Master of Arts (MA), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Faculty/School
Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
| Program | Components | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Master of Arts (MA) | Coursework and thesis | 24 months |
| Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | Coursework and dissertation | 48 months |
Why study Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity at UBC Okanagan?
This interdisciplinary degree is for students interested in community-engaged research, with a particular focus on social justice and social change. Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and related methodologies will form the foundation of the program. These approaches engage community stakeholders as part of a collaborative process, and recognize the unique strengths of all parties involved.
During the course of their research, students will examine the conceptual and philosophical underpinnings of community engagement, while also gaining practical experience working with communities. In pursuing this diverse field of study, students will have the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge, resources, and collaboration of four faculties and 10 departments.
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)
- Voice, Justice & Change (IGS 596)
- 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 dissertation research proposal
- Passing an oral candidacy exam
- Completing dissertation research and writing, and defending the work
Coursework requirements
12 credits are required for the PhD degree, including:
- Proseminar in Interdisciplinary Studies (IGS 524)
- Theme Seminar in Community Engagement, Social Change, and Equity Theme (IGS 586)
- Methods coursework (3 credits, selected in consultation with the student’s supervisor)
- Additional coursework (3 credits, selected in consultation with the student’s supervisor)
Research and Supervisors
Supervisors
Role:
Departments:
Search Keyword:
Jeannette Armstrong | Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Indigenous Knowledges, Indigenous Studies | jeannette.armstrong@ubc.ca | 250.807.8813 | LM4 633
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Indigenous philosophies; Okanagan Syilx thought and environmental ethics coded into Syilx literatures.
Courses & Teaching: Indigenous perspectives; traditional ecological methodologies
Shelly Ben-David, PhD | Associate Professor (Tenure) | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Social Work | shelly.ben-david@ubc.ca | 250-807-9434 | Landmark
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Research interests include: youth mental health (e.g. clinical high-risk to psychosis, first-episode psychosis, anxiety, depression); early intervention in mental health; identity development and mental illness; cultural, relational, and community-based approach to early psychosis; digital divide among youth; mental health service use decision-making equity; and youth engagement in research.
Lawrence D. Berg (On Leave) | Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Geography, Power, Conflict and Ideas | lawrence.berg@ubc.ca | 250.807.9392 | ART 368D
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Critical studies of neoliberalism; geographies of academic knowledge production; place and the politics of identity; postcoloniality; white supremacy.
Courses & Teaching: GEOG128 Introduction to Human Geography; GEOG359 Culture, Space and Politics; GEOG 474 Qualitative Research Methods; GEOG 480 Advanced Seminar in Critical Geography; IGS - Society, Space and Identity; IGS; Professional Development Seminar; IGS - Knowledge Production in the Social Sciences; IGS – Urban Theory.
Joan L. Bottorff, PhD, RN | Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, School of Nursing | joan.bottorff@ubc.ca | 250.317.0810 | Arts 153
Research Interests: Health promotion, health behaviour change, cancer prevention, smoking cessation, men's health, family health, knowledge translation
Courses & Teaching: Previous courses taught: NRSG 554 Advanced Research Methods, NRSG 581 Leadership in Knowledge Application and Translation, Qualitative Research
Supervisory Eligibility
MSN thesis and PhD Nursing co-supervisor or committee member (pending approval by the School of Nursing Graduate Program and College of Graduate Studies)
MSN (course work) Capstone Faculty Facilitator
Graduate Supervision (last 5 years)
Bawumia, Ali R. - MSN (thesis) - committee member (in progress)
Vignau, Fernanda - MA - Supervisor, 2023
Sharp, Paul, PhD - Committee member, 2021
MSN Capstone Faculty Facilitator (last 5 years)
Mitchell, P. - MSN (in progress)
Shukaliak, C. - MSN 2022
Sellinger, T. - MSN 2021
Taccayan, M. - MSN 2020
Watson, J. - MSN 2020
Jon Corbett | Department Head, Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Geography, Institute for Community Engaged Research (ICER), Sustainability (IGS) | jon.corbett@ubc.ca | 250.807.9348 | ART 267
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Geography; ethnobiology; cartography; exploration, facilitation and promotion of community and ecosystem-based models of land and resource use in communities in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and British Columbia, Canada
Courses & Teaching: Resource management policy and practice; the history of environmental thought; cartography and society
Jennifer Davis | Associate Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Faculty of Management | jennifer.davis@ubc.ca | 250.807.9507 | EME 4123
Graduate student supervisor
Courses & Teaching: Undergraduate Courses: Topic coverage includes operations management, health economics, clinically applied economic evaluation, multiple imputation of missing data, research methods, and biostatistics.
