The interdisciplinary master’s degree in community engagement, social change, and equity gives graduate students access to the expertise of diverse, nationally and internationally recognized researchers from a variety of faculties and disciplines in a coherent, thematic framework.

Graduates of the program will come away with a nuanced understanding of:

• Community Based Participatory Research and related methodologies, such as Participatory Action Research and Collaborative Inquiry
• Conceptual and philosophical underpinnings of community engagement
• Issues related to voice, social justice, and inclusion
• Ontology – how people relate to each other and to the spaces and places they find themselves in – and epistemology – how it is that we come to know each other and the objects and environments with which we interact

Program milestones

• Establishing a faculty supervisory committee
• Completing coursework
• Preparing, presenting, and defending a thesis research proposal
• Completing thesis research and writing, and defending the work

Coursework requirements

18 credits of coursework are required, including:

• Proseminar in Interdisciplinary Studies (IGS 524)
• Theme Seminar in Community Engagement, Social Change, and Equity (IGS 586)
• One research methods course
• Additional coursework, selected in consultation with the student’s supervisor

The PhD degree is centred on conducting original, cutting-edge research in areas related to community engagement, social change, and equity. Graduates of the PhD program are prepared for careers requiring advanced independent research and teaching in academia, government, and industry.

Program milestones

• Establishing a faculty supervisory committee
• Selecting and completing coursework
• Preparing, presenting, and defending a thesis research proposal
• Passing an oral candidacy exam
• Completing thesis research and writing, and defending the work

Coursework requirements

Twelve credits of coursework are required. These will be selected in collaboration with the student’s supervisory committee.

sarah buffett (martin)

MA Student 

Sarah is Cree-Métis scholar with roots in the Qu’Appelle Valley of Saskatchewan. She has been living on Okanagan (Syilx) territory since 2010, and is currently an MA student in Interdisciplinary Studies under the theme of Community Engagement, Social Change, and Equity. After completing her undergraduate degree at UBCO, Sarah sought several years of professional community-engaged work, and  gathered a breadth of experience through many projects that ultimately led her back to UBC Okanagan to pursue another degree. Since 2015, Sarah has completed research in Indigenous community health, community homelessness, then establishing the Start Fresh Project–a social enterprise that created pathways for individuals with multiple barriers to employment to food and agri-sector careers. In 2020, Sarah transitioned to the regional food security sector, and became a founding member of the Vinica Education Society, a group providing training to BC’s BIPOC youth that builds equity, diversity, and inclusion within wine industry leadership. Sarah’s overarching program of research centres Indigenous communities’ engagement with traditional food systems and modern food practices to create food security as an act of sovereignty for new generations. Her work is being co-supervised by Dr. Rachelle Hole and Dr. Leyton Schnellert.

Cara Basil

MA Student 

Cara Basil, Secwépemc from Bonaparte, is the granddaughter of Residential School Survivors Tom and Irene Basil and daughter of Elaine Basil. Cara has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Aboriginal Studies from Thompson Rivers University. Her professional contributions began as an Elected Councillor of Bonaparte, and expanded to leading initiatives in Community Planning, Education, and Health. These experiences influenced her research interests in trauma and healing, community development, and building capacity in healthcare within First Nations. Cara is excited to support the Nav-CARE project under the supervision of Dr. Barbara Pesut, looking at enhancing palliative care in Indigenous communities. In her spare time, Cara enjoys fostering holistic wellness, practicing Secwépemc culture and language, and spending time on the land.

Jenna Christianson-Barker

PhD Student 

Jenna is currently a Faculty Member of the Disability and Community Studies Department at Douglas College, focused on preparing practitioners dedicated to thoughtful and dignity filled supports. Through a variety of professional roles, she has had the opportunity to lead federal employment initiatives, sit on national working groups, identify and build on gaps in service, collaborate with both federal and provincial government, participate in and inform research, and create and deliver academic programming. These varied opportunities have resulted in a unique understanding of the value of diversity and a true passion for workplace inclusion. She is pursuing a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies, Community Engagement, Social Change and Equity. Applying an emancipatory approach through a disability justice lens, her research focus intends to explore the experiences, interactions, and related impacts on co-workers of individuals with intellectual, and developmental disabilities.

