 2024 to Wednesday, 20 March 2024
Bio
S. Nombuso Dlamini is Professor of Education York University in Toronto, Canada. Initially an anthropologist, she teaches courses in research methods, diversity, ethics and schooling, as well as supervise research students. Her main research interests lie in new approaches to youth political engagement, urban spaces, and sociocultural engagements in urban development, especially youth contributions to city spaces and city life. Dlamini is known for her youth-based projects, including the 2018 Youth in Politics funded by the Ontario Ministry of Education. She served as the inaugural Jean Augustine Chair in the New urban Environment, York University after her tenure as Research Leadership Chair, University of Windsor. Dlamini’s research focuses on youth activism, youth identities, and on gender experiences of Canada’s racialized populations. She teaches in the area of youth culture, identity and civic engagement.
Dlamini’s publications include the 2021 co-edited volume, Global Citizenship Education: Challenges and Successes. Dlamini is also known for her global work on youth social identities, Youth and Identity Politics in South Africa gender parity, and the effects of new urbanism in global literacy and education. She has spearheaded interdisciplinary projects in Sub-Saharan Africa including a SSHRC-funded project in Tanzania, (2008 - continues to date with the support of U of Windsor), which is designed to enhance teachers’ capacities in serving marginalized children in the global south. She led research and workshops in the (2005-2012) CIDA-funded Social Work in Nigeria Project (SWIN-P), an international collaboration between the University of Benin, Nigeria and three Canadian universities – York University, the University of Windsor and the University of British Columbia.
Project
During her residency at Faberllull, she will work on analysing empirical data from two research projects that focus on the experiences of Black Canadian youth in Ontario, Canada. The first project, Retooling Black Anxiety is an action research study examining the experiences of Black families and youth who have had encounters with the criminal justice system and child welfare system. The second project Exploring the Connections Between Youth Civic Participation and Youth Identity, explores the relationship between Black youth’s participation in protest activities (e.g., in the streets, through social media) and their engagement in various levels of governance including and beyond the ballot box. Based on data results, for Retooling, she will design a culturally relevant intervention program for interested families and youth who demonstrate high levels of anxiety and depression. For Youth Participation, she will design workshops aimed to tutor youth in existing data usage, and in mobilising it to demonstrate Black persons activism and contributions to Canada’s development and to diversity.
In the academy, one plans a residence based on present work and things that one desires to achieve. I had many project-based objectives that I was eager to achieve. Nobody had warned me about the many by-products of Faberllull. First, the land-based learning was unexpected. I was thrilled by the nature of this region where Olot, is located. The history and environment knowledge I had, came to life. Second, was my learning from the many smart artists and other residents who were part of the space. And more importantly for me, I learnt a lot from the exchange activities that I engaged in. The young people I encountered at Núria Social d'Olot revived my youthfulness and gave me hope in their capacity to create justice for all in a world of turmoil and war. Faberllull Olot is: Life, learning, and humanity.
