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I became interested in the profession of Social Work through my experience as a Big Sister, witnessing the ways that social workers impacted her life and the experience of her family. I am passionate about social justice, gender equality, and ending violence against women and girls. It is a privilege to teach the exceptional students at �����. When I am not teaching, I am working at my counselling practice, hanging out with my kids, or enjoying the Okanagan's great outdoors.

Credentials:
RSW, British Columbia College of Social Workers
MSW, Social Work, University of British Columbia
BSW, Social Work, University of British Columbia

My recent research focuses on resource extraction on unceded Indigenous territory, feminist resistance movements, and quantum theory for social sciences and humanities.

Credentials:
PhD, English, University of Alberta
MA, English, University of Manitoba
BA Hons English, Okanagan University College

Natalie is a first-generation settler with extensive experience and education working in Indigenous education and language and cultural resurgence projects in her children’s Syilx community and nation. Natalie’s doctoral degree in Interdisciplinary Studies explored the development of Language Nests, Indigenous early Indigenous language immersion programs for infants, toddlers, and preschool aged children, and her master’s degree focused on Indian residential schools.  

As an educator, Natalie draws on her personal and professional experiences in Indigenous education, as well as several years of creative facilitation training with IndigenEYEZ and Partners of Youth Empowerment to foster inclusive, heart-centered and compassionate communities of life-long learners. She continues this work as an associate facilitator with kinSHIFT, an Indigenous-led social enterprise of IndigenEYEZ that supports settlers to cultivate relationships with Indigenous peoples and place.  

I'm from Gitanmaax, which is near Old Hazelton, in northern BC. Following a matriarchal clan system, I'm a member of the Wolf clan. My maternal grandfather was hereditary chief of the Frog Clan. My maternal grandmother was the hereditary chief of the Wolf Clan. Cultural traditions and protocols and traditional governance all strongly guide my practice as a social worker.

I completed my Bachelor of Social Work Degree in 1999. Immediately I took on the position of Executive Director of Independent Living Vernon (ILV), a disability resource centre for people with a variety of disabilities. I still love my work at ILV. In 2010, I completed my Master’s of Arts (Interdisciplinary Studies) at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. My thesis was titled “A Longer Journey” An Exploration of Individuals’ with Disabilities Experiences of Employment Programs in Vernon, BC. The research highlighted the importance of connection and control within the realm of employment for people with disabilities.

 

Credentials:
MA, Interdisciplinary Studies, UBCO

I am originally from Finland, with a B.A. in English, another in Psychology, and an M.A. in clinical psychology, and a Ph.D. in Psychology (theory and methods). I have worked for Correctional Service Canada as a psychologist. My research is on psychopathy.

Credentials:
PhD, Psychology, Simon Fraser University

I am a Syilx-Okanagan woman, blessed to live in my home community on the Penticton Indian Reserve.  While new to �����, my professional experience and educational background span 30 years, situated primarily within the health and social services areas, on reserve, off reserve, within Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations and institutions, as a facilitator, instructor, program manager and elected leader.  My approach to learning is rooted in our own syilx pedagogy, of which my learning is ongoing; I aspire to bring all voices into the room and situate our dialogue in place.  What brings me joy is being out on the land, RunWalking, with my family.   

Credentials:
BA, Psychology & Indigenous Studies
MSW
RSW

I have been teaching Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at ����� since 2018. I am interested in feminist education as a tool of social and cultural change. My research explores the connections between power, knowledge production, bodies, space, and identity. I am currently working on three simultaneous projects: an edited collection on queer fat femme identity, research into digital storytelling as a critical research method in fat studies, and my dissertation research on settler colonial urban space.

Credentials:
PhD, Cultural Mediations, Carleton University
MA, Women's and Gender Studies, York University
BA, Women's Studies, University of Toronto

Hi, my name is Saran. I have British and Canadian citizenship, with Welsh, Channel Islands and Manchester (England) ancestry. I grew up in Iran, France and Greece. After graduating from a high-school in France, I studied literature, history and art in Spain for one year, and then completed a BA in Anthropology in England, with a field placement in Peru. I then worked in government capacity-building and information in Iraqi Kurdistan and returned to England to complete a PhD in Ethnic Relations. After working for a substance use harm reduction agency and taking a career break, I moved from England to Kelowna in 2016 where I obtained a Human Service Work Diploma from �����. Following frontline work in several local non-profits, I most recently worked for the Central Okanagan Journey Home Society, implementing Kelowna’s five-year strategy to address homelessness. When I have spare time on my own or with family or friends, I enjoy trail running, paddling, skate-skiing, back-country camping or just walking my dog, Primo.

I teach Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies, with a focus on ecofeminism, reproductive justice and feminist film studies. In am interested in the ontological divide between human and non-human animals, specifically how this informs the relationship animality has to femininity, in that both are ranged against masculine humanism. Almost universally, women and animals have been stranded in a notion of “nature” that masculine culture defines and therefore controls, ideas that hold fast today in struggles for reproductive justice and animal rights. In my research and classes, I take up how these ideas are represented in film and popular culture. 

Credentials:
PhD, English and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta
MA, English, UBC.
BA, English, UBC

I am an activist and criminologist who joined ����� in 2010. I teach sociology, criminology and gender studies classes in Vernon and Salmon Arm. I operate the only open-access, virtual library of Canadian prisoner-generated materials (www.penalpress.com) and have used these materials to co-author a book (with Prof. Clarkson, History department) on early penal reform in Canada. My areas of expertise are the effects of long-term imprisonment, penology, parole, and the rehabilitation & reintegration of prisoners. When not teaching or doing other professorial things, I travel to prisons to work with convicts, their support people and community agencies.

Credentials:
PhD, Criminology, University of Ottawa
MEd, Counselling, University of Northern BC
B.Soc.Sc, Criminology, University of Ottawa