Emily comeau

PhD Student 

Emily’s doctoral research seeks to answer the question: can digital spaces and digital tools be used in land-based approaches to language revitalization? Following the principles of Indigenist, relational, and decolonizing methodologies, Emily investigates the potential roles that digital technologies can play in facilitating land-based language learning. Emily intends to conduct a series of interviews with language champions across Canada and internationally in order to learn about their perspectives on the use of digital technologies in land-based approaches to language learning. In the second phase of her research, Emily is hoping to work with Nsyilxcn language learners and instructors to collaboratively develop digital tools for land-based language learning that can be directly applied in local language revitalization initiatives.

kelsey darnay

PhD Student 

Kelsey is an Anishinaabe Kwe with band membership in Garden River First Nation. She completed her MA at Trent University writing a MRP titled “Exploring Gladue and its Relationship to the Overrepresentation of Indigenous People Incarcerated in Canada.” Currently, she is completing a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies: Community Engagement, Social Change and Equity focusing on Indigenous Restorative Justice (RJ) practices as an alternative to incarceration. Specifically comparing nation-specific RJ programs to urban-Indigenous RJ programs and lowering recidivism rates. Kelsey is working from an Indigenous perspective of colonization and its impacts using a decolonizing lens informed by post-colonial theory and critical theory to complete this work. Research focus: Indigenous Restorative Justice practices, decolonization, Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous methodologies in research, community-engaged research, postcolonial theory.

bonny lynn donovan

PhD Student

Bonny Lynn is a Saskatchewan Métis woman with ancestral ties to one of the first Métis settlements in the prairie province. She completed her BEd at the University of Calgary in 1993 and her MEd at Simon Fraser University in 2009. Bonny Lynn has a passion for teaching Kindergarten and has been with SD 67 (Okanagan-Skaha) since 1999. She is pursuing her IGS PhD in Community Engagement, Social Change, and Equity, while on academic leave with her school district. Bonny Lynn works both as a Research Assistant, supervised by Drs. Jeannette Armstrong (UBCO) and Leyton Schnellert (UBCV), and as the Community Liaison Coordinator for the Enhancing Ecosystem Sustainability: A Syilx/Settler Science Collaboration Eminence Fund Research Project. Bonny Lynn was awarded a University Graduate Fellowship for the 2020-2021 school year. Her research is an interdisciplinary qualitative inquiry that draws from Indigenous studies, education, and ecological sustainability. Her research is a community-based participatory action Ecoliteracy research project with Syilx/Okanagan early learners and their first teachers.

Michelle hewitt

PhD Student 

Michelle Hewitt is a disability activist in the Central Okanagan, BC. Michelle was a school principal until 2008, when an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis brought that career to an end. As she now views life from a wheelchair, she is constantly struck by the inequities disabled people face. Unsatisfied with the status quo, she works to advance systemic change as a volunteer with a number of disability advocacy groups. Michelle realized the need to hone her activist arguments so initially took courses with the Disability Studies department of Ryerson University. With the fire for academia re-lit, Michelle is now pursuing her PhD, where she is researching care options for working aged disabled people with progressive illness. Typically, this all takes place from her bed, with the company of her two Bernese Mountain dogs.

cakwəm – Jennifer Lewis

PhD Student 

cakwəm is a syilx woman, mother, auntie and helper from snpinktn – Penticton and nkmplqs – head of the lake (near Vernon). Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Indigenous Social Work and is currently a first year PhD student in UBC Okanagan’s Interdisciplinary Studies program. She has worked with the Okanagan Nation Alliance for the last 14 years and is currently the Wellness Manager. She is deeply committed to the wellbeing of her people and healing from the atrocities of on-going acts of colonization. Research interests: sqilxwchout – syilx ways of being and knowing- syilx mental health and healing – syilx child and family – syilx social structure and methods of inquiry and dialogue.

Rifah Rafia Monir

MA Student

Rifah is a social researcher and activist from Bangladesh. Her master’s thesis explores the politics of language among Rohingya refugees and their educational curriculum in Bangladesh. Through interviews and policy analysis, she is examining the ideologies behind Bangladesh’s language policy for the Rohingya people and the potentiality of including their mother language, Rohingya, in their educational curriculum. She is the Vice-President of an NGO in Bangladesh, Center for Tajuddin Ahmad Research and Activism (CTARA), and also the Associate Editor of CTARA Journal. Her publications include a journal article on RMG labour unrest in Bangladesh and a report on the minimum wage system for the Ministry of Labour and Employment in Bangladesh. At UBC, she is serving as the Coordinator of the South Asia Research Cluster and as a member of the Graduate Student Advisory Council. She also works as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Graduate Research Assistant.

