Greetings from wintry isolation in Edmonton, and welcome to a holiday season unlike almost any other in recent memory.  As we adjust to remote online work and to the surreal world of human faces in two-dimensional boxes on our screens, I am moved and impressed by our faculty, instructors, staff, and students. They continue to find new wells of empathy and patience in the face of unprecedented demands.

We are in the midst of new and necessary lockdown rules in Alberta, and have our fingers crossed for regular bouts of sunny weather conducive to heading outdoors over the holidays. We are also in the midst of restructuring at our world-class institution. On December 11, the UAlberta Board of Governors approved a plan that clusters several or more Faculties into three Colleges. The Faculty of Arts will become part of a new College of Social Sciences and Humanities, along with the Faculties of Business, Law, and Education.

The Board also approved the creation of a new level of administration: “College Deans” (notably, a decision that deviated from a vote at General Faculties Council earlier that week).  Continued consultation and decision-making about academic and administrative restructuring within Arts will take place in early 2021.

Sociology remains a bright light. Both of our undergraduate programs (Sociology and Criminology) are growing. As evinced in this newsletter, research awards received by our graduate students and faculty are as high as ever, and public scholarship and engagement are expanding and deepening. Colleagues have responded cogently and quickly in addressing the social impacts of COVID-19 and catalysing conversation about responses to policing, violence, and racism. The relevance of sociological scholarship and learning continues apace, enabled by the wonderful work of our staff.

I hope you enjoy reading about activities in our department. Please be in touch at any time. You can keep up with department happenings by visiting our website or following us on Twitter @UAlbertaSoc. Please note that this winter, as part of the lead-up to Congress 2021 (hosted virtually at UAlberta), we are starting a Twitter series called #SocSapiens that provides quick introductions to people in our department.

With best wishes for a safe and refreshing holiday,

Sara Dorow, Professor and Chair

Professor Emeritus W. David Pierce, known to his friends as “Daver,” died on August 20, 2020. Dave was a member of our department for nearly forty years, from 1975 – 2012, and was also adjunct professor in the Department of Neuroscience. For many years he was director of the Centre for Experimental Sociology and also a director of a Behavioural Research Unit at the Alberta Diabetes Institute.  He was named a Fellow of the American Psychological Association in honor of his lifetime contributions to the discipline of psychology. 

Dave authored several books, including his popular introductory textbook Behavior Analysis and Learning: A Biobehavioral Approach (6th edition, 2017). His steadfast interest in the health of the department was exemplified by his co-editing (with Bill Meloff) an introductory textbook whose royalties supported multiple department-focused endeavors. 

David was dedicated to the professional development of graduate students, and an annual department colloquium for presentation of graduate student and faculty research was named after him. Dave did not incite academic skirmishes but was unashamed, even proud, of striving for academic understandings capable of withstanding both thoughtful critique and empty vociferous objection. Dave devoted much energy and expertise to investigating the biobehavioral foundations of phenomena such as choice behavior, behavioral-neurometabolic determinants of obesity, exercise-induced taste aversion, pain-limited movement, and activity anorexia. You could see the twinkle in Dave’s eye when he silenced an academic disagreement by calmly pointing to some insurmountable tidbit of newly-solidified academic understanding. Dave continued to be an active research collaborator up until his sudden death this year. We remember him as a kind and gentle soul with a quirky sense of humor. He will be missed. 

Dr. Jeffrey Brassard is the administrative coordinator for the Center for Criminological Research and an Assistant Lecturer in our Department. Dr. Brassard was Researcher in Residence at St. Joseph’s College (UofA) 2018-2020, where he was principal investigator on the Catholic Edmonton Research project, which examined the state of Catholicism in Edmonton and the relationship of Catholic agencies and organization to civil society in the Alberta Capital Region. He is also a media and cultural studies researcher whose research focuses on television in the Russian Federation and Evangelical Christian media in North America.

Dr. Stanley Varnhagen is an FSO in our department, in his second year of a three year post-retirement contract. His specializes in evaluation, and his professional interests include program, utilization-focused, participatory, and community-based evaluation; education; use of innovative methods to facilitate learning; and research ethics. Dr. Varnhagen is also affiliated with the MACT program, and he is an Associate Chair of two University of Alberta Research Ethics Boards (REB 1&2).

Dr. Gordon Gow is a Professor cross-appointed between Sociology and Media and Technology Studies (MACT), where he is Graduate Coordinator for the Master of Arts in Communications and Technology program within the unit. His research looks at the interplay of digital technology and social change, with an emphasis on communication and development. Dr. Gow conducts community-based research projects in Edmonton on public safety, immigration, and anti-human trafficking efforts, as well as international projects on agriculture digitalization in Sri Lanka and the Caribbean.