Graduate Courses: Topics taught include epidemiological methods (led problem-based learning groups), research methods in rehabilitation: taught multiple imputation of missing data, conducting systematic reviews and instructor for a web-based course – Quality of Life Program: A CIHR Training Program in Rehabilitation Research.
Sarah Dow-Fleisner, PhD | Associate Professor (Tenure) | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Social Work | sarah.dow-fleisner@ubc.ca | Landmark
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Development trajectories and resilient functioning of children and families in high-risk contexts; Parent-child and sibling relationships in families experiencing parental mental illness and substance use; Intervention and prevention programs for families and children; Utilization of advanced statistical methodology to examine complex social phenomenon.
Courses & Teaching: Courses:
SOCW525: Human Development for Clinical Social Work
SOCW553: Research Methods and Evidence in Clinical Social Work Practice
SWK382: Social Work Research Methods II
SWK707: Research for Social Work Practice
Directed Studies:
SOCW541: Directed Studies in Human Development in the context of forced family separation
SOCW541: Directed Studies in Research Methods and Statistical Analysis in Child Welfare Research
PSYO509: Directed Studies in Applied Mixed Methods Research
HMKN 545: Special Topics in Health and Exercise Sciences: Resilience and quality of life among survivors of intimate partner violence related brain injury
Mike Evans | Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Indigenous Knowledges | michael.evans@ubc.ca | LM4 634
Research Interests: Urban Aboriginal issues; Métis history and contemporary issues; Tonga, trans-national migration and globalization; regional food systems; Indigenous methodologies; participatory action research; community based research; and Island studies
Courses & Teaching: Globalization and Indigenous peoples
Alanaise Ferguson | Associate Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Indigenous Knowledges, Indigenous Studies | alanaise.ferguson@ubc.ca | LM4 627
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Qualitative, Mixed-Methods, Community-Engaged, and Decolonizing Research Methodologies; Applied research in First Nations Metis, and Inuit (FNMI) mental health, healing, and well-being; Oral First Nations Language Documentation and Revitalization; Intervention evaluation research in trauma repair and addictions reduction.
Courses & Teaching: Indigenous Research Methodologies; Residential Schools and Reconciliation; Indigenous Research Methods.
Sue Frohlick | Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, Global Studies | susan.frohlick@ubc.ca | 250.807.8525 | LM4 630
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Ethnographic writing, poetry; ethnographies of sound, hearing, listening; critical tourism studies; migration, subjectivities; feminist and sensory methodologies; community-based research; atmospheres.
Courses & Teaching: I teach courses in cultural anthropology and gender, women, and sexuality studies. Current UBC courses include: Tourism, Desire, Difference; Love, Marriage, Family: New Kinship Studies; Sounded Worlds; Okanagan Tourism and the Senses; Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Power 11: Everyday Life; Feminist Geographies of (Un)Belonging
David Geary (On Leave) | Associate Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Global Studies, Power, Conflict and Ideas | david.geary@ubc.ca | 250.807.8165 | LM4 631
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Buddhism; South Asia; geopolitics of heritage; space and place; pilgrimage; diaspora; transnational religious movements and networks; mobilities and critical tourism theory
Courses & Teaching: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology; Tourism, Desire and Difference; Anthropology of Religion; India in Motion: Ethnographic Perspectives; Ethnographic Research Methods; Debating Globalization; Tourism and the Senses
Judy Gillespie | Director | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Indigenous Knowledges, Social Work | judy.gillespie@ubc.ca | 250-807-8745
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Child welfare and the role of community in child and family well-being;
Mutli-sector collaboration to enhance Indigenous well-being;
Interprofessional expertise for child welfare practice;
The role of place in well-being;
The role of attachment to place in professional retention;
Place-based practice.
Courses & Teaching: The role of community in the promotion of child welfare
Sustainable community development
Interactions of people and place; the role of place in well-being
Expertise for interprofessional child welfare practice
University-community collaboration
Anita Girvan | Assistant Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, English and Cultural Studies, Sustainability (IGS) | anita.girvan@ubc.ca | CCS 347
Research Interests: Cultural Studies; Environmental Humanities; Political Ecology and Environmental Justice; Black and Indigenous Feminist Ecological Thought; Stories, Metaphor; Critical Canadian Studies
Courses & Teaching: CULT 101: Cultural Studies Practices; CULT 490: Identities and Power
John Graham | Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Power, Conflict and Ideas, Social Work, Sustainability (IGS) | john.graham@ubc.ca | 250-807-8738
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: social policy, diversity and social work, spirituality and social work, multicultural social work, and employee well being/ subjective well being (happiness), homelessness prevention research
Courses & Teaching: social policy, international social work, homelessness, research.
