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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 Lab 