Danielle Peers and Nathan Viktor Fawaz

Danielle Peers (they/them) is a community organizer, an artist, and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta.

They are also a Canada Research Chair in Disability and Movement Cultures (SSHRC, Tier II). They were a Vanier and Trudeau scholar throughout their PhD at the University of Alberta, and a Banting Postdoctoral scholar at Concordia University in Montreal. Danielle uses critical disability theories to study disability movement cultures: from the Paralympics, to inclusive recreation, to disability arts. Their research builds on their experiences as a Paralympic athlete, parasport coach, a filmmaker, and a dancer. Danielle is co-director of the Just Movements CreateSpace, which takes arts-based and disability justice approaches to generating and sharing knowledge about bodies in motion.

Danielle has made seven activist-oriented films, co-curated three art shows, and co-founded two arts collectives. They have co-choreographed three dances, and have performed for eight years as a dancer with CRIPSiE, The Good Women Dance Collective, as well as dancing for choreographers Lindsay Eales and Alice Sheppard. Danielle is an active disability and queer community organizer, a national ambassador for Muscular Dystrophy Canada, and a public speaker.

Athletics

In their former career as a wheelchair basketball athlete, Danielle won a Bronze Paralympic Medal, a World Championship, and five National Championships. They also won numerous championships and all-star awards while playing in men’s leagues in USA and in France. In 2006, Danielle was named the Worlds Most Valuable Player, and was a finalist for the 2007 International Sports Woman of the Year.

Nathan Viktor Fawaz (they/them) is working on a PhD in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta. Nathan is especially curious about ways we can think about being together that are affirming, equitable, and non-exiling. Their writing, speaking, artwork, and workshops all ask questions about how people can be together with dignity. Nathan’s work is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

They study JEDIA – justice, equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility initiatives for their potential to influence experiences of posttraumatic affect in multiply marginalized people.