Biography
Claudia Mitchell is a professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education, Faculty of Education, at McGill University. Her passion is social justice, as shown by her work over the past two decades aiding youth around the world, in places such as South Africa, Rwanda, Russia and Ethiopia.
In Canada, Mitchell’s research has examined how community organizations working with Aboriginal youth can use participatory methods to address HIV/AIDS. She is also the founder and director of the Participatory Cultures Lab at McGill. The Lab fosters collaboration among research students, and the use of visual tools such as digital storytelling and participatory video.
A recognized leader in visual arts, Mitchell’s research includes testing visual methods to engage and educate youth on topics such as gender, HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, girlhood studies and public health. She has also looked at the uses of digital technology for teachers.
Mitchell is a passionate advocate encouraging young people to speak out about violence in their lives. Because of this, she has seen great results in her work with, and for, girls and young women in Canada, South Africa, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya.
Her work has led her to be named an honorary professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Mid Sweden University’s Faculty of Human Sciences.
Mitchell has worked with the Canadian International Development Agency (now Global Affairs Canada), UNICEF, UNESCO, and the Gorbachev Foundation. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada’s Academy of Social Sciences, and has published numerous scholarly papers and books on qualitative inquiry using visual methods.