Who works at the university and on what terms? By Lama El-Hanan and Joanna Abdulhamid and Mirae Lee Exploring common themes within our projects, we noticed some significant parallels between the employees we were studying. Firstly, all of their work-products contributed in some way, shape or form to the University’s mandates of image and reputation … Continue reading →

Negotiating Role Conflicts through Social Media By Lama El-Hanan I am doing my research at the Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office (ARCDO). Doing anti-racism work at the University is challenging, given that it involves conflicting role demands. ARCDO employees must work to eliminate racism and systemic discrimination while also enabling the University’s academic mission. Although … Continue reading →

Lama El-Hanan I chose to do my research on work at the University of Toronto’s Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office (ARCDO). ARCDO is part of the University’s equity offices network and works closely with stakeholders on campus to enable the University’ academic mission and eliminate racism and systemic discrimination on campus. Doing anti-racism work at … Continue reading →

From Kathi Weeks: The University as a Work Society By Mirae Lee In order to begin thinking and formulating questions for our individual ethnographic research, we first started by trying to understand what “work” is/means and what it means to be a “worker.” According to Kathi Weeks in The Problem with Work (2011), work is … Continue reading →

Introduction By Tania Li I proposed the topic of work for this year’s ethnographic practicum because everyone in the university is engaged in it – doing it, complaining about it, worrying about the future lack of it – yet we seldom stop to contemplate how or why work has become so central to our lives … Continue reading →

Maggie Morris Maggie is a fourth year undergraduate student studying Anthropology, Sociology and Ethics, Society & Law. She is currently a peer mentor for the ‘STEP Anthropology Program.’ She has done research in Kerala, India through the Ethnography Lab with Dalit and Adivasi caste groups on the nature of social inequality and exclusion. Neemo Isse … Continue reading →