women | The Harriet Tubman Institute

Esther Feza Borauzima

rebsl — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:31:32 +0000

Borauzima Feza Esther is a Congolese researcher and lecturer, holding a Master’s degree in Political science from the Université Officielle de Bukavu and a Master’s degree in Gender Studies from the Université Catholique de Louvain. She is currently pursuing a doctoral program at the University of Mons within the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Her doctoral research examines the relationship between armed dynamics in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the environment, through an anthropological reading of gender. Her research is based on four empirical configurations operating in and around the Virunga National Park, located in eastern DRC: (1) Women fighters in armed groups, (2) Former female combatants incarcerated for espionage, (3) Female rangers of Virunga National Park, and (4) Female forest resource traders. She investigates how the agency of these women unfolds differently across temporal and spatial contexts.

Keywords: Armed conflicts, women, agency, environment, afrofeminism, decolonial, DRC

Leidy Marcela Alpízar Alpízar

rebsl — Tue, 06 May 2025 19:45:28 +0000

Leidy Marcela Alpízar Alpízar (ABD), is a Ph.D. Candidate in African History from �첥��Ƶ, she is working on her current doctoral research, “The Impact of the Church Missionary Society in Yorubaland from 1841 to 1891”. Alpizar holds a master’s degree in history from Universidad de Costa Rica, and she is a tenured professor in the Humanities Department at the Caribbean Campus, Universidad de Costa Rica. She is part of the Researchers of the Cátedra de Estudios de África y el Caribe, where she has worked on Afro-Caribbean migrations to Costa Rica in the nineteenth century.

Keywords: Liberated Africans, Missionaries, Women, Social Impact, Nineteenth century, Yorubaland, Freetown

Sharon Henry

rebsl — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 21:27:32 +0000

Sharon Henry is a Ph.D. Candidate (ABD) in Sociology at �첥��Ƶ, with an academic focus grounded in equity, inclusion, and social justice. She holds an MA in Critical Disability Studies and an Honours double major in Law & Society and Women’s Studies from �첥��Ƶ, along with a diploma in Paralegal Education and a certificate in Immigration Consulting from Humber College.

An active scholar and advocate, Sharon has presented her work internationally, including engagements with the University of the West Indies, the University of Ghana, and the International Pacific Rim Conference on Disability and Diversity. She has also contributed to academic and institutional leadership as a graduate representative across multiple bodies, including Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Faculty of Graduate Studies councils.

Sharon is deeply engaged in community advocacy, serving as an executive member of the Ethno-Racial People with Disabilities Coalition of Ontario (ERDCO), the Harriet Tubman Institute, and Race Inclusion & Supportive Environments (RISE). She also serves on her Church Board, demonstrating a strong commitment to both academic excellence and community impact.

Keywords: Black, Canada, Caribbean, Doctor, Male, White, Women

Catherine Mutune

alexall5 — Sun, 14 Nov 2021 03:18:24 +0000

Catherine Mutune is a second-year master’s student in Interdisciplinary Studies. Her SSHRC-funded research project investigates the lived experiences of recent East African immigrant women who came to Canada under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWK) and the challenges they encounter socially, economically, and politically. Her research work is inspired by her experiences as an African immigrant woman negotiating two different cultures and struggling to belong. By incorporating, analyzing, and archiving stories from other East African women, her research study aims to create positive change by interrogating the implicit contradiction of the Federal Skilled Worker Program and generating conversations that will inspire and encourage more research to focus on the subjective dimensions of integration of East African Women as economic immigrants in Canada.