Author Archives: Emily Hertzman

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Navigating Identity: Learning Strategists and the Tension Between Care and Boundaries

Posted on by • Leave a comment

By Yihang Xu “… even just in the few conversations we’ve had, you’ll notice that there’s almost a departmental identity crisis…” —— Grace, Learning Strategist Grace is right. Through my interviews with learning strategists in the Center for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS) at the University of Toronto (UofT), I’ve noticed an identity crisis among them. … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Neoliberal Implications in the Fragmentation of Student Services through the renamings of Center for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS)

Posted on by • Leave a comment

By Yihang Xu The Center for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS) helps students develop strategies and practices to enhance their learning and study skills. As one of the major units within the Student Life Department at the University of Toronto (UofT), CLSS didn’t always exist in its current form. According to my informant, Eric (a pseudonym), … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Scaling Academic Support Services: Consumerist Implications in Higher Education

Posted on by • Leave a comment

By Yihang Xu The Center for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS) is a major academic support service provider within the University of Toronto (UofT). Its focus is on helping students improve their learning habits and academic outcomes. During my interviews with the learning strategists there, I found that they frequently use the word “scale” to describe … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / final papers / Undergraduate Ethnography

Power through Professionalization: Power Dynamics in Student Peer Mentorship

Posted on by • Leave a comment

A Final Rport By Richard Wu First-year students of a course required for entry into the Statistics Major/Specialist degree programs trickle into a conference room to learn about academic writing, in a workshop organized by upper-year student mentors hired by the Statistics Department at the University of Toronto (U of T). Tony, a peer mentor, … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

The Art of Building Rapport with Professionals

Posted on by • Leave a comment

By Richard Wu One might think that, for the student ethnographic researcher, Student Life offers abundant opportunities for immersive field research. After all, like other students, the student researcher should in principle have equal access to the many opportunities for student engagement and development which Student Life is mandated to provide. Yet, as a student … Continue reading →

Get Trained to be a Good Mentee
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Get Trained to be a Good Mentee

Posted on by • Leave a comment

By Richard Wu How great would it be if someone, perhaps a more senior student, can show you the ropes about how to succeed at U of T? Someone with the right personality, background, and interests who can click with you and provide support and guidance? This might sound great. But how do you get … Continue reading →

The Peer Mentorship Contract
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

The Peer Mentorship Contract

Posted on by • Leave a comment

By Richard Wu Let me tell a story of how “contract” comes to be used in student peer mentorship.  In theory, university students could form stable, mutually beneficial relations to help each other succeed. In such peer mentoring relations, more junior students are mentees who could benefit from the guidance and support of more senior … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / final papers / Undergraduate Ethnography

The Business of Helping: The Ethical Implications of Student Tutoring at UofT

Posted on by • Leave a comment

A Final Report By Molly McGouran Introduction Why do we behave with integrity?  This was the first question I was asked when I logged onto “Ethics in Tutoring,” the first of my Zoom sessions in the Tutor Training Program.  As I sat at my laptop, confronted with this question, I was opened up to the … Continue reading →

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

When the Field Says No: Researching Student Life Without Student Voices

Posted on by • Leave a comment

By Molly McGouran How do you conduct research on a university without talking to students?   It is a question that caught me off guard during my fieldwork and, at first, felt incredibly limiting. I had started with what I thought was a clear, straightforward plan: observe, interact, and interview students at the University of Toronto. … Continue reading →

The Price of Support: How The UT3 Program Complicates Academic Aid
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

The Price of Support: How The UT3 Program Complicates Academic Aid

Posted on by • Leave a comment

By Molly McGouran While conducting research into the University of Toronto Tutor Training Program (UT3), I found myself caught in a web of questions and answers that seemed to lead me in circles.  The more fieldwork I did, the more it felt like trying to solve a puzzle where every piece connected to another in … Continue reading →