Dr. Samantha May (PhD, MA, BA, TESL)

Department Head of Social Sciences & Instructor

Samantha’s research and teaching experience includes sociology and language revitalization as well as English as a Second Language teaching and academic writing.
After graduating from Simon Fraser University, Samantha gained first-hand experience as an international student while on the Japanese government MEXT program in Okinawa, Japan.

She completed her master’s in Linguistics and Communications and doctorate in Comparative Regional Culture and Area Studies at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan, and continues her Foundation for Endangered Languages (FEL)-sponsored research on language reclamation in Okinawan cultural arts.

Christine Elsey (PhD, MA, BA)

Instructor

Dr. Christine Elsey received her PhD, MA and BA in Sociology and Anthropology from Simon Fraser University. Formerly, she was an Associate Professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, in the School of Culture, Media and Society, where she taught Sociology and Anthropology courses at the undergraduate level. Her main areas of expertise are anthropological and sociological theory, and BC. First Nations.

Over the years, Christine has taken special enjoyment in teaching introductory courses in Cultural Anthropology. She was covered with a blanket for her contribution to the education of one of her First Nations students, during a special First Nations graduation ceremony, at the Malloway Longhouse in Chilliwack, BC. (in 2006). In 2021, she was awarded the designation of Professor Emeritus at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) for her contributions to scholarship, university service and teaching.

Lindsay Simpson (MA, BA)

Instructor

Lindsay holds a M.A in Anthropology from Simon Fraser University.

Her thesis, Studenthood: An ethnography of post-secondary student life, explores the distinct subjectivity of students through a variety of participant action research methods with a focus on the notion of student fragility. Using life course theory and the related concepts of tacking and vital conjunctures, Lindsay explores student navigational strategies and rethinks this demarcated period in the life course which has been traditionally perceived as a period of adolescent indecisiveness encapsulated as liminality. Lindsay’s future research aims to better understand how higher education marketing fosters an environment of student fragility that necessitates numerous institutionally sanctioned stress-relief practices.

Lindsay is currently working with Simon Fraser University and The University of Toronto on a national workforce intergration social enterprise (WISE) longitudinal evaluation project (SSHRC Insight Grant, 2017-2022). This study follows youth graduates of social enterprise-based training programs to see to what extent they can integrate into the workforce. Lindsay’s previous experience includes working with SFU’s Urban Studies Department on an employer transit subsidy study (ETSS). This project involved conducting experimental research on a worker transit subsidy program for downtown Vancouver hotel workers and included an examination of transit ridership levels, commuting patterns, and workplace performance.

Kate Kingsbury (PhD, MA, BA)

Instructor

Coming Soon

Sharmita Paul (MA, MSocSc, BSocSc)

Instructor

Coming Soon