Dr Yecid Ortega (Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK) is interested in studying the pluriversality of ways of being, knowing, and doing within the field of applied linguistics. Recently, he has been focusing his attention on community and arts-based research methodologies to understand one's position in the world. In this project, Dr Ortega draws on his more than 30 years of experience in extreme music as a cultural producer to connect the symbolic sociocultural, and sociolinguistic aspects of life with the experiences of older adults.

Dr Natalia Balyasnikova (York University, Canada) draws on creative research methods to understand the complexity of learning processes in later adulthood. Using narrative ethnographic methods, she merges traditional ethnographic data generation with the facilitation of oral, written, and multimodal storytelling. By analyzing learning that occurs at the intersection of aging and immigration, her work suggests new pathways to community-based curriculum and educational policy. In this new project, Dr Balyasnikova nurtures the study with her expertise in critical analysis of the learning experiences of older adults to amplify community voices and to empower individuals to embrace their diverse and multifaceted identities.