The żě˛ĄĘÓƵ community is mourning the loss of Neil Marcellus Livingston, 53, a PhD student in Humanities.

“I feel truly privileged to have worked with Neil. I will miss the wide-ranging intellectual conversations we had, his insights and humour, and his energy and drive to make a difference. He will be remembered by all of us who were lucky enough to know him as a dear friend with whom we wished we could have spent more time,” Markus Reisenleitner, Neil’s supervisor here at York said.

Humanities program director Victor Shea said, “Those of us who were lucky enough to know Neil will remember a kind soul who had a charisma and an energy that lit up a room. Wherever he was there were smiles and laughter, and good debate and discussion of things that matter. In his intellectual work he was writing a dissertation on Little Jamaica on Eglington and gentrification.”

Neil was born in 1971 and raised in Guelph and Elmira by his mother Catherine Elstone. He graduated as valedictorian of Elmira District Secondary School (EDSS) in 1990. He cared deeply for his mother, who passed away in August 2023.

Neil was predeceased by his father, James Livingston, in October 2020. His father greatly inspired him academically.

_{a photo of Neil Livingston}

Marie-Christine Leps was born and raised in Montréal, where she attended CEGEP and McGill University. In 1985, she completed her doctorate in comparative literature and began a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at York. She commenced teaching in York’s Department of English in 1987 and devoted her career to the university, where she was an Associate Professor.

At York, in addition to her focus on literary theory, discourse analysis, and modernism/postmodernism, she contributed to the graduate programmes in English, Humanities, and Social and Political Thought. From 2011 to 2014, and again in 2015–16, she served as Director of Grad English, and worked vigorously on behalf of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

In 2012, Dr. Leps attended the Institute for World Literature at Harvard University (IWL), an experience that proved to be personally and professionally enriching (she served on its Advisory Board for several years). Since the 1990s, the field of World Literature has emerged as one of the most compelling ways in which literature departments have offset the globalization and homogenization of culture. The impact of World Literature studies on York’s English Department has been significant. Dr. Leps developed a graduate Diploma in World Literature—the first in Canada—that enables MA and PhD candidates to study broadly and also do pilot projects leading to MA major research papers or doctoral dissertations. In the summer of 2014, the IWL invited her to showcase York’s new Diploma program at the Institute (held in City University of Hong Kong). She served as the Coordinator of the Graduate Diploma in World Literature from its inception until the summer of 2022.

In October 2014, she co-organized a York symposium on “Trajectories in Comparative and World Literature” to launch both the Graduate Diploma in World Literature and the Graduate Diploma in Comparative Literature. A colloquium for graduate students followed two years later. In March 2022, she organized and hosted a colloquium, “World Fictions of Friendship in Critical Times,” showcasing the work of ten York graduate students and a faculty member.

Dr. Leps was the author of Apprehending the Criminal: The Production of Deviance in Nineteenth-Century Discourse (1992) and, in September 2022, the co-author (with Lesley Higgins) of Heterotopic World Fiction: Thinking Beyond Biopolitics with Woolf, Foucault, Ondaatje. She published numerous articles on discourse analysis, modernist and postmodernist fiction, and world literature, and was a gifted public speaker.

She is survived by her husband, Bruno Leps, and her daughter and son-in-law, Caroline and Callum Arnold Leps.

As per her request, there will be no funeral or memorial service. Donations to the Princess Margaret Research Fund would be appreciated.

^{Photos of Marie-Christine Lep}

The żě˛ĄĘÓƵ community is mourning the loss of Graham Reid Lockett-Lees, PhD student in Social and Political Thought who passed away April 12, 2022.

Lockett-Lees was born in 1984 to Judith and Keith Lockett and grew up in Ottawa. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Guelph University in International Development Studies and a Master’s degree in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from Saint Paul University. He joined the York community in 2015 to pursue his PhD in Social and Political thought. His doctoral dissertation, “Foucault and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: Psychology, Ethics, and the Self,” examined the appropriation of ancient mindfulness techniques through evidence-based, scientific medicine and their subsequent application since 1979 in medical and psychological settings.

“I enjoyed working with Graham—a generous, personable man—and am pained that his dissertation, an elegant work of social theory, remains unfinished,” said Lorna Weir, Lockett-Lees’ supervisor. “An ambitious project, Graham’s dissertation aimed, in his own words, to “provide a partial snapshot of ourselves in the present as psychological subjects at the intersection of power, self, and freedom.” Graham’s practices in social theory are now complete. The members of Graham’s dissertation committee send his wife and daughter, mother, father and brother our profound sympathy for their loss.”

Lockett-Lees was also a dedicated member of the York writing centre where he worked as an instructor. He would be there for students whenever they needed a devoted educator who would also be full of compassion and enthusiasm.

During his free time he would be making music, advocating for the environment and most recently keeping bees. Moreover, he travelled the world working in Australia for The University of New South Wales as well as Macquarie University. Lockett-Lees touched everyone he met with his infectious laughter and thoughtful personality. He is remembered as being caring, generous and a wonderful listener.

“As a friend, he was thoughtful and always willing to lend a helping hand, or a concerned ear when someone needed help,” recalls Judith Hawley, graduate program assistant for Social and Political Thought. “As a scholar, Graham pursued his PhD and wanted his work to have an impact on him, on his community and on the wider world. He loved his studies, and was invigorated by the voices of other scholars, new ideas, and rich discussions of theoretical ideas, the impact ideas had on society and so much more.”

Lockett-Lees will be deeply missed by his wife Shannon and daughter Maizie, parents Judith and Keith Lockett and brother Kevin, as well as a host of friends and colleagues at żě˛ĄĘÓƵ.

A celebration of life will take place at a later date in Lockett-Lees' hometown of Ottawa. Donations honouring Lockett-Lees can be made to the Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network and to the page organized for his family.

_{Photo of Graham Reid Lockett-Lees}