Sara Carpenter, PhD, MA

About

I came to the University of Alberta following four years of teaching at the University of Toronto. Prior to teaching at UofT, I received my doctoral degree in Adult Education and Community Development (2011, OISE/University of Toronto) and a master's degree in Community Education (2005, University of Minnesota). I have worked as an adult educator in both community organizations and higher education and my research interests are informed by my work with refugee and migrant populations as well as feminist, anti-poverty, and immigrant rights campaigns. 

Research

As a critical education scholar, I consider my work to involve two inner-related lines of inquiry. In one respect, I work with a wonderful group of feminist collaborators to develop the line of Marxist feminist theoretical analysis of education, learning, and social change. In another regard, my training in institutional ethnography leads me to 'study up' into institutions, examining organizational processes in order to better understand the reproduction of capitalist social relations. My research interests include:

• Marxist Feminist theories of state, civil society, democracy, and social reproduction
• Young adults, precarity, and social crisis
• Politics of not-for-profit sector, civil society, and NGOs
• Reproductive labor in not-for-profit sector
• Capitalism, neoliberalism, and imperialism
• Marxist and feminist critical pedagogies and popular education

Current Research Projects

1. Professional Learning And Relational Pedagogy: Exploring Learning Around Anti-Racism Through The Creating Schools That Listen Initiative (KIAS-ATA Collaborative Program, 2021-2023).

2. Postsecondary Education as Prerequisite: Understanding University Access and Bridging Initiatives for Adult & Non-Traditional Learners (SSHRC Insight 2018-2024) 

3. Youth in Transition: War, Migration, and 'Regenerative Possibilities' (SSHRC Insight 2015-2022)

Manuscripts:

2022, Marxism & Migration. G. Ritchie, S. Carpenter, & S. Mojab (Eds). Palgrave.

2021, The Ideology of Civil Engagement. SUNY Press.

2017, Revolutionary Learning: Marxism, Feminism, & Knowledge. with S. Mojab. Pluto Press.

2017, Youth in/as Crisis: Young People, Public Policy, and the Politics of Learning. S. Carpenter & S. Mojab (Eds). Sense.

2011, Educating from Marx: Race, Gender, and Learning, S. Carpenter & S. Mojab (Eds). Palgrave

Teaching

I teach a variety of courses in Adult, Community, and Higher Education, including foundations, social movement learning, popular education, and learning and work. I also teach graduate courses in research methodology and contribute to our undergraduate program through teaching and learning about the sociology of public schooling. A large portion of my graduate teaching takes place through thesis supervision and mentorship. I work with students with whom I share subject area, theoretical, or methodological interests. Thus, my students work on a wide range of projects from critical theoretical orientations, including access to education, transformation of cultural institutions, migration justice work, and feminist institutional analysis. 

One special undergraduate course that I teach is EDFX 490: Beyond Four Walls. This experiential course runs in partnership with Bennett/Argyll/Metro Centre within Edmonton Public Schools and helps students develop critical imaginations in education through field placement in alternative education programs. For more information, visit the course website. 

EDPS 521 - Adult Learning and Development

In this course we will examine key issues in adult learning and development, using concepts discussed in the literature. Content areas include theories of adult learning and development, and related concepts such as learning styles and orientations, personality, motivation, and intelligence. Students may not receive credit for both EDAE 521 and EDPS 521.

EDPS 545 - Learning and Work

This course will focus on critical analysis of theories, trends, policies, and issues related to informal and formal learning of adults in, for, and through the experiences of labor and work. Topics include critical analysis of theories of labor, human capital, and workplaces, with special focus on experiences of race, gender, and class.

EDPS 578 - Learning through Struggle: Social Movements, Resistance, and Popular Education

This course deals with historical and contemporary theories and practices of adult education as it is practiced in social movements and social action both locally and internationally. The study of the pedagogical dimension includes theories of experiential learning and emphasizes the role of popular education and theories of conscientization in diverse social movements.

EDU 100 - Contexts of Education

This course focuses on the different contexts of professional practice within education. It critically examines the complex social relationships among educators as professionals and learners as participants in educational institutions. Teacher identity will be explored as a dynamic, reformative process in response to competing tensions that require an awareness of the positionality of educators. Preservice teachers will learn about the relationships between education and practice that are nested in social relations of learning that are also economic, political, and cultural. Engagement from a variety of perspectives they will develop professional knowledge for critical reconstructive practice. This course may not be taken for credit if credit has already been obtained in EDU 250, 300 or equivalent. [Department of Elementary Education, Department of Secondary Education]

EDU 300 - Contexts of Education

This course focuses on the different contexts of professional practice within education. It critically examines the complex social relationships among educators as professionals and learners as participants in educational institutions. Teacher identity will be explored as a dynamic, reformative process in response to competing tensions that require an awareness of the positionality of educators. Preservice teachers will learn about the relationships between education and practice that are nested in social relations of learning that are also economic, political, and cultural. Engagement from a variety of perspectives they will develop professional knowledge for critical reconstructive practice. Note: EDU 300 is for After Degree students only. This course may not be taken for credit if credit has already been obtained in EDU 100, 250 or equivalent. [Department of Elementary Education, Department of Secondary Education]

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