History

Janice Wu

Cohort: Summer Term 2017
Placement: Gordon Neighbourhood House

As a third year student going into fourth year, UEFS provided me with a great opportunity to connect with the community on a different level. It allowed me to reach out to communities and organizations in Vancouver which I would not have been aware of. The best part of UEFS was that we all grew together within the six weeks, creating valuable bonds between our community partners and the peers that we were learning with. Plus, it was a fun way to earn six credits within six weeks! At my placement, Gordon Neighbourhood House, I actively partook in growing crops and selling locally grown food to the downtown West End community. Since, I don’t live in that area, it was an eye opening experience to know how a neighbourhood house runs, which principles run the place, and how similar organizations can positively (or negatively) influence or affect the community members in the area. Overall, this class taught me to think, analyze, observe, and share in a new perspective. It was an invaluable experience for me.

Veronica Cho

Cohort: Summer Term 2017
Placement: Atira Women's Resource Society

UEFS was an amazing experience. It was an opportunity to be truly hands-on with my sociological education, in the sense that we were learning theories inside the classroom and applying them in our community placements. After the six-week course was over, I continued to volunteer at my placement. The value of fostering connections in the community, professors and students was invaluable and I would recommend applying to this program for any student who is interested.

Sarah Raven, Create-a-Comic

In the summer of 2015 I participated in the UBC Urban Ethnographic Field School. Through this cooperative and hands on learning experience I was able to gain valuable knowledge on how to conduct ethnographic fieldwork with support and guidance from instructors and my participation at a local DTES community centre where I volunteered with children during after school programs. My fieldwork with this community centre revealed a rich and diverse outcome of learning and experience that has strengthened my understanding of the ethnographic processes and the DTES community itself. The children with whom my participant observation was focused allowed me to gain a unique perspective, particularly, a view into the interconnected lives of the individuals that support and are supported by the programs at this and similar community centers, and the common goal of providing youth and families with long lasting and sustainable resources for personal and community prosperity.

Mallory McMahon, Button Blankets

Participating in the activities at the UBC Learning Exchange was extremely impactful. Before going to the UEFS I had never heard of the asset-based approach to community development, which really shaped my interactions with the participants at the LE. Learning about people's lives in Vancouver's DTES gave me a new perspective on my city and opened both my heart and mind to the challenges Canadians face, all while sewing beautiful button blankets.

Victoria Ord, CAPC Conference

For my UEFS experience I was placed at Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, which is a non-profit organization that works to support the neighbourhood it is placed in with a wide variety of programs. While I worked on my research, myself and the other UEFS students helped the neighbourhood house put on the CAPC conference for more then 100 parents from 4 different neighbourhood houses. The project really got me involved in the neighbourhood house as almost everything was a team decision or effort and with everything being so interconnected it created an environment where I would work with staff from other departments. On a personal level I had an amazing experience working and getting to know the staff. I felt instantly welcomed and very much at home! Within the first week of my placement, I spent 5 days a week at the house and if I wasn’t in class, I was at my placement. It became about more then my research, for me it became a place that I would do homework, volunteer my time to other staff members, and found support from some of the kindest people I have had the privilege of meeting, after recently moving to Vancouver. This placement in general pushed me to get to know the city and get off campus and explore. As of right now I am currently working at the neighbourhood house on special projects within family programs, I am also on call for childcare and administrative work and have become the Co-Vice-President of the CAPC society after working closely with conference. Moreover I am now very fortunately a part of the Frog Hollow Family.

Selenna Ho, The Journal of Undergraduate Ethnography

UEFS 2014 alumna Selenna Ho's final paper received publication in issue 5:2 of The Journal of Undergraduate Ethnography! Click here to read her work.

Jessie Tougas, SOJOURNERS: Undergraduate Journal of Sociology

Alumna Jessie Tougas's UEFS research work is showcased in SOJOURNERS! Click here to see Jessie's writing in this journal of sociology.

"Learning by Doing Good" is an interactive StoryMap researched and created by Field School alumnus Sophie Roth. The StoryMap provides a snapshot of the work of students in the Summer 2021 cohort of the UEFS.  The full-page version of the StoryMap, can be found here.

"Field Work" is a UEFS podcast hosted by Field School alumnus Bryan Leung. Every episode of the series provides insight into different aspects of the UEFS' past and present through interviews with members of the field school.

Episode 1:  Kerry Greer. Listen here.

So what the heck is UEFS all about and what exactly is "ethnography"? This podcast features Kerry Greer - UEFS Instructor and Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at UBC. Kerry provides insight into why UEFS is such a unique course for students and how it will benefit them in their academic career. She also explains to us, what exactly an "ethnography" is and why it's so important to have in your toolkit as a student and researcher.

Episode 2:  Amir Shiva. Listen here.

Covid-19 has changed our lives forever and it also has changed how UEFS, which is usually a course offered in person at the UBC Learning Exchange in Chinatown, has been delivered in the past 2 years. Amir Shiva - previous UEFS Instructor and Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at UBC - joins us today to talk about how UEFS has adjusted to being online. We also talk about what exactly a "digital ethnography", how it has been introduced to students, and whether this kind of methodology will be used more in future research due to the pandemic changing how research is done in the social sciences.

 

Episode 3: Pat Moore. Listen here.

Food insecurity has become a top of mind issue especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Pat Moore - Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UBC and UEFS Instructor joins us today to talk about how the UEFS Course interacts with the topic of food insecurity and how students contribute with assisting community organizations with their missions.

Episode 4: TomKemple. Listen Here.

UEFS has a rich history with community involvement. The program has learned and adapted itself with community input into how the program should be structured, so that it does not replicate the historically extractive relationship academic institutions have with communities. Tom Kemple - Professor in the Department of Sociology at UBC and UEFS Instructor joins us today to talk about this storied history with the creation of the program to its present day standing.