Elyana Matos and Juan Carlos López on We Matter: Together We Can Resist Imposterization

Elyana Matos and Juan Carlos López on We Matter: Together We Can Resist Imposterization

Date: Friday, October 24th, 2025

Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)

Registration link

SoTL Speaker Session Description:

In this session, we will be framing our experiences navigating academic spaces by articulating how the intersectionalities of our identities have shaped our academic careers as migrant scholars. We will argue that instead of placing the onus on academics belonging to equity deserving groups for ‘feeling’ as imposters, many of the common practices in academia are the root cause of these feelings. Rather than having imposter syndrome, these academics are being made imposters…have been imposterized. We will then describe how these feelings may also be experienced by learners with marginalized identities as they navigate university and, later, professional life.  

We will discuss how to dismantle the barriers that keep marginalized people from fully participating in academic spaces. We advocate for recognizing such barriers by sharing our experiences – among ourselves as well as with others – and naming them for what they are. We propose the creation of focused groups and communities of practice, as well as inviting allies in the process of empowering marginalized learners and scholars and fostering their rightful sense of more than belonging, actually really mattering in academic spaces.  

SoTL Speakers’ Bios:

Elyana Matos (Acadia University, Wolfville, Canada) is an experienced adult educator with over 15 years specializing in teaching Spanish and English as additional languages in different settings. Over the years, Elyana has worked in non-academic spaces assisting minoritized populations in gaining new language and job readiness skills, and in academic spaces as a language instructor. Elyana is driven by a commitment to creating equitable and inclusive learning environments, where all learners feel empowered to succeed. To spark engagement in the learning process, Elyana recognizes, sustains, and values learners’ unique interests and identities. Using active learning techniques, she creates opportunities for students to connect what they are learning with their personal interests, to encourage student autonomy. Elyana believes that teaching is a political act, and that the language classroom is an ideal space for students to develop intercultural competencies, and to gain understanding of the relationships between language and power. 

Juan Carlos López (Maple League of Universities, Wolfville, Canada) is a soil microbial ecologist who has worked and trained in Europe, and North and South America. Over the years, working in collaboration with students and colleagues, Juan Carlos has addressed aspects of education that deal with pedagogy, inclusion and student success. In 2023, Juan Carlos became the inaugural Director of the Virtual Maple League Teaching and Learning Centre developing new programming and continuing with existing initiatives to showcase pedagogical practices and strategies, always infused with social justice practices in higher education. Juan Carlos has worked in advancing EDIAR principles in the way our academic systems function and was appointed as the inaugural Associate Dean of Equity Diversity and Inclusion for the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science at Acadia University in 2024.