Scholar-Educator
Current Offerings at UBC
-
SPPH 621: Approaches to Enquiry in Population and Public Health
SPPH 621 is a foundational course to ensure that students in thesis-based programs become familiar with a broad and evolving set of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches in the area of population and public health research. The primary focus is on understanding a range of options for conducting research in your area of interest, and with that knowledge, refining one's 'research identity' and a series of strong research questions that will guide your future research. This is a required course for SPPH PhD students,who usually take it in their first semester of the program; other students are occasionally admitted with instructor permission.
-
Graduate Supervision
I am happy to speak with prospective PhD applicants or newly-admitted MSc students who use qualitative or mixed methods in their research and are interested in public health communication, vaccines, perinatal cannabis use, or other topics in my areas of interest.
I am currently interested in recruiting one PhD student to SPPH or ISGP (for a Sept 2024 start date) who is interested in health information practices related to vaccine decisions.
This individual would ideally have a background in information science, communication studies, or population and public health, although other backgrounds such as sociology might also work well. Experience in both social science and health/medicine is desirable, and a record of peer-reviewed publishing will make you a more competitive candidate. For international students, because some fellowships are limited to domestic students, evidence of leadership and/or outstanding contributions to your field is ideal.
If you think this might be you (either as a newly-admitted MSc Student or a PhD applicant), please contact me individually with:
1) your CV,
2) a brief statement of research interests and/or 1-2 page research proposal,
3) a writing sample,
4) unofficial transcript(s), and
5) why you think we might be a good fit.
If you are planning to apply to SPPH in January, it is ideal to begin our conversation by the summer before you apply.
Past offerings @ UMass Amherst
Health Communication
Comm 319
How can information best be used to improve health? This course provides an overview of the role of communication in clinical health care, public health, and personal health behavior. Health communication and information behavior theory will be connected with health communication practices and programs. Topics include electronic medical records (EMRs), health promotion campaigns, and interpersonal health communications (online and offline).
Gender & Interpersonal Communication
Comm 397 GC
What is gender and how does it affect the way we communicate with each other? This course provides an overview of the ways gendered identities, expressions, discourses, norms,and roles affect our information interactions on an individual basis and in groups, online and off. Students will explore topics ranging from communication in family relationships to classroom and workplace communication dynamics to online self-representation, applying an intersectional lens to the role of gendered power dynamics in shaping interpersonal communication.
Qualitative Research Methods
Comm 620
This course is designed to a) engage you at a doctoral level of study with the logic and epistemological underpinnings of qualitative methods, including relationships among research questions, theory, methods, and findings, and b) increase your experience with practical issues in using qualitative methods. Topics to be discussed include but are not limited to:research ethics, textual analysis, participant observation, interviewing, focus groups, visual methods, discourse and conversation analysis, case studies, and writing qualitative proposals and reports. We will divide our focus between familiarizing ourselves with discussions of “how to,” reading and evaluating examples of qualitative research that demonstrate different methodological approaches, and gaining practical experience with different qualitative methods.