Allison Hargreaves, PhD | Associate Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, English, English and Cultural Studies, Global Studies, Indigenous Knowledges | allison.hargreaves@ubc.ca | 250.807.8446 | CCS 331
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Indigenous literatures and theory; critical settler colonial studies; place-based approaches to literary and cultural studies; decolonization and reconciliation as discourse and material practice.
Courses & Teaching: ENGL 154 – Indigenous Narrative; ENGL 234/ CULT 250 – Foundations: Indigenous Literature; ENGL 385/ CULT 351 – Settler Studies, Literature, and Culture; ENGL 473/ CULT 450 –Studies in Indigenous Literature and Criticism
ENGL 531A – Place and Power
Carla Hilario | Assistant Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Faculty of Health and Social Development, School of Nursing | carla.hilario@ubc.ca | UBCO Landmark Offices
Research Interests: Health equity; youth mental health; community resilience; implementation science.
Courses & Teaching: NRSG 502 - Research and Inquiry for Evidence-Based Nursing and Healthcare (Spring 2023)
Femke Hoekstra | Assistant Professor, CCDPM | Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Southern Medical Program | femke.hoekstra@ubc.ca
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Dr. Hoekstra’s implementation science research program focuses on improving (virtual) health services and care for equity-deserving groups in rural, remote and other isolated communities. Her research involves studying implementation processes of health innovations in real-world settings from different perspectives. To maximize the quality and impact of her work, she meaningfully engages research users as partners throughout the research process.
Courses & Teaching: Graduate Student Supervision “Experimental Medicine”, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Graduate Student Supervision “Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies”, UBC Okanagan
FLEX Student Supervision, MD Undergraduate Program, UBC
MEDD 421 Case-Based Learning, MD Undergraduate Program, Southern Medical Program, UBC
MEDI 504A Introduction in Implementation Science and Practice, Graduate Course in Experimental Medicine program, UBC
Rachelle Hole | Professor | Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship (CIIC), Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Faculty of Health and Social Development, Indigenous Knowledges, Social Work | rachelle.hole@ubc.ca | 250-807-8741 | ARTS 368
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Rachelle’s research programme is informed by two complementary streams: 1) a substantial focus on the socio-cultural practices that promote social inclusion and equity, and 2) a methodological focus on community based participatory research methods. Critical disability studies is central to the first stream informing Rachelle’s research in the area of community living and intellectual disability.
Mary Clare Kennedy | Assistant Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Social Work | maryclare.kennedy@ubc.ca | LM4-611
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Social-structural dimensions of health among people who use drugs;
Harm reduction; Public policy and health service evaluation
Courses & Teaching: SOCW 540D: Special Topics in Social Work Practice – Substance Use;
SOCW 553: Research Knowledge and Evidence in Clinical Social Work Practice
Elizabeth Keys, PhD | Assistant Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Global Studies, School of Nursing | Elizabeth.Keys@ubc.ca
Research Interests: Pediatric sleep; Parent-child interactions; Infant and parental mental health; eHealth and precision health; Community engagement; Community and public health nursing; Mixed methods; Knowledge synthesis; Integrated knowledge translation and implementation science
Gabrielle Legault | Assistant Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Indigenous Knowledges, Indigenous Studies | gabrielle.legault@ubc.ca | 250.807.8867 | LM4 628
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Métis in British Columbia; Métis history, identity and nationalism; Indigenous Identity and Representation; Place Identity; Decolonization; Inter-Indigenous Relations and Treaties; Critical Indigenous Studies; Indigenous geographies.
Courses & Teaching: Introduction to Decolonization; Métis People and Perspectives; Indigenous Studies Theory and Methodology; Indigenous Culture, Heritage, and Intellectual Property.
Eric Li, PhD | Associate Dean, Professional Graduate Programs; Associate Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Faculty of Management, Institute for Community Engaged Research (ICER), Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention (IHLCDP), Interdisciplinary Co-op Education, Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies (IGS), Survive and Thrive Applied Research (STAR) | eric.li@ubc.ca | 250.807.8853 | EME 4125
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Consumer culture; Social Innovation and social enterprise, Healthy living and well-being; Food consumption and food security; Digital economy, Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of People (IoP); Digital marketing and consumption, Ethical consumerism and prosocial behaviour, Corporate philanthropy, Circular and sustainable Fashion.
