2026 Symposium Schedule

Time Session Title  Session Speaker
8:30 - 9:00 AM Meeting Room Opens, Poster Set Up
9:00 - 9:15 AM Registration and Light Breakfast
9:15 - 9:30 AM GARLS President Opening Remarks David Pulgarin-Mesa
9:30 - 9:45 AM Lank Acknowledgement Indigenous Knowledge Keeper Myeengun Henry
9:45 - 10:00 AM Deans Address Dean Lili Liu
10:00 - 11:00 AM Keynote Address Dr. Bryan Heal
11:00- 11:15 AM Morning Coffee Break and Poster Presentations
Session 1: Presentations 
11:15 - 11:30 AM Severed Ties and Building Bridges: Naturalized Indian-Canadians' Experiences of Citizenship Loss and Pathways to Belonging Afrah Shiak
11:30 - 11:45 AM Maternal Place Making Kiana Kohandel
11:45 - 12:00 PM Exploring Meaningful Work Breaks Through Everyday Moments of Leisure Jacqueline Wojciechowski
12:00 - 1:00 PM Lunch and Poster Presentations
Session 2: Presentations
1:00- 1:15 PM Volunteer Motivations Across the Lifespan Alysia Ermacora
1:15 - 1:30 PM Reimagining Care for Aging Disabled Adults Caitlin Lee Tizzard
1:30 - 1:45 PM Unsettling Leisure: Indigenous Perspectives on Aging, Social Connectedness, and Wellbeing Dale Bellaire
1:45 - 2:00 PM Who Run The (Disability) World? Women and Intersections of Gender, Care, and Leisure in Disability Work Ashley Giroux
2:00 - 2:05 PM 5 Minute Movement Break
Session 3: Presentations
2:05 - 2:20 PM Understanding the Demonstration Effect through East Asian Epistemology: A Case Study of Football in China Cary Foo
2:20 - 2:35 PM

Othered Sport Experiences: Critical Discourse Analysis of the Long-Term Development Mode

Isaiah Clelland
2:35 - 2:50 PM Social Capital or Social Closure? Rethinking Inclusion in Community Sport Sihang Chen 
2:50 - 3:05 PM Break 
Session 4: Presentations and Closing Remarks 
3:05 - 3:20 PM Mapping Holistic Emotional Regulation Interventions: A Scoping Review to Inform a Reflective Mental Fitness App Minh Anh Hao Tran
3:20 - 3:35 PM Dialogical Walking in Participatory Placemaking and Digital Anthology for Knowledge Mobilization Tawsif Dowla 
3:35 - 3:50 PM "Plants are my friends": Settler Foraging in Ontario Leah Scheffler
3:50 - 4:00 PM Closing Remarks from Department Chairs Dr. Heather Mair