Dr. Alla Konnikov is a post-doctoral fellow who joined the Department to work on the BIAS project - Responsible AI for Labour Market Equality, alongside Professors Nicole Denier and Karen Hughes. This is a collaborative study between computing statisticians and social scientists in Canada and the UK that explores the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in shaping gender and ethnic bias in labour market areas. Her research interests are located within the bridged perspectives of gender relations at work and international skilled migration, with special focus on immigrants’ skills transferability and women’s professional careers. 

We would like to introduce the Ven. Travis Enright, a valued community partner to the Department of Sociology. Travis is a member of the James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, and is of Cree and Irish background. Travis is a spiritual and social justice leader with education in the western academic tradition and in the tradition of Cree spirituality. In his role as Archdeacon for Indigenous Ministries in the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton, he focuses on social justice for vulnerable populations. Travis has also served as Co-Chair of the local planning team for the Edmonton Event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and as Chair of the City of Edmonton’s Aboriginal Urban Affairs Committee. For several years, Travis has gifted the Department with his insight and experience.

As a founding contributor of the Sociology TRC Calls to Action committee, he has led the development of spark fire talks—chances to learn together about good relations—and helped guide our approach to reconciliatory action. Travis also serves on the advisory board for the newly established Centre for Criminological Research.

ᒐᐦᑭᓭᐦᐃᑲᓇᓯᓂᕀcahkisêhikanasiniy NI-2
flintstone, stone used to spark fire; lighter

Jillian Bevan

Masters - Thesis Based

Jillian Bevan (she/her) is a second year Master’s student in the thesis program. Jillian is interested in the lived experiences of folx who use drugs. Her thesis research focuses on the experiences of folx using club drugs (like ecstasy, acid, or cocaine) in the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) community and their perceptions of harm reduction strategies and organized resources.  Jillian hopes that this project will provide valuable insight into how service providers and venues can encourage the safe usage of drugs at EDM parties and events. Jillian is also the communications and social media chair for the Edmonton chapter of Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy. In her spare time, Jillian enjoys spending time at tattoo shops, going to escape rooms, and hosting a weekly trivia night.

Nicholas Hardy

PhD Candidate

Nicholas Hardy's research interests concern the study of urban realities and lived spaces through situated methodological approaches, and include the areas of urban sociology; cultural topology; Mexico City; Latin American social theory; contemporary French theory; sociology of art and culture; psychogeography; alterity; esthetic research practices, and; experimental methods. His recent research contributions include the publication of the article “Folds and Eddies: Toward a Topology of Counterpower” in SoFiZine, a publication for experimental and creative social research published by Frances St Press, as well as a forthcoming book chapter entitled “Multivalent Topologies: Infrareal Eddies in Plague Stricken Concept-Cities” in Toxic Media Ecologies: Critical Responses to the Cultural Politics of Planetary Crises.

Carole Estabrooks is Professor, Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair. She is Scientific Director of the pan-Canadian Translating Research in Elder Care (TREC) research program. She studies the influence of work environment on quality of care, quality of life and quality of end of life for older adults, and quality of work life for staff in long term care homes.

She holds a BN (University of New Brunswick) and MN, PhD (University of Alberta). She is a Member of the Order of Canada, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and the American and Canadian Academies of Nursing.

Her career has been profoundly influenced by the Department of Sociology, much of it in and outside of classes in stats and structural equation modeling. She learned a different style of theorizing and how to connect theory to the observed (and unobserved) world – both essential to her research. She was taught (finally) how to think of data and statistics conceptually, often in pictures, to argue constructively. Carole was given the gift of collegiality and the opportunity to appreciate how rare it can be. Even when she took courses in philosophy and organizational studies in other departments, it always came back to sociologists from Merton to the less mainstream work of science studies scholars. Fittingly, it was at the U of A that she was introduced to the most influential social scientist in her field, Everett Rogers.

Dr. Holly Campeau's research involves fieldwork and qualitative methods to examine the cultural structures and processes underlying law, policing and criminal justice. She is currently carrying out two policing-related projects. The first is a SSHRC-funded multi-city study of police-citizen interactions from the perspectives of both officers and arrested individuals, and the second investigates challenges and changes in policing from the vantage point of those leading police organizations across the Canadian landscape (i.e. in large cities, rural areas, and in Indigenous communities). 

Dr. Marta-Marika Urbanik’s SSHRC-funded project examines how residents in Toronto’s inner city experience and navigate policing in their respective neighbourhoods. The study explores how experiences with police over the life course affect perceptions of police legitimacy and police-community relations, with a particular focus on perceptions/ experiences of police misconduct and police violence. As part of a separate ongoing project, Dr. Urbanik is studying how people who use drugs experience policing in Edmonton’s and Calgary’s inner city.

Drs. Kevin Haggerty and Sandra Bucerius are conducting research with Dr. Harvey Krahn (professor emeritus) and Dr. Luca Berardi (McMaster University) examining how the opioid crisis is shaping the realities of police work in the province of Alberta. This includes investigation of the risk profile of policing, the use of Narcan as a means to manage overdoses, and now concerns about how fentanyl has altered the dynamics of search and seizure.

