About Us
Mission Statement
Empowering newcomer and refugee children and young people through art and music to inspire social change
We are a team of researchers in the Children, Childhood, and Youth program in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies at York University supporting child- and youth-led research. We partner with multiple organizations in Canada and the USA to support wellbeing goals that can only be achieved through understanding, acknowledging, centering, and investing in the lived experiences of newcomer and refugee children and young people. We recognize that equity-seeking young people are systematically silenced and discriminated against, and because of this, they have much knowledge to share about their experiences, positionalities, and lives. Often silenced by service organizations, governments, and adult-driven policies that characterize them as voiceless and powerless victims, we believe that newcomer and refugee children and young people can use their lived knowledge and stories to teach others, activate social change, and regain power by building networks, articulating personal voice, and expressing musical agency. Through our research partnerships, we aim to learn more about how newcomer and refugee children and youth use art and music to express themselves and share their stories.
Amplifying Voices, Inspiring Change
The significance of this research lies in its immediate benefit for the children and young people and the partner organizations involved in the project. We collaborate with our partner organizations to deliver in-person and online art and music sessions, in-person and online songwriting sessions, and song recording and publishing opportunities for newcomer and refugee young people.
Working with research participants and their creative outputs, we also develop and disseminate arts-based educational resources. These resources are used to teach others–including post-secondary students, teachers and teacher candidates, settlement workers–to better understand the lived experiences of newcomer and refugee young people. These resources are also aimed at improving policy in relation to newcomer and refugee young people and to supporting their wellbeing through improved art and musical programming and policy change.
By mobilizing youth- and community-based knowledge for educational, cultural, and policy change, this project is a model for community-engaged research that has global significance for children and young people facing displacement and settlement, and society at large. This collaboration is unique and meaningful in that adopting an approach to music program delivery provides opportunities for young people to tell their stories and share their perspectives using various artistic mediums and to connect with other newcomer and refugee communities around the world.