Courses & Teaching: MGMT220/320 Introduction to Marketing (undergraduate)
MGMT441 Marketing Strategy (undergraduate)
MGMT444 Marketing Research (undergraduate)
MGMT449A Digital and Social Media Marketing (undergraduate)
MGMT495 Directed Studies on Fashion Advertising (2012), Digital Consumption and Marketing (2013), Fashion and Cultural Heritage (2014), Family Identity and Consumption (2018)
MGMT536B – Enterprise and Innovation (Marketing module)
MGMT541 – Applied Research Methods
MGMT544A – Applied Project
IGS509 Directed Studies in Interdisciplinary Research Methods (graduate)
IGS515 Qualitative Methods for Management Research (graduate)
IGS520A Special Topics on Digital Marketing and Consumption (graduate)
IGS524 Applied Research Methods (graduate)
John Lyon | Assistant Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Indigenous Knowledges, Nsyilxcn Language Fluency (BNLF) | john.lyon@ubc.ca | 250.807.8215 | ART 368B
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Interior Salish Languages; Language Documentation and Revitalization; Salish Linguistics
Courses & Teaching: Nsyilxcn Fluency Program courses; Interior Salish linguistics
Virginie Magnat, PhD | Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, English and Cultural Studies, Global Studies, Indigenous Knowledges, Languages and World Literatures | virginie.magnat@ubc.ca | 250.807.8441 | CCS 368
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Performance Studies; Qualitative Research; Arts-Based Inquiry; Indigenous Ethico-Onto-Epistemologies; Collaborative Eco-Cultural Practices for Collective Healing and Renewal; Occitan Language Revitalization and Cultural Resurgence.
Courses & Teaching: Performance Studies; Qualitative Research; World Performance Traditions; Experimental and Intercultural Theatre; Physically-Based Performance Practice; Body-Voice Integration; Traditional Singing.
Fiona McDonald | Assistant Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Digital Arts and Humanities, Global Studies, Power, Conflict and Ideas | fiona.mcdonald@ubc.ca | 250.807.8127 | ASC 266
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Visual anthropology; anthropology of art; sensory ethnography; material culture; curatorial studies; museum studies; textiles; oral history; contemporary Indigenous art; informal science learning and the environment; anthropocene; water rights; open access and digital publishing; North America & Aotearoa New Zealand.
Courses & Teaching: Visual & media anthropology; arts-based ethnography; anthropology of art; fieldwork methodologies; cultural anthropology; ethnography.
Laura A. Meek | Assistant Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Global Studies, Power, Conflict and Ideas | laura.meek@ubc.ca | 250.807.8574 | ART 274B
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Pharmaceuticals; Counterfeits; Embodiment; Sensoriums; Feminist Science and Technology Studies; Medical Anthropology; Leprosy; Critical Global Health; Ontological Politics; Dreams; Temporality; Tanzania; East Africa; Indian Ocean Worlds; Hong Kong; Fugitivity; Black Studies; African Studies; Postcolonial Theory; Ethnography
Courses & Teaching: I teach courses on African and Africana studies; global health; embodiment and the anthropology of the body; feminist, anti-racist, and decolonial science and technology studies; and cultural and medical anthropology. Courses currently offered at UBC include:
• ANTH 100: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology;
• ANTH 227: Introduction to Medical Anthropology;
• ANTH 330: Psychological Distress, Mental Health, and Well-being;
• ANTH 354: Imagining Africa Otherwise;
• ANTH 400: History of Anthropology;
• ANTH 429: Global Health and International Development.
