Siobhan Angus, Athina Peidou, and Stephanie Raposo are York University grad students and the 2020 recipients of the Governor General’s Gold Medal for academic excellence. Angus, an art historian, studies the visual culture of resource extraction in Canada. Peidou, an earth and space scientist, studies gravitational maps produced from satellite-based measurements. Raposo, a psychologist, studies sexual satisfaction and intimate relationships.

Dr. Lamia Balafrej of UCLA is an art historian specializing in the medieval Islamic period. Her work illuminates the connection between slavery and technology, which remains an important feature of the global economy today.