From Heidi Bohaker
Please join us in thanking Shenella Charles for her tremendous service to GRASAC since 2016, first as Project Director and most recently as Communications Director. We are delighted, however, that Shenella is not going too far away. She is moving on to an amazing new opportunity – at Carleton University in a tenure-stream position in Indigenous Studies, at the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies! Her doctoral research focuses on the multiple and complex intersections of Blackness and Indigeneity in her home of Guyana and the ongoing legacy of colonialism. It traces the lives of Lokono people post-Independence from Britian (1966) and their struggles for land rights. As a Lokono scholar, Shenella has seen many connections between the experiences of Lokono people in Guyana and Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of Turtle Island. We have all benefited greatly from her work, and we wish her the very best in her new position. Congratulations, Shenella, and thank you!
On that note, please extend a warm welcome to Carlie Manners, who is taking over the GRASAC communications role from Shenella! Carlie is a PhD Candidate in the University of Toronto Department of History, where she specializes in the Caribbean and Anglo-Atlantic World. Her research interests are centered around the material culture of Afro-Caribbean and Indigenous Caribbean communities, as well as the dynamics of imperial collecting. Her unique perspective on these topics is informed by her experience working in museums and art galleries. Carlie has been a research assistant with GRASAC in various roles since 2021, and is also an incoming research assistant for the Digital Family Reunion Project. Thank you for taking on this role, Carlie!