research projects
care has limits
My doctoral research uses sociological theories of care work, gender and moral worth, along with narrative and arts-based qualitative methods, to critically reflect on the limits of care. Motivated by my five-year experience as a care worker, I examine people's narratives of withdrawing from paid or unpaid care responsibilities. The project was supervised by Dr. Susan Braedley, and supported through a Canada Graduate Scholarship and Ontario Graduate Scholarships. HERE is the link to my dissertation.
reimagining care/work: studies of the social organization of care
I am delighted to be working on multiple SSHRC-funded projects exploring the social organization of care. As part of Dr. Andrea Doucet's Reimagining Care/Work Policies project, we are asking the ‘What is the best policy mix for Canada’s diverse families with young children?’ while taking stock of intersecting (1) childcare services, (2) parental leave policies, and (3) employment policies. As part of the 'Art of good care' project led by Dr. Katie Aubrecht, we have been drawing on disability studies perspectives to explore co-learning and creativity in long-term care. With Drs. Susan Braedley and Sally Chivers, I am collaborating on an emancipatory, arts-based research project to tell new stories about the struggles and possibilities of living, working and caring in our aging society. Lastly with Dr. Pat Armstrong as part of 'Changing places,' we have been examining intersections between paid and unpaid care work in nursing homes in Ontario Canada, Norway and Sweden, and the UK. I am honoured to be working with so many care scholars I admire!
women remaking their lives: institutional ethnographies of art and activism
My past work has used institutional ethnographic approaches to explore the work of HIV/AIDS activists and visual artists. My Master's thesis, Art Working (2015), examined the work of Ontario-based visual artists, explicating how public art galleries operate. The project was supervised by Drs. Richard Darville and Graham Smart. Check out my 2015 Three Minute Thesis presentation HERE. Working under the direction of Dr. Alexis Shotwell with the AIDS Activist History Project, I have also taken an institutional ethnographic approach to exploring social histories of HIV/AIDS activism in Canada. Together, we co-curated an exhibit ‘Positive sex: Eroticizing safer sex practices in Canada’ (2016).