June 27, 2025 Shan Hsieh, Rona Mohsini, Zoya Nasir, Yasmine Sleiman, Alison Wardley, Yao Xiao, Cody Yoon Introduction Our site of interest, Fort York, is a historic site that maintains the military garrison that was established by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe in 1793, who then named it York, favouring English names to local Indigenous ones … Continue reading
Category Archives: Updates
On Decolonizing A House Museum: Diversifying Storytelling and the Gap of Communication
June 24, 2024 Yiran Li, Yunshan Li, Georgia Hanson, Alperen Demirci, Lukey Lu The Spadina Museum is one of ten Toronto History Museums sites operated by the City of Toronto, used to be owned by the Austin Family, an affluent and influential family in Toronto during late 19th Century and early 20th Century. The museum … Continue reading
Writing Fieldnotes: Essential Skills Workshop Friday, June 20th 10-12
Upcoming Event May 7: On Friendship
The Beautiful friend shows up unexpectedly and a worlding can begin. In this talk, we move from making friends on a quiet street in Denmark to friendships in Jordan and finally to friendship and the possibility of transformative solidarity in the research process. When invisible, affective gestures are captured ethnographically in all their singularity, can … Continue reading
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates
“It’s so hard to get information out to students.”
By Yunshan Li As one division in Student Life, a main challenge that Student Engagement (responsible for clubs and leadership development relevant matters) meets is they find it difficult to let students know what is happening. One main reason is they do not have their own social media accounts. If they want to announce something, such … Continue reading
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates
Working Styles in the University
By Yunshan Li As a department in a higher education institution, Student Life’s working habit is quite different from that of academia. According to our professor, there is no clear hierarchy of faculty in academia. Of course, some professors are more reputational, but there is no such concept as superior and subordinate. Furthermore, the work handover of faculty is mostly … Continue reading
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates
Why is Student Privacy in Research So Sensitive?
By Yunshan Li Our group was assigned to study the organization and function of Student Engagement which is responsible for the support of clubs and leadership development. During our fieldwork, we planned to conduct participant observation on Student Engagement workshops. The staff in Student Engagement welcomed us at the beginning and seemed enthusiastic to help … Continue reading
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
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)
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
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 Lab 