Meet Teaching Innovation Award Winner Mohit Dudeja
This Lakehead Instructor Helps Students Advocate for a Better World
"I love teaching because it enables me to transform learning into a creative, political, and collective experience," says Faculty of Education instructor Mohit Dudeja.
The PhD candidate, researcher, educator, activist and psychotherapist won a Lakehead University Teaching Innovation Award in November 2025.
Mohit accepts his Teaching Innovation Award from Provost and VP Academic Dr. Gillian Balfour and Lakehead President Dr. Gillian Siddall.
The award celebrates Mohit's broader teaching accomplishments in the Department of Graduate Studies and Research in Education, as well as his inventive approach to the Activism in Education graduate course.
"It felt really amazing to win because Activism in Education is one of the best courses I've developed and taught," says Mohit, who moved to Canada from Delhi, India, to continue his studies.
Shaking Things Up
Mohit's ability to connect with his students is at the core of his methods.
"Everything I do, including my research and my teaching, comes from my own lived experiences," he says.
"As a child—and even as an undergrad and postgrad student in India—studying was a burden because it was boring and full of pressure. So, when I got an opportunity to teach, I thought, 'I want to make it fun.'"
"I have been a fighter from an early age, and the battles I have lived through shape how I teach," Mohit Dudeja says.
In the Activism in Education course—where all students come from outside Canada—Mohit deliberately designed learning experiences that extended beyond lectures and traditional assessments.
He blended theoretical concepts with practical experience by integrating arts, outdoor experiential learning, multimedia, and imaginative activities.
The goal was to give students a creative platform to examine topics such as gender equality, racism, and discrimination in Canada.
As a culminating project, Mohit proposed an ambitious idea: a collaboratively written and performed theatrical production that would bring students' analyses to life.
"I invited the students to create a script for a dramatic performance. Every one of them agreed. They were really excited to embark on an unconventional learning adventure."
An Award-Winning Performance
Mohit's students chose to put on a play exploring how Canada's changing immigration policies are affecting the lives of international students.
Education professor Dr. Gerald Walton nominated Mohit for the Teaching Innovation Award after sitting in on a dress rehearsal.
Above, students perform the last scene of the Activism in Education play. Their compelling performances brought the audience to its feet. "Knowing that my teaching helped students feel represented, validated, and less alone is something I carry with me and remain proud of," Mohit says.
Dr. Walton was impressed by both the performances he saw and the solutions the play proposed—solutions that can be implemented in classrooms, schools, and communities.
The production was performed in Lakehead's Bora Laskin Auditorium on November 21, 2025.
"When the play ended, the room echoed with claps," Mohit says.
"Many of us, including me, were in tears. Students had just seen their struggles and unspoken truths reflected back at them.
International students who weren't enrolled in the course came up to me and said, 'Thank you for highlighting the harsh realities that we live every day.'"
An Impassioned Advocate
Mohit's commitment to activism extends to helping people battling mental health challenges.
It was an area he became interested in when he faced his own mental health challenges.
His experiences spurred him to join Lakehead groups and community projects and volunteer with Thunder Bay Counselling.
Since then, he's helped countless students.
He has also served as president of the Lakehead University Graduate Students' Association. In that role, he pushed for inclusive initiatives such as a queer graduate student circle and a peer support program, as well as a listening and sharing circle at the Student Health and Wellness Centre.
Mohit with his Activism in Education students.
"In the future, I see myself running a nonprofit and working for queer, BIPOC, and international student communities here in Canada and in India."
But Mohit has another, more immediate, dream.
"I come from a very humble background," he says. "I didn't have the resources to build something on my own. Becoming a tenure-track professor feels like the next step in continuing this work, and doing it sustainably."