Fernanda Novoa

MA Student

Fernanda Novoa is a medical doctor turned graduate student and migrant rights’ activist, currently immersed in her master’s studies in unceded Syilx territory. A rock-climbing enthusiast, she’s as passionate about the outdoors as she is about advocating for health equity.

Originally from Mexico, Fernanda started her career as a physician serving underprivileged communities. The health disparities she encountered sparked a shift in her career towards confronting these systemic issues, leading her into the realm of community-engaged research. Her current work explores the experiences of Mexican migrant agricultural workers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in the Okanagan, under Dr. Joan Bottorff’s supervision. Fernanda is currently a volunteer with organizations like RAMA and KCR, and a member of the Alliance for Gender Justice Migration, a Canadian advocacy group.

While missing her family and Mexican food, she remains committed to addressing health disparities while exploring the Canadian outdoors.

Adriane peak

MA Student

Adriane is an entrepreneur, enterprising psychological anthropologist, and wannabe triathlete. With a Bachelor of Arts from UBCO and minor in Psychology, Adriane’s master’s thesis examines the cultural environment of mental health support systems for First Responders in the Okanagan.  Adriane’s background in small business is multi-faceted and combined with her love for psychological and medical anthropology has led her to establish a local non-profit to engage in community-based research projects with purpose.  When she is not working, volunteering, or writing, Adriane is looking for a new place to run, bike, swim, or hike with her dog.

Emily Kaakyo Rubooga

MA Student

Emily’s research interests are varied.  In Behavioural Science, focusing on the intricacies of framing in social communication and public engagement, Emily’s interests include advocacy, social mobilization, and social and behavioral change communication. In Implementation Science, the science of delivering social interventions, Emily’s research facilitates the uptake of evidence-based practice and ensures that research findings are delivered into the hands of grassroots practitioners and policymakers.

Emily’s research ensures that gender-sensitive approaches are used in designing and delivering social interventions in order to promote equity and human development. Emily is committed to the facilitation and promotion of community-based approaches to improve human services and health care systems.

Emily’s interests also include: engaging communities amidst polarization; civil society capacity strengthening and organizational learning for sustained impact; qualitative research; East Africa

Jo Scofield

MA Student

Jo Scofield (they/them) is an anthropologist, reproductive rights activist, and avid gamer working and studying in unceded Syilx territory. Jo received their Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from UBCO and is now pursuing a Master of Arts in the CESCE theme supervised by Dr. Susan Frohlick. Jo’s master’s work focuses on the adoption of inclusive language in pro-choice and reproductive justice activism. This project takes an explicitly trans inclusive, reproductive justice approach and was motivated by experiences volunteering with groups involved in pro-choice and abortion related activism.

To examine the work of previous UBC Okanagan graduate students, search on cIRcle, the University’s digital repository for research and teaching materials.

As a domain of scholarship, creative activity, and teaching, the Community Engagement, Social Change & Equity theme is wide-ranging and interdisciplinary in nature. CESCE encourages graduate students to become well-rounded scholars, educators, and public intellectuals. During their degree, students will have the opportunity to conduct original research, learn to become effective educators, and work as Teaching Assistants, as well as acquire knowledge in the professional practices of writing for publication, academic CV development, grant writing, networking, and community-engaged research skills.

MASTER OF ARTS (MA) APPLICANTS 

Applicants to the master’s program are expected to hold:

• the academic equivalent of a four-year bachelor’s degree from UBC, with a B+ (76%) average or better in their third- or fourth-year classes, or
• at least 12 credits in third- and fourth-year classes in their intended field of study with an A (80%) or better average.

Applicant background training must be sufficient for advanced work in their chosen field.

DOCTORAL (PHD) APPLICANTS 

PhD applicants will normally have a master’s degree in a related field, with a B+ (76%) average or better, and clear evidence of research ability or potential. Applicant background training must be sufficient for advanced work in their chosen field.

