I am glad to share that I have received the Dr EW Gauk-Westfield Award!

Thank you @taprootedmonton.ca for featuring @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social , Dr. Wendy Aujla and I for our piece on the Alberta government’s response to gender-based violence. Great to be next to @knight54.bsky.social in the Pulse!

The United Conservative Party claims it has adopted Canada's most comprehensive strategy to reduce gender-based violence. In the Edmonton Journal, Dr. Wendy Aujla, @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social and I outline the absolute hypocrisy of their plan to address violence in Alberta.

@pinglamjoeip.bsky.social ‬ and I wrote a piece in @thegateway.bsky.social to call out the University of Alberta Graduate Students’ Association for targeting and bullying an Indigenous Associate Vice-President Labour.

I'm excited to share with you all that my husband, Dr. Daniel O'Brien, has taken an ENT position at the University of Manitoba where he will also serve as associate professor. Daniel specializes in complex head and neck surgery. Manitoba, another doctor is on the way.

🧵Last year @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social and I extracted public data on 35,828 research projects funded by eight SSHRC programs to debunk the Alberta govt's claim that federal funding agencies favor “left-wing” or “progressive” disciplines. We now take one step further to analyze the data.

I am excited to share with you all that I have been awarded the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. The scholarship was created with the purpose of attracting and retaining world-class doctoral students who display exceptional scholarly achievements and also leadership qualities.

The Edmonton region has hit an all-time high in opioid related deaths. Danielle Smith claimed less than a year ago that The Alberta Recovery Model was a success We wrote about why her statements are misleading in October 2024 People will continue to die

I am excited to share that I have received the Andrew Stewart Memorial Graduate Prize! This award recognizes students' research accomplishments while registered in a doctoral program at the University of Alberta.

We live in a time where migrants' mobility can no longer be taken for granted, and my new article in Social Forces examines how mobility restrictions create "linked immobility" that affects entire transnational family networks. Here is the link (open access): academic.oup.com/sf/advance-a...

I am incredibly honored to receive the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship, one of the most prestigious doctoral awards in Canada sponsored by @killamtrusts.bsky.social.

Back to YEG after presenting three research papers at the @csa-scs.bsky.social annual conference!

The Alberta Government hates to see us coming. @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social

The University of Alberta made the decision to stop funding all university affiliated child care centres. Dr. @mmaroto.bsky.social and I wrote about the consequences of this decision and how it will not only harm the university, but the Edmonton community.

My new article on the critical criminlogy of sport is now out. journals.sagepub.com/eprint/CYUAQ...

The University of Alberta has slashed funding to their affiliated daycares despite the funding only making up .0154% of its operating budget. These facilities are vital to the community and lives will be permanently changed by this callous decision.

Opinion: GSA is wasting money on the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations "The costs associated with joining CASA are a misplaced use of our money and do not benefit graduate students." buff.ly/yhWnfA2

The University of Alberta Graduate Student Association spends tens of thousands of dollars of our membership fees on travel expenses. @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social and I wrote about how there is a lack of spending transparency, and a waste of our money.

🧵The Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) at the University of Alberta has distributed a survey to ask for students’ opinions on its proposed 2025-26 budget. The budget has many controversial items, including cuts to the associate vice-president labour, who is responsible for collective bargaining.

🧵Pierre Poilievre has promised harsher punishments for intimate partner violence. A new op-ed @dekeseredy.bsky.social , @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social, and I wrote for the Conversation Canada shows that these policies are not effective.

Yesterday West Virginia University held a held a celebration for authors who published in the @theconversation.com. An article @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social , @pdekeseredy.bsky.social and I wrote to debunk Danielle Smith's claims about Alberta's "treatment" model was featured. @ualberta.bsky.social

As a highly educated person, I do not like using vulgar language on any public platform but please pardon me one: FUCK YOU TRUMP YOU FUCKING RACIST FASCIST MORON GO FUCK YOURSELF. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Everyone is excited about the "win" in Wisconsin, but Wisconsin was one of the swing states that got Trump elected in the first place. If anything, this "win" only shows that some Americans are fine with having a narcissistic liar to be their leader when it doesn't hurt them.

🧵We have further information on the so-called “exemptions” in the Provincial Priorities Act (Bill 18) that will require provincial entities to seek approval from the Alberta government before signing any funding agreements with the federal government.

🧵Alberta's Laws make it impossible for Graduate Students' Associations (GSAs) in the province to protect our labour rights. In a new op-ed, @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social and I show that the University of Alberta GSA is considered part of @ualberta.bsky.social, our employer.

