Origins of My Work
I have been at the U of A since 2007, first as an Assistant Director/Research Associate at the Community-University Partnership for the Study of Children, Youth and Families (CUP), and then as a faculty member in the Department of Human Ecology, ALES, where I am a social policy scholar. Before I became an academic, I worked with disadvantaged populations in a range of positions: as a Support Worker for a home for homeless men (summers, 1985-1989); as a Probation Officer in two Northern First Nations communities (1990); and most notably as the Executive Director of Lurana Shelter, a shelter for abused women and children (1994-1999). After completing my PhD in 2005, I worked as the Senior Manager of Policy Research for the Alberta Ministry of Children’s Services where I co-chaired the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Social Research and Information Working Group with a federal government counterpart in Ottawa.
Selected Awards
Great Supervisor Award. (2020). Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research. University of Alberta.
Inspirational Educator Award. (2019). Rhodes Trust. Oxford, England. Awarded to professors who have provided exceptional mentorship to Rhodes Scholars.
Teacher of the Year. (2019; 2012; 2010). Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences. University of Alberta.
Faculty Teaching Award. (2013). Faculty of ALES. Awarded to one faculty member per year for excellence in teaching.
President’s Achievement Award. (2012; 2006). “Dare to Discover” – Learning, Discovery and Citizenship (staff category, team award). For contributions to Student Engagement in the Faculty of ALES as Co-Coordinator of ULead Leadership Program, 2012, and the Community-University Partnership, 2006. University of Alberta.
Focus of Scholarship
I lead the Gender, Family and Policy Research Initiative in the Department of Human Ecology. In all my research, I ask this broad question: under which circumstances, and to what extent, is the state responsible for the well-being of citizens? As a result, many of my research projects explore the relationship between individuals and the state, focusing particularly on the ways in which specific policies affect wellbeing, social equality, and access to resources for individuals and families. My current research interests focus on the impact of child care policy on family well-being and maternal employment. I also do international work, exploring the impacts of social policy on marginalized citizens in developing countries. My previous research on the gendered nature of welfare-to-work, the work-family integration of those in marginalized employment, and child care policy has been published in leading inter-disciplinary social science journals, including Critical Social Policy, Community, Work & Family, Journal of Family Issues, and Development Policy Review. I currently have funding from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council and the Worldwide University Network to explore barriers to women's employment.
In addition to my position in the Department of Human Ecology, I am also a Lougheed Adjunct Professor at the Peter Lougheed Leadership College at the University of Alberta.
Graduate Student Supervision
Natalie Schmitt, MSc (thesis). 2020-present. Women and Policy.
Semhar Berhe, MSc (course-based). 2020-present.
Laura Cadrain, MSc (thesis). 2019-present. Women and Policy.
Kareema Batal, MSc (thesis). 2018-present. Social Enterprise.
Julia Roy, MSc (thesis). Completed, 2020. Program development and evaluation for families of children with disability.
Laurel Sakaluk, PhD. Completed 2017. Work-family integration during the transition to parenthood: Longitudinal processes and ideological influences.
Rebecca Horne, MSc (thesis). Completed 2017 (Co-supervised with Matt Johnson). A Labour of Love? Male and Female Partners’ Emotion Work in Intimate Relationships.
Ropa Mamutse, MSc (course-based).Completed 2017. Aging out of the family. The experiences of youth aging out of youth services.
Vanessa Ostapchuk. MSc (course-based).Completed 2016. Canadian Provincial Child Care Subsidies and their “Fit” within the Lives of Working Poor Families.
Iryna Hurava MSc (thesis). Completed 2015. Institutional Child Care in Belarus.
Roxana Marin, MSc (course-based). Completed 2013. Cell phone use and parent-child relationships in families with adolescents.
Hannah Goa, MSc (thesis). Completed 2010. Outside the city walls: The construction of poverty in Alberta’s income and employment supports act.
Analysis of current policy issues faced by Canadian families and the examination of policies and programs affecting family well-being and relationships. Prerequisite: HECOL 300.
Fall Term 2021An examination of the elements of policies and policy issues that affect contemporary Canadian families. The elements of policies and policy issues studied include: their origins and underlying ideologies; their institutional frameworks and foundations; and their substance, nature, and impact on families. Prerequisite: HECOL 300. Not to be taken if credit received for HECOL 440.
Fall Term 2021This professional development seminar is one in a series that provides an introduction to graduate study in the Department of Human Ecology, and to career development and professional issues in human ecology. Topics include: critical reading of the research literature; ethical issues in conducting research; preparing a submission for the research ethics review board; preparing and reviewing conference submissions; preparing a poster; and preparing a research proposal. Fulfills part of FGSR's mandatory ethics training requirement. Typically taken in the second semester of the graduate program.
Winter Term 2022This professional development seminar is one in a series that provides an introduction to graduate study in the Department of Human Ecology, and to career development and professional issues in human ecology. Topics include: developing an academic career; obtaining teaching experience and developing a teaching dossier; developing a program of research; working in research teams; authorship; intellectual property issues related to research data; preparing for candidacy exams; surviving your dissertation; preparing a curriculum vita; and applying and interviewing for jobs or post-doctoral fellowships. Typically taken in the fourth semester of the doctoral program.
Winter Term 20222018 - 2018
Adeline Froehlich and Ewald Breitkreuz were born in a German settlement in Volhynia, Poland. In 1915, when Germany invaded Poland, the Russian government required German-speaking citizens of Volhynia to leave their homes. The vast majority of them were sent to Siberia in freight trains. The first part of this film documents the journeys of Adeline and Ewald during this forced migration. The second part of the film discusses the day-to-day life of Adeline and Ewald and their nine children in Onoway, Alberta, as German-speaking immigrants from 1935 onwards.