From left to right: Charlie Sutherland, Lara Ben Zvi, Ariana Revnic, Charlie Sutherland, Isabel Machado
On February 1, 2026 Ariana Revnic, Lara Ben Zvi, and Charlie Sutherland presented a panel at the EngiQueers Canada 2026 Conference. All three are part of our Critical Studies in Sexuality (CSIS) program, and more about each of their work is included below.
The panel was titled “Joy as Resistance: Community, Accountability, and Pleasure,” and the students discussed exactly that. They spoke about the practice of joy as resistance, and how it can be used as a tool in the context of community building, accountability, and the politics of pleasure in building a world beyond the norm. The panel was moderated by Dr. Isabel Machado (professor at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice), and explored the inherent liberatory possibility of joy amidst narratives of despair and suffering. Paying special attention to the importance of theorizing joy in a queer context, the panelists examined the application of joy as resistance in engineering.
Meet the CSIS Students
Charlie Sutherland
Charlie Sutherland is a queer and trans undergraduate student majoring in First Nations and Indigenous Studies, and minoring in Critical Studies in Sexuality. His research interests include trans representational studies, archival justice, female masculinities and critical joy studies.
Lara Ben Zvi
Lara Ben Zvi is an aroace and trans undergrad student majoring in Gender, Race, and Social Justice with a minor in Critical Studies in Sexuality. His work centers around the potential for an
asexual, trans, and disability forward society through temporary relations and experience like those found in BDSM theory & Critical Joy studies.
Ariana Revnic
Ariana Revnic is a queer undergrad studying Psychology and Critical Studies in Sexuality. Her research interests include the politics of pleasure, kink, and other intimate negotiations and practices. Her current work looks to bringing a critical sexuality studies lens to psychological constructions of sex and intimacy.
