Welcome

Hello. I’m Julia Gray.

I’m a researcher, scholar, writer, and artist, and currently an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Department of Health and Society at University of Toronto Scarborough.  I help people understand how the social world shapes what they do, as well as imagine, design and lead conversations to advance change.  My work centres on disability and aging inclusion, and I aim to build senses of belonging and engagement with complex ideas through different creative modes. 

With over 20 years of experience under my belt, my award-winning research, writing and arts projects have reached a wide range of community and academic audiences. I hold a PhD from the University of Toronto.

Here are a few examples of projects I’ve been lucky enough to work on:

• Developed opportunities for a wide range of dementia care partners and stakeholders to re-think ‘dementia as tragic’ as part of reducing dementia stigma, including changing practices and policy. Aspects of the project included developing a theatre production, a film, workshops, as well as publishing and presenting to engage different types of people.
• Developed a theoretical framework for performance based research called an aesthetic of relationality, that helps to re-think what gets valued as knowledge and the processes to produce that knowledge.
• Conducted research about racism, access and belonging for Black students in physiotherapy training programs in Canada.
• Conducted research and led conversations about the value of the arts, recreation and cultural practices in hospital settings, including events, publications and presentations.