Lydia Pandian

Lydia Pandian is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences (Social Work), Faculty of Arts at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John. She completed her PhD in Social Work at McMaster University as a recipient of the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Doctoral Research Award. She also holds an M.Phil. and an M.A. in Social Work from the Madras School of Social Work, University of Madras, and a B.A. in Sociology from Stella Maris College, University of Madras.

Lydia's research focuses on immigrant and racialized motherhood, transnational parenting, and the health and well-being of migrant families. Drawing on decolonial, feminist, and Global South perspectives, she examines how migration, race, gender, patriarchy, colonialism, and social inequality shape experiences of care, belonging, and social inclusion. Her CIHR-funded doctoral research, India to Canada: The Socio-Economic Impact on the Emotional Health of Indian Immigrant Mothers, explored the experiences of newcomer Indian mothers in the Greater Toronto Area. Through this work, she developed the Kolam-Based Dialogical Session, an arts-based qualitative method inspired by the South Indian tradition of Kolam. Her broader scholarship includes research on gender, patriarchy, colonialism, social exclusion, and participatory research with transgender communities in India.

At UNB, Lydia teaches across the Bachelor of Social Work program and has developed and taught courses including Introduction to Social Work, Intercultural Safety and Communication, Social Work Theory and Ethics, Social Work Research, and Social Work with Immigrants: Health, Racism and Advocacy. Her teaching is informed by critical, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive approaches, and she is actively involved in student mentorship and field education supervision. Prior to joining UNB, she served for five years as an Assistant Professor at the Madras School of Social Work in Chennai, India, where she received an Outstanding Award for Teaching and Research.

Her research has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), CEWIL Canada, the Government of India, and the Government of Tamil Nadu. She currently leads a Harrison McCain Foundation Young Scholars Award project examining media narratives, racism, and mental health help-seeking among racialized international students.

A Registered Social Worker with the New Brunswick Association of Social Workers, Lydia serves on the Association's Ad Hoc Ethics Committee. Her research and participants' Kolam artwork have been exhibited publicly, and she has facilitated community arts workshops that share research findings through creative and participatory approaches.

Research interests

• Immigrant and racialized motherhood
• Transnational parenting and family life
• Migration, settlement, and social inclusion
• Health and well-being among migrant communities
• Arts-based and visual methodologies
• Decolonial and Global South approaches to research
• Gender, patriarchy, and colonialism
• Anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice
• Community-engaged and participatory research

Selected publications

Pandian, L., & Grigge, E. (2025). Reflecting on community-based research with the transgender community in South India. Transformative Social Work.

Pandian, L. (2025). From Margins to Mainstream: Participatory Research with India's Transgender Community. In Gender and Contemporary Issues.

Pandian, L. (2024). Gender, caste, and colonialism: The historical construction of Indian womanhood. Journal of Gender and Power

Pandian, L. (2021). The detrimental dialogue between Indian women, beauty discourse, caste system, and Indian feminism. Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India.

Pandian, L. (2020). Patriarchy and beauty: The power over Indian women. Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India

Pandian, L. (In Press). The Structural Production of Poverty: Indian Immigrant Mothers, Labour Market Discrimination and the Politics of Social Exclusion. In Handbook on Poverty and Social Work: Global Perspectives and Policy Responses. Springer.

Pandian, L. (In Press). Matrilineal Family Saga Goddesses and Grihalakshmis: Uncovering Feminist Histories of Power in Ancient India. Central European University Press

Pandian, L., & Nezhadhossein, E. (In Press). Racialized Motherhood and the Making of Disability: Global North and South Epistemologies in Indian Immigrant Mothers' Narratives. ICCE-26.

Selected conference presentations

Pandian, L. (2026). Art as Decolonial Resilience: Visual and Narrative World-Making Among Indian Immigrant Mothers in Ontario, Canada. International Association of Maternal Action + Scholarship (IAMAS).

Pandian, L., & Grigge, E. (2026). Creative Resilience: Arts-Based and Visual Practices of Indian Immigrant Mothers in Ontario. University of Florida & MOM Museum

Pandian, L., & Grigge, E. (2025). Global South Indigenous Knowledge in Storytelling. 12th International Digital Storytelling Conference, Brazil.

Pandian, L., & Grigge, E. (2025). Into the Ethics of Doing Research. CWSDN, York University, Toronto.

Pandian, L. (2025). Quiet Strength as Decolonial Maternal Praxis: Creative World-Making Among Indian Immigrant Mothers in Ontario, Canada. Research Week, University of New Brunswick.

Pandian, L. (2024). Kolam and Indian Immigrant Mothers in Ontario. Early Career Research Week, University of New Brunswick.