Dr Zohreh BayatRizi is examining how existing studies present grief in narrowly socio-psychological terms and miss important national and transnational dynamics that impact the experience and expression of grief. Her study of COVID-19 deaths and grief in Iran, titled "Risk, Mourning, Politics: Toward a Transnational Critical Conception of Grief for COVID-19 Deaths in Iran", focuses on the political and economic dynamics of grief in national and global contexts.

Dr Michelle Maroto, and her colleague Dr David Pettinicchio (U of Toronto) are studying the effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable people in Canada. Using surveys and in-depth interviews, their SSHRC-funded research examines how people with disabilities and health conditions have responded to the pandemic and how their health, education, employment, and general wellbeing have been affected by government policy decisions around the pandemic.

Dr Amy Kaler has helped to organize public-facing work on how the pandemic has changed everyday life. “Stories of the Pandemic” encourages people to submit stories, poems, essays, and artwork that document how the pandemic and social isolation have created uncertainty, stress, loneliness, and creativity have changed the way people care for others and themselves.  

Dr Sara Dorow  has published a research blog based out of her new project on mobile work and mental health among fly-in fly-out trades workers in the northern Alberta oil sands industry, available on the On the Move research site. Situated in Alberta’s oil crisis, she examines how the pandemic has exacerbated the health and safety risks for these mobile workers.

It was a celebration, and it was a reunion. On September 25th, more than fifty people gathered online in honour of University Cup Professor Harvey Krahn, who retired in July after more than 35 years.  Former colleagues spoke about exciting collaborations over the years and noted Harvey’s indelible mark on understanding the life course, work, education, and immigration.  Former students remembered the consistently careful and caring mentoring they received. At least two of us confessed to regularly wondering “What Would Harvey Do?” when contemplating an administrative problem. Thanks to all who spoke and contributed memories, photos, humorous anecdotes, and good wishes.

Gifts are being exchanged in all directions. Harvey and Ruth received the gift of a photographic portrait by their artist friend Martin Weinhold (Workspace Canada) from the Department of Sociology. Ruth created a beautiful original painting (see photo) for the newly named Harvey J Krahn Seminar Room on the first floor of Tory, which she and Harvey kindly framed.

Many of you have given the gift of funding to refurbish this newly dedicated room as a flexible learning space.  As the plaque for the newly dedicated room will read, Harvey Krahn “carved out a distinguished career as researcher, public scholar, and teacher of the sociology of work, the life course, and research methods, always with an eye to understanding and responding to social inequality.”

There is still time to give! Our goal is to reach $10,000 by December 31, 2020, and we are now more than three-quarters of the way there. These donations will be used to purchase modular furniture and equipment that allows for multi-functional use in colloquia, seminars, workshops, and meetings.

From November 17th to 19th, the Centre for Criminological Research (CCR) hosted its first conference. Because of the current restrictions, the conference was held online and streamed on the Centre’s YouTube channel.

The conference began with a keynote by New York University’s David Garland titled: "Roots of Injustice: The structural roots of America’s Penal State". Nearly two-hundred people viewed the keynote live. The three days of the conference went extremely well, and the panel presentations were of high quality. The panels will remain on our YouTube channel until-mid-February. As of December, the conference presentations have been viewed nearly ten thousand times.

The Keywords Speaker Series, now in its fourth year, held its first virtual event in October, with sociologists Dr. Michelle Maroto and Dr. Kyle Willmott joined by
political scientist Dr. Rob Aitken. The panelists' opening remarks addressed “the wealth equation”, taxes and settler colonialism, and financialization, respectively. During the broad-ranging multidisciplinary dialogue that followed, panelists discussed the differential impacts of COVID-19 on socioeconomic groups

with different wealth profiles, and considered the ways that wealth inequality intersects with current social movements like Black Lives Matter and Indigenous Lives Matter. Laura Aylsworth, a recent PhD graduate in the Department,
moderated the discussion, and doctoral candidate Damson Ayoyo facilitated the event. The Keywords Series engages diverse scholars in a moderated dialogue about pivotal keywords and concepts in contemporary sociology, and aims to create an open, inclusive, and stimulating forum. We are grateful to our awesome panelists, audience, and organizers! Links to videos of this and previous Keywords events can be found on the main Sociology webpage.

Richard Schaefer and Jana Grekul

Sociology: A Brief Introduction (7th edition) – Nelson Publishers, 2020

Harvey Krahn*, Karen Hughes, and Graham Lowe*

Work, Industry, and Canadian Society (8th edition) – Nelson Publishers, 2020

*Professor Emeritus

Herb Northcott and Donna Wilson

Dying and Death in Canada (4th edition) – University of Toronto Press, forthcoming

Robert Brym, Lisa Strohschein, and Karen Kampen

Sociology: Compass for a New Social World (7th edition) – Nelson Publishers, forthcoming

Send us Your Updates! 

We would love to share quick updates from department alumni, professors emeritui, and former staff in the newsletter.

Send updates to Cristeen Whalen any time!