bio

I am a sociocultural and medical anthropologist and interdisciplinary scholar. Through my research and collaborations, I aim to advance critical conversations about aging and disability, gender and sexuality, and wellbeing and “care”, broadly understood. My work is grounded in a commitment to examining and challenging cisheterosexism, ageism, ableism, and other normative social dynamics that shape everyday lives, and engages closely with critical disability studies, critical gerontology, and queer and trans studies.

Among different projects on the go, my postdoctoral research Stranger Than Family: Decision-Making and Ethics of Substitution for People Living with Dementia Going it Alone examines how ideas about capacity, consent, and decision-making affect people who are facing dementia alone and non-family, non-friend others who become their substitute decision-makers. This project builds on key findings and questions from my doctoral research, which focused on the social dynamics and norms shaping the lives of LGBTQ older adults residing in long-term care homes and in non-institutional settings in Toronto, Canada.

Alongside university-based scholarship, I have worked on a range of team-based research and knowledge mobilization initiatives in community-based research settings. Read more about my research & collaborations, teaching, publications, and talks.

I completed an MA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Toronto, with collaborative specializations in sexual diversity studies and aging, palliative, & supportive care across the life course. My undergraduate degree from McGill University is in Anthropology and Art History.

To get in touch: celeste.pang@mail.utoronto.ca