Lise Olsen | Associate Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, School of Nursing | lise.olsen@ubc.ca | 250-807-9180 | ART 164
Research Interests: child and family health promotion; inclusive recreation participation; safety and injury prevention; child development; well-being for children with neuro-developmental disabilities; community-based initiatives; online programs
Courses & Teaching: NRSG 507 - Quantitative Methods; NRSG 597 - Healthcare Capstone Practicum; NRSG 428/528 - Advanced Community Health Nursing
Colin Osmond | Assistant Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, History, Indigenous Knowledges | colin.osmond@ubc.ca | 250.807.8862 | ART 269
Research Interests: Indigenous History; Community-Engaged History; Settler Colonialism; Ethnohistory; Environmental History; Labour History; Public History
Courses & Teaching: HIST 300: History of Indigenous Peoples of Canada to 1876; HIST 301: History of Indigenous Peoples of Canada Since 1876; HIST 383A: Canadian Settler Colonialism
Barbara Pesut, PhD | Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, School of Nursing | barb.pesut@ubc.ca | 250-863-9843 | ASC 287
Research Interests: Palliative and end-of-life care; Medical Assistance in Dying; volunteer and peer navigation models; nursing philosophy
Courses & Teaching: Nursing 580: Philosophy of Nursing Science
Katrina Plamondon, PhD | Associate Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Faculty of Health and Social Development, Indigenous Knowledges, School of Nursing | katrina.plamondon@ubc.ca | 250-807-8681
Research Interests: Connecting knowledge with action for health equity; global health; knowledge translation science; critical pedagogy; methods for relational, responsive research; dialogue-based research; arts-informed research; transformational research
Courses & Teaching: KTEA Knowledge to Equity Action Professional Development Course (Winter 2024)
NURS 4429 Advanced Global Health Practice (Fall 2023)
HEAL 307 (Winter 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
CCGHR Knowledge Translation Summer Course (Summer 2020, 2021)
Christine Schreyer | Associate Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Digital Arts and Humanities, Indigenous Knowledges | christine.schreyer@ubc.ca | 250.807.9314 | ART 368C
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Linguistic anthropology; First Nations language and culture; land claims and Aboriginal Title; ethnolinguistics, ethnohistory, social memory, oral history, landscape, and traditional land use studies; works with First Nations communities on language issues such as language maintenance and revitalization of endangered languages
Courses & Teaching: Linguistic anthropology; language documentation and revitalization
Sana Shahram, PhD, MPH | Assistant Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Faculty of Health and Social Development, Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention (IHLCDP), School of Nursing | sana.shahram@ubc.ca
Research Interests: Health Equity; Critical Population Health; Health Systems Transformation; Anti-colonial & anti-racist public health systems; Public Health; Mental Health and Substance Use; Maternal & Child Health; Complex Systems Change; Community- & Indigenous Nation- Led Research
Onyx Sloan Morgan | Assistant Professor | Community, Culture and Global Studies, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Indigenous Knowledges, Sustainability (IGS) | onyx.sloanmorgan@ubc.ca | ART 252
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Critical human geography; resource extraction; queer geographies; settler colonialism; youth-led research and social movements; modern treaties
Courses & Teaching: GEOG 217: Geographies of BC; GEOG 358: Gender, Place & Culture; GEOG 460: Critical Geographies of the Anthropocene; GEOG/GWST 426: Queer Geographies; IGS 550: Voice, Justice, Change
Laura Struik, PhD | Associate Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, School of Nursing | laura.struik@ubc.ca | 2508079972
Research Interests: Nicotine dependence; cancer prevention; tobacco control; youth and young adults; health promotion and gender-sensitive approaches; behavior change using digital technologies
Courses & Teaching: NRSG 500: Nursing Knowledge
NRSG 597: Capstone Practicum Course
Roger Sugden (On Leave) | Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Faculty of Management | roger.sugden@ubc.ca | EME 4145
Carlos Teixeira | Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Geography | carlos.teixeira@ubc.ca | 250.807.9313 | ART 268
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Urban and social geography with an emphasis on migration processes; community formation, housing, and neighborhood change; ethnic entrepreneurship and the social structure of Canadian cities; gentrification; racialization in the city; class segregation; urban form.
Courses & Teaching: Geography 128: Human Geography: Space, Place and Community
Geography 129: Human Geography: Resources, Development and Society
Geography 351: Urban Social Geography
Geography 353: Geographies of Migration and Settlement (Portugal and the Azores/2013)
Geography 371: Research Methods in Human Geography
Geography 454: Geographies of Housing (Romania and Bulgaria/2012)
Geography 458: Population Geography
Paul van Donkelaar, PhD | Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Faculty of Health and Social Development, School of Health and Exercise Sciences | paul.vandonkelaar@ubc.ca | 250.863.3230 | ART 174
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Dr. van Donkelaar's research focuses on gaining a better understanding of traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to intimate partner violence.
Dr. van Donkelaar is currently not accepting any new graduate students.