The University of Alberta Graduate Students' Association's proposed 2025–26 budget includes a $7,000 salary cut for the associate vice-president (labour) position. buff.ly/NpHelKT

The UCP backed down on including post-secondary federal funding in the Provincial Priorities Act. @kathrynjohnson.bsky.social from the @thegateway.bsky.social interviewed @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social and I about how this is not a "win" many in Alberta post-secondary organizations are claiming.

On March 12, the University of Alberta Graduate Students' Alliance released an update outlining the exemptions made for the post-secondary sector under the Provincial Priorities Act. buff.ly/MOLfoCx

🧵 @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social I have gone through the 25-26 proposed budget for the University of Alberta Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) as they have suggested cutting the annual stipend for our labour representative by $7,000.

Back in last April, my research partner @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social and I wrote an article calling out the Alberta government for making misleading claims to justify the bill.

🧵Five years today since COVID-19 pandemic began and we continue debating remote work in Canada. In my new article in Canadian Review of Sociology, I find access to remote options can be hugely beneficial. But we still just want to be back to "normal."

Our new article is now published in @jfamstudies.bsky.social! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

First acceptance in 2025! Dr. Wai-chi Chee and I conducted this qualitative study back in 2018 to understand the predicaments of low-income Chinese migrant mothers living in Hong Kong with a temporary visa. The paper will be published in @jfamstudies.bsky.social soon!

Every time I see a qualitative paper claiming it involves "thematic" or "grounded theory" analysis but its "themes" are like one- or two-word nouns, I know the authors are either lying or they have no idea what they're doing. (And yes a lot of top journals publish such BS.)

The AHS exec, Dr. Daniel O'Connell, who is being sued by world-renowned ENT surgeon Dr. Hadi Seikaly for taking away his operating time, is listed as an ENT surgeon at Alberta Surgical Group. Alberta Patients' Lives at Risk Due to Vendetta, Claims Doctor via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2024/11...

ASA mourns the sudden loss of former President Michael Burawoy, who died tragically in Oakland, CA, on February 3. Burawoy received the ASA Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award and W.E.B. Du Bois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award. His will be greatly missed.

The International Sociological Association (ISA) deeply mourns the tragic passing of Michael Burawoy, a leading sociologist, Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley, and the 17th President of ISA. Michael was fatally struck in a hit-and-run accident on February 3rd. His loss is immeasurable.

Next Week: “We need to understand that we are dealing with humans”: Penal Spectatorship and Experiential Learning in Criminology TUES, Feb 4, 12:30-1:30pm EDS 645 Mitra Mokhtari, PhD Candidate Dept of Sociology Univ. of Toronto register below in next post. #UAlberta @ualbertaed.bsky.social

The difference between psychology, criminology, and sociology: A psychologist uses the wrong variables to explain human behaviors. A criminologist helps the wrong people to explain human behaviors. A sociologist gets the wrong salary to explain human behaviors.

The real problem of TikTok isn't really about national security or "addiction" (I am against any claims that social media use is addictive). It is its brief nature and meaninglessness.

🧵The first paper from our project on viral illness in Alberta has been published. @mmaroto.bsky.social , @amykaler.bsky.social and I find that for many working parents balancing persistent circulation of sickness is untenable, and many have reached a point of resignation.

A reminder that CSA Annual Conference's call for abstracts is due on Jan 27. Our session on early learning and child care in Canada is open to submissions. Please submit your abstract here: event.fourwaves.com/csa-scs-conf...

Me to all the journals from which I am waiting for a decision: "Don't you want me like I want you, baby? Don't you need me like I need you now?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekr2...

🧵The Annual Conference of the Canadian Sociological Association is upon us and @pinglamjoeip.bsky.social and I are organizing a session on early learning and child care. We welcome submissions from ELCC researchers and practitioners across all of Canada.

The UCP has now passed its 3 anti-trans and anti-gay bills. This is a very dark day for Alberta and human rights. It’s sad the courts will have to strike down this discriminatory UCP legislation. Shameful that vulnerable children will needlessly suffer. #ableg #abpoli #cdnpoli

No, systematic (and scoping) review ITSELF is poisoning the academic well. It has created an entire generation of PhDs who publish in top journals and even get their degree by writing review papers without the experience of collecting, analyzing, and theorizing real world data.

I'm assuming the correct way to use this cure is the same as how parents measure their infant's temperature.

Glad that summer has finally come!

A PhD is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street: faster than the wind, passionate as sin, crashing so suddenly.