Research Day 2017 was held on April 7 at our department’s home in Ponderosa Commons-Oak House and it has been a resounding success! The organising committee wishes to thank Dr. Michelle Stack for delivering the keynote speech, Dr. Cash Ahenakew for acknowledging the land we are on, and all faculty and students who presented and participated this year’s event. A big shout out also to the student volunteers on the organising committee who helped make this event possible: Nasim Peikazadi, Lena Ignatovich, and Jed Anderson. Thank you!

POSTERS

KEYNOTE

The Impact of University Rankings on What Counts as Knowledge and Who Counts
Dr. Michelle Stack, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Studies

We only need to look at the websites of universities to see the importance rankings are accorded. A multitude of studies point to the substantive methodological flaws and colonial underpinnings of rankings. Other studies point to the impact of rankings on equity and who and what is deemed world class.

University leaders often recognize the limitations of rankings, but also speak about being in a Catch 22 situation regarding the necessity to promote or mitigate their university’s positioning. To ignore rankings is to become invisible and in a competitive funding context this seems dangerous, but to acquiesce can lead to a focus on branding in place of the university as a place for free and challenging thought.

A critique of rankings is the first part of the presentation, but the aim of the presentation is to talk about how we might expand conversations about who and what counts in higher education.

PROGRAMME SUMMARY

Individual Papers

A comparative and critical discourse analysis of three public bilingual programs in BC

Caroline Locher-Lo (EDST)

Alternative food movements and the politics of difference: Making meaning with food stories in Renfrew-Collingwood

Stephanie Lim (EDST)

Differential consciousness of Chinese immigrant women in Canada

Yinan Zheng (EDST)

Everyday life as political learning spaces through popular art: Three examples in stand-up comedy.

Gabriella Maestrini (EDST)

Meeting, encountering, and facing the other in educational relations

Áurea Vericat & Dr. Claudia Ruitenberg (EDST)

“Moving up” through negotiations: Upward mobility of Cambodian women from poor family origins

Vicheth Sen (EDST)

Teacher’s freedom of expression in Canada: Exploring policies and the legal landscape

Tatiana Britto (EDST)

Panel Sessions

Constructing research at the intersection of migration and education: A panel of four explorers
Discussant: Dr. Hongxia Shan, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Studies

Panelists: Rachel Goossen, Caroline Locher-Lo, Nasim Peikazadi, & Saimou Zhang (EDST)

Hegel and Education
Moderator: Dr. Sam Rocha, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies

Panelists: Dan Clegg (ECPS), Fernando Murillo (EDCP), Adi Burton (HDLC), Ashenafi Alemu (EDST), Julie Farrell (independent scholar), & Jed Anderson (EDST)

Insider/outsider: Coming to know the Other, coming to know ourselves
Discussant: Dr. Shauna Butterwick, Professor Emeritus, Department of Educational Studies

Panelists: Omer Aijazi, & Sarah McCabe (EDST)

“What we planned to present before the ban”
Chair: Dr. Amy Metcalfe, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Studies

Education and state securitzation: Unraveling the false promises of ontological security

Sharon Stein & Dr. Vanessa Andreotti (EDST)

Researching Muslims under Trump Ban: Embracing the public, rethinking the critical

Neila Miled

(Un)equal spaces in higher education: Exploring a university in British Columbia, Canada

Bayan Qutub, Bernard Chan, & Lauren Oakley (EDST)

Workshops

Exploring embodied pedagogy to study communication across our differences
Hosted by: Shayna Hornstein (EDST)

Challenging well-meaning assumptions about Muslims
Hosted by: Rabia Mir & Sharon Stein (EDST)