MORE INFORMATION

Visit the UBC Okanagan Academic Calendar* for full admission and program requirements information. The calendar is a comprehensive guide to all programs, courses, services, and academic policies at the University of British Columbia.

* In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct. 

MASTER OF ARTS (MA) APPLICANTS 

Applicants to the master’s program are expected to:

• hold the academic equivalent of a four-year bachelor’s degree from UBC
• demonstrate superior academic standing

Applicant background training must be sufficient for advanced work in their chosen field.

Applicants from a university outside Canada at which English is not the primary language of instruction must present evidence of competency to pursue studies in the English language prior to being extended an offer of admission. Acceptable English language proficiency tests for applicants to graduate studies are listed in the Academic Calendar.

DOCTORAL (PHD) APPLICANTS 

PhD applicants are expected to hold the academic equivalent of a two-year master’s degree from UBC in a related field and to demonstrate superior academic standing. Applicant background training must be sufficient for advanced work in their chosen field.

Applicants from a university outside Canada at which English is not the primary language of instruction must present evidence of competency to pursue studies in the English language prior to being extended an offer of admission. Acceptable English language proficiency tests for applicants to graduate studies are listed in the Academic Calendar.

MORE INFORMATION

Visit the UBC Okanagan Academic Calendar* for full admission and program requirements information. The calendar is a comprehensive guide to all programs, courses, services, and academic policies at the University of British Columbia.

* In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.

Required Grades and Credential Guide

Grades and degree credentials required by UBC vary by country. Search the Required Grades and Credential Guide—a guide to assist international students in estimating their eligibility.

International Advisors

An international student advisor can answer questions about immigration, medical insurance, and the transition to UBC’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna, BC. Visit the Global Engagement Office’s website to meet the team.

DYNAMIC CITY

UBC’s Okanagan campus borders the dynamic city of Kelowna, a hub of economic development with a population of about 150,000 people—the fourth fastest growing population in Canada. In fact, the Okanagan Valley is rated one of the best communities in Canada to grow your business.

More than 160 buses travel daily from campus to key locations such as Kelowna’s cultural district and thriving downtown waterfront. The campus is two minutes from the Kelowna International Airport, one of the top 10 busiest airports in Canada.

UBC Okanagan is situated within the First Nations territory of the Okanagan Nation, whose spirit of stewardship for the land is reflected in the university’s respect for sustainability.

NATURAL BEAUTY

A diverse natural region with sandy beaches, beautiful farms, vineyards and orchards, and snow-capped mountains, the Okanagan Valley features sweeping stretches of lakeside and endless mountain trails for biking and hiking.

Check out this 360-degree video: Kelowna From Above (best viewed using desktop Chrome or Firefox or YouTube’s mobile app).

CAMPUS HOUSING

Full-time UBC Okanagan students can live in residence, which offers modern living with easy access to academic and personal support. Residences are surrounded by hiking and biking trails, plus panoramic views of the campus and valley.

• Student Residence
• Important Housing Dates

OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING

• Living Off Campus Resources
• Kelowna Off Campus Student Housing Facebook group*

* UBC does not verify or endorse information shared on this third-party website, which is offered here as a public resource only.

College of Graduate Studies: CoGS offers orientation events to support you in your first steps as a graduate student at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Stay active: Take advantage of the many opportunities to get involved and play—from workout space in the new Hangar Fitness and Wellness Centre and our 1,561 square-metre gymnasium, to athletic courts, intramurals, fitness classes, and nationally ranked varsity athletics. Have a ball in Sports and Recreation.

Relax: The Graduate Collegium is a gathering place where grad students can hang out, eat lunch, spend time with their fellow students, and attend or host special events. The lounge-style room is open seven days and week and is outfitted with comfortable furniture, kitchen facilities, and individual and group-work spaces.

College of Graduate Studies: Your hub for administrative support and such things as graduate workshops for professional development and for assisting you from the admissions process through to your graduation.

Centre for Scholarly Communication: Supports graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, staff, and faculty in disseminating their research. The Library’s CSC provides one-on-one consultations and workshops, including writing support for theses, dissertations, journal articles, and grant proposals.

Centre for Teaching and Learning: Provides support related to teaching, TA training, and use of technology in educational programming.