tesni ellis

    works

    View C.V. or Connect on linkedin.com/in/tesniellis/

    present : current preoccupations and works in progress

    PhD Candidate, Language, Culture, and Teaching, York University. Dissertation “Drawing Towards Each Other” investigates drawing practice as a democratic mode of being together in education.

    past : projects of note

    Research Assistant, Zine Conversation Series hosted by the Early Childhood Pedagogies Collaboratory. Cross-Canada initiative to instigate dialogue about early childhood pedagogies through zine-making. Although created for print, view my zine in digital here.

    Conference Coordinator, York Graduate Students in Education annual conference for 2024-2025. At a two-day event for graduate students, faculty, and alumni came together to think about what happens “concurrently” in their scholarship and practice. For “…what is constant if not the push-and-pull of currents, which are constantly moving? What might it mean to be with — learn with — these currents?”

    Distinguished Graduate Student Paper, Award and Publication. Somewhere between Currere and Ficto-currere, with my Teacher The Near-Sighted Monkey (2024) in the Journal of Curriculum Theorizing.

    Co-Creator, The Student Experience Research Team “SERT”. Across three teams (2018-2021) undergraduate/graduate students and educators practiced arts-informed methods of dialogue, inquiry, and storytelling to deepen our understanding of post-secondary students’ experiences. Reflections on our process and insights from three research projects are detailed at: https://sertgallery.ca/

    Co-authored article in first issue of Currere and Praxis journal. Re-listening to Alexisonfire: Duo-currere, adolescence, and the forms of study therewithin (2025) written with Adrian M. Downey.

    Edited Book chapter author. What drawing can lead us to see: Drawing cartoons with student researchers (2024) in J. Dehart & P. Hash (Eds.) Arts-based research across visual media in education (Vol 1).

    Co-authored article The Student As Artist (2018). Written with John Hannah, published in About Campus.