API KC AWARD WINNER: DR. OIYAN POON

Award: Outstanding Contribution to Research and Scholarship

Name: Dr. OiYan Poon

Quotes from nominator(s): Dr. Poon’s mere presence in the classroom has had an unimaginably profound impact on my personal and professional development not only because of our shared visible identities but because of her passionate pursuit of social justice. In the classroom, regardless of the subject matter, Dr. Poon’s passion and deep dedication to critical pedagogy that is rooted in Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed is a consistent thread throughout her praxis. Centering her students, honoring the knowledge that we bring to the classroom and empowering us to be agentic about co-creating new knowledge, Dr. Poon has undoubtedly played a key role in my development as a learner and academic scholar along with that of many others. Dr. Poon’s commitment to showing up authentically in the classroom in ways that are relevant to the coursework, allows her students to do the same.