Courses Taught and Developed

LHA1115: Learning for the Global Economy focuses on learning for the global economy. We will explore workers’ learning which occurs during migration and as a result of the movements of global capital. In order to support the growing interconnectedness between workplaces located in different countries, organizations and states have developed strategies and programs which serve to “train” workers to engage in transnational interactions. Workers engage in a wide range of language, communication, and vocational training as a result of migration as well as through their involvement in global economic processes.

LHA1113: Gender and Hierarchy at Work is a graduate level course that focuses on gender processes in work settings. Patriarchal rules and learning expectations which run through contemporary workplaces (factories, offices, homes, hospitals, shop floors etc) are explored. Ways in which normalizing discourses which reify gender hierarchies can be challenged are proposed.

LHA1150: Critical Perspectives on Organizations is a graduate level course that focuses on how organizational change and development is experienced by diverse groups of women and men. Students develop analyses of language, power and inequality in a variety of organizational settings (companies, factories, NGOs, community groups, government units, etc.). Methods used to “restructure” these organizations (such as downsizing, outsourcing, contingent just-in-time policies) are explored and recent trends which emphasize diversity, teamwork and customer orientation are critically analyzed.

LHA1183: Master’s Research Seminar is designed to support graduate students in the process of writing a thesis and MEd students working on a major research paper. Issues discussed include: choosing a topic, writing a proposal, developing an argument, selecting a supervisor, and organizing the writing process. Agendas for each week are developed according to student needs. The course is participatory, and weekly readings are assigned on the various parts of the thesis-writing journey.

WPL1131: Introduction to Workplace Learning and Social Change is the core course for the Workplace Learning and Social Change Collaborative Program. This course introduces students to work and learning trends in Canada and internationally, with a focus on the relationships between workplace learning and social change. There are three intellectual objectives of this course. The first objective is to situate workplace learning within broader social trends such as globalization, neo-liberalism and organizational restructuring. Second, the course allows for an exploration of the connections between learning as an individual phenomenon and learning as a social/organizational and social policy phenomenon. Finally, a third objective of the course is to highlight the learning strategies that seek to foster social change through greater equality of power, inclusivity, participatory decision-making and economic democracy.

WGS355: Gendered Labor Around the World is a third year undergraduate at the Institute for Women and Gender Studies. This course focuses on masculinities and femininities in workplace settings, with an emphasis on service work around the world. We explore workers’ lived experiences of, and engagement with gender regimes which structure their work and are embedded within dynamics of class, race and nation. Drawing on global ethnographies, we explore the relationships between gender processes and workplace hierarchies. The course is delivered through interactive lectures and small group activities.

Completed Theses Supervised