News and events

Guest Speaker's Topics/Abstracts/Bios

Brendan Cummins (SLE, CSPT PhD Student)
Title: Liberal Education and 21st Century Communities of Belief
Bio: Brendan is an instructor in the School of Liberal Education where he teaches mostly first year courses on introductions to knowledge and discussions of identity. He is also a PhD student in the University of Lethbridge’s Cultural, Social, and Political Thought program. He is researching the intersections of religion and identity in physical, intellectual, and spiritual spaces and places. His focus is on Latter-day Saint and Kainai shared and contested spaces in Southern Alberta.
Mbuli Clodine (Community Bridge Lab Post-Doc, U of L)
Title: Unveiling Perspectives: A Comparative Exploration of Farmers' Climate Change Response in the Global North and South
Bio: Mbuli Shei Clodine, is currently a Postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Buea, Cameroon where she investigated the interconnectedness between agriculture, climate change, gender, and food security in the Global South and North. She is a former Queen Elizabeth Advanced Scholar and Visiting Graduate Research Student at the University of Regina, Canada where she also worked as a research assistant on the SSHRC-funded project which examined the lived experiences of flooding, wildfire, and drought in Canadian communities. She served as the Gender Officer for the Socio-Economic Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SEEPD) program of the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services, as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Buea and is a current member of the Canadian Sociological Association. Her research interest includes gender, climate change, community engaged methods, agriculture, environment, food security, rural communities, and disability inclusion.

Amy von Heyking (Faculty of Education)
Title: Project of Public Schooling: The Problems and Possibilities of Education for the Common Good
Abstract:

Our public schools are tasked with preparing students for democratic citizenship, for productive work, and for the achievement of students’ personal fulfillment. They, therefore, embody complex and sometimes contradictory aims and practices. They reflect and support social values but are also expected to address and solve social problems. They value equity but claim to foster excellence. They build community but seek to nurture individuality and diversity. This talk brings historical context and perspective to contemporary debates about these purposes and the nature of public schooling. It addresses the extent to which current challenges to school curriculum and practices undermine the possibility of education for the common good.

Bio: Amy von Heyking is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge. Her PhD in Educational Policy Studies focused on the history of Alberta school curriculum, particularly citizenship education. Her books include Creating Citizens: History and Identity in Alberta Schools (2006) and Becoming a History Teacher (2014). She has published books and articles on the history of Canadian schooling, curriculum studies, and history teaching and learning. She is the author and editor of history teaching resources.

Janelle Maretta (CSPT PhD Student, Dhillon School of Business)

Title: The Role of Communities in Immigrant Settlement

Bio: Janelle is a PhD Student in the Cultural, Social, and Political Thought program at the University of Lethbridge. She received Medal of Merit for her Master of Science research from the Dhillon School of Business, where she focused on the use of marketing for social good (social marketing). Janelle has an extensive background in the nonprofit sector, most recently as the previous Executive Director for United Way of Lethbridge & Southwestern Alberta. This work primarily focused on community building and poverty reduction initiatives. Her current research is focused on immigration settlement in Canada. Janelle has served on many boards and committees, including the Lethbridge Local Immigration Partnership, Economic Development Lethbridge, Community Social Development with the City of Lethbridge, the Alberta Living Wage Network, and the Social Health Equity Network of Lethbridge and Area. Born and raised in Southern Alberta, Janelle is dedicated to creating collective impact and improving outcomes in our community.