Karine Coen-Sanchez receives 2023 SWAAC Student Award in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Faculty of Social Sciences
School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies
Equity, diversity and inclusion
Awards and recognition
Graduate students
Karine Coen-Sanchez
We are thrilled to announce that Karine Coen-Sanchez has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 SWAAC Award. This prestigious award includes a cash prize of $4,000 and a plaque, which will be presented to her at the banquet and reception of the annual conference in London, hosted by Western University and its affiliates, Brescia University College, Huron University College, and King's University College.

Karine Coen Sanchez is currently pursuing her Doctoral studies in Sociology at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Social Sciences. Karine possesses a strong research interest in various fields such as Experiential Education, Youth Engagement and Activism, and Place-based Learning Civics Education. She is an enthusiastic activist, organizer, and scholar who has dedicated her efforts to initiate systemic change among Black and racialized graduate students in Canada. She actively leads several anti-racism initiatives at her home campus and on a national level, including stakeholder mobilization, institutional diversity and inclusivity statements development, and community-building events hosting.

She is also a prominent figure in webinars and panel discussions regarding race and racism in Canadian higher education and is recognized as a key leader in the fight against institutional racism. Karine's article titled "The Canadian women's movement primarily serves white women and must evolve" received the Department of Communication at the Faculty of Arts' 2023 Knowledge Mobilization prize.

Karine has established an Anti-Racist Committee for students at the University of Ottawa and was appointed co-chair for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council's (SSHRC) Addressing Anti-Black Racism Committee at the national level. In her recent Final Report and Recommendations, she emphasized the need for fair access to research support, equitable participation in research systems, research design and practice, and the production of new knowledge. Karine is a powerful voice both on the ground and in print.