Courses & Teaching: HES 480: Concussion
John Wagner | Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Power, Conflict and Ideas, Sustainability (IGS) | john.wagner@ubc.ca | 250.807.9318 | ART 262
Research Interests: Environmental anthropology; political ecology; water governance; food security and food sovereignty, local ecological knowledge, conservation and development, language documentation, Okanagan Valley, Columbia River Basin and the Columbia River Treaty, Papua New Guinea.
Courses & Teaching: ANTH 245 Culture and Environment; ANTH 401 Contemporary Theory in Anthropology; ANTH 345 Living in the Anthropocene; ANTH 445 Political Ecology; IGS 586 Community Engagement, Social Change, and Equity.
Shannon Ward | Assistant Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Global Studies, Indigenous Knowledges | shannon.ward@ubc.ca | 250.807.8695 | ART 270
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Linguistic Anthropology; language acquisition and socialization; language shift; language endangerment; heritage language education; language documentation; oral history; Tibet and the Himalayas; modern China; South Asian diasporas; migration
Courses & Teaching: Linguistic Anthropology; multilingualism; language documentation and revitalization.
Shawn Wilson | Associate Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Indigenous Knowledges, Indigenous Studies, Power, Conflict and Ideas | shawn.wilson@ubc.ca | 250.807.8015 | LM4 629
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Indigenist Methodologies; Social-Emotional Wellbeing; Culture and Health
Facilities and Labs
Our facilities include:
Students and Alumni
Meet our students
The Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity theme currently includes students at the M.A. and Ph.D. levels. View our list of students and alumni profiles for you to discover more about them and their research.
Connect with your peers
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) cares about the experiential learning and well-being of our students, and about fostering their academic and research excellence. Follow our Faculty Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date on events and connect with our community on campus and beyond.
Theses and Dissertations
Find all UBC Okanagan student publications on the University’s digital repository for research and teaching materials.
EXPLORE STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Careers and Outcomes
The interdisciplinary nature of the program will prepare students to continue their academic research in a wide range of fields, or for careers in multiple industries.
- Teaching and research institutions
- Private-sector organizations and corporations
- Public-sector government and crown corporations
- Not-for-profit, charitable, and non-governmental organizations
Tuition and Funding
Tuition
For official tuition and fee information, see the academic calendar’s page on standard masters degrees and standard doctoral degree programs.
Funding Opportunities
Graduate student stipends are funded through a combination of internal and external funding awards, Teaching Assistantships, and Research Assistantships.
Although funding and stipend amounts are not guaranteed, UBC’s Okanagan campus has a number of assistantships available for qualified students. Talk to your potential supervisor about funding opportunities.
Students are expected whenever possible to apply for relevant scholarships and fellowships.
GRADUATE ENTRANCE AWARD
The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences offers a $15,000 merit-based entrance scholarship to three exceptional individuals entering their first year of thesis-based graduate studies under a supervisor from the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, or an Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies program with a supervisor who is a member of the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.
All applicants to Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences graduate programs who have submitted an application by January 31 will be automatically considered for the award. No additional application is required. Successful applicants will be notified by March 15.
Assistantships
Teaching Assistantships (TA)
Paid TA positions allow graduate students to develop skills in teaching, supervision, facilitation, and student assessment. Teaching assistants may lead seminars, help teach undergraduate courses, or assist in student evaluations and marking. Teaching assistants are mentored by their supervisor and via the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
Research Assistantships (RA)
As paid research assistants, graduate students assist their supervisor or other researchers in conducting high-level research, which often contributes to the student’s thesis. RAs are typically funded by the supervisor’s external grants, contracts, and sometimes, other sources of funding.
SCHOLARSHIPS
UBC Awards
The College of Graduate Studies administers merit-based graduate awards at the Okanagan campus. The College manages a number of award competitions each year and administers payment of all internal awards and selected external awards.
External Awards
All prospective graduate students (Domestic and International) should explore and apply for external awards and fellowships, including awards offered by Canada’s three research councils: CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC.
Graduate scholarships and awards may also be available from foundations, private companies or foreign governments (check with your country’s education authority).
Global and Close-Knit
At UBC Okanagan, you gain all the benefits of attending a globally ranked, top 5% university while studying in a close-knit learning community. 50% of graduates, from all across the globe, choose to stay in the region.
Discover the Okanagan
A diverse natural region with sandy beaches, beautiful farms, vineyards, orchards and snow-capped mountains, the Okanagan is an inspirational landscape perfect for those seeking leisure or outdoor adventure.
UBC's Okanagan campus borders the dynamic city of Kelowna, a hub of economic development with a population of more than 150,000 people— the fourth fastest-growing population in Canada.