“…The power of the researcher is in communicating his or her own interpretation of the teachings” – Margaret Kovach
Hola! Welcome to my website!
I am a Ph.D candidate in sociology at the University of Toronto and a Vanier CGS scholar.
I am Peruvian. I was born in the coastal province of Callao where most of my family currently resides. At 16, I started an education journey that took me to live in Norway, the U.S., Argentina, and Canada. I currently reside in Tkaronto, the territory and homeland of the of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Mississaugas of the Credit River, with my partner Tyler (he’s also a sociologist!) and our two pets, a dog named Tumbleweed and a cat named Artemis.
I hold a M.A. in Sociology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and a B.A. in Sociology and Government from Skidmore College. I am a United World Colleges Scholar and a Davis United World College undergraduate scholarship recipient.
My dissertation looks at the dynamics and politics of violence in urban marginalized neighbourhoods through the study of women’s experiences, with the goal of understanding how different forms of violence are connected and their effects on people’s lives. I am currently doing research on the factors associated to women’s incarceration in Peru, the relation between prisons and schools in the U.S., and intergenerational violence and healing among Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQ+ peoples in Tkaronto.
I combine research with community work and advocacy because I firmly believe in the transformative power of engaged scholarship. I am a founder of The People’s Pantry – A Toronto community response to COVID-19 and a steward for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3902. I am also a member of the executive board of the Graduate Sociology Students’ Association (GSSA) at the University of Toronto. I have also been the executive coordinator of Grupo Sofia, a network of women professionals that promotes gender equality in the social sciences in Peru supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada.
Follow me in Twitter: @A_RomanAlfaro
