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Sociology MA Students
Zuhal Akay
Zuhal entered the MA program in Sociology in the Fall of 2022.
Supervisor: Lindsey Freeman
Regina Baeza Martinez
Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, Regina (she/her) studies the experiences of Indigenous migrant farmworkers recruited to work in Canada. Specifically, she focuses on the place-making practices of Mayan migrant farmworkers from Guatemala. Looking at the role of transnational social networks (including other-than-human-relations), Regina argues that while these workers are deemed 'temporary', they construct vibrant indígena (Indigenous) worlds in rural Canada. Her research is part of a larger political project that aims to achieve permanent residency upon arrival for all migrant workers because, as the motto goes, 'good enough to work, good enough to stay'.
Co-Supervisors: Evelyn Encalada Grez & Michael Hathaway
Patrick Begg
Patrick entered the MA program in Sociology in Fall 2024
Supervisor: Maureen Kihika
Mary Berger
Mary entered the MA program in Sociology in Fall 2023.
Supervisor: Barbara Mitchell
Liv Bing
Liv entered the MA program in Sociology in Fall 2023.
Supervisor: Wendy Chan
Rincy Dominic Calamba
Rincy entered the MA program in Sociology in the Fall of 2021. She has a BA in Interdisciplinary American Studies at the University of Tübingen in Germany and a BA in International Studies major in American Studies, with a minor in Sociology from the Ateneo de Davao University in the Philippines. Her research interests are on temporary migrant labor issues and the experiences of migrant families in Canada with regards to race, gender, and citizenship issues. Other interests include: Filipino studies, Filipino diaspora and integration, sexuality and transnational movement.
Co-Supervisors: Evelyn Encalada Grez and Cindy Patton
Madison Casper
Madison entered the MA program in Sociology in Fall 2024.
Supervisor: Lindsey Freeman
Rajdeep Dhaliwal
Rajdeep entered the MA program in Sociology in Fall 2024.
Supervisor: Kyle Willmott
Xingtong Fan
Xingtong entered the MA program in Sociology in Fall 2024.
Supervisor: Travers
William Grayer
William entered the MA program in Sociology in Fall 2023.
Supervisor: Pamela Stern
Quang Huynh
Research Interest: transnational labour, precarious work, Vietnamese migrants, mental well-being.
I graduated from UBC with a degree in psychology. My interest in Sociology came from one of my visits to a Vietnamese temple in Japan. That temple has supported many Vietnamese migrants who were unfairly fired during the pandemic. As a result, the migrants became homeless and jobless overnight. It exposed an exploitative system backed by governments to bring young Vietnamese to Japan to do dirty and dangerous work. My research focuses on how religious institutions, such as temples and churches, as well as other "third places," directly support the mental well-being of the migrants and build a sense of community among the Vietnamese population in Japan. I hope to contribute more to the existing literature about migration and precarious work by focusing more on the mental aspect of migrant workers.
Supervisor: Evelyn Encalada Grez
Committee Member: Alexia Bloch
Nelson Juma
Nelson entered the MA program in Sociology in Fall 2024.
Supervisor: Prof-Collins Ifeonu
Geri Lee
Geri completed a joint degree in Sociology and Anthropology from SFU in October 2022 and entered the MA program in Sociology in Fall 2023. Her research interests include sex work, Indigenous women in Canada, labour precarity, and perceptions of the self and the body in relation to labour. Her proposed thesis topic explores the lived experiences of online sex workers who pivoted to the industry during COVID-19 lockdown periods, with a specific focus on the social and economic stigma-related barriers they face when transitioning to a non-sex-work related industry following the lifting of pandemic policies
Supervisor: Maureen Kihika
Committee member: Dany Lacombe
Gloria Moon
Area of study: neurodivergence, neuroqueer practices, queer theory
I am entering into the Sociology MA program in the Fall of 2024. I graduated from SFU with my BA in Sociology (Honours) and Certificate of Social Justice. My undergraduate honours thesis was completed under the supervision of Dr. Lindsey A. Freeman and Dr. Amanda Watson and explored how neuroqueer individuals engage in the process of world-making by collectively queering a space for themselves through the symbolic practices of neuroqueering. I am interested in further expanding on the practices of neuroqueering in my MA thesis.
Supervisor: Lindsey Freeman
Committee Member: Amanda Watson
Noah Sim
Areas of study: Affect, Phenomenology, Post-phenomenlogy, ANT, Feminist Loneliness Studies
Noah is an immigrant from Singapore to Canada, and finished a joint major in Sociology and Anthropology at SFU in the Fall of 2022. His studies during the pandemic sparked his interest in the issue of social isolation; it got amplified during the crisis and his volunteering at the Student Learning Commons (SLC) at SFU brought him into contact with many individuals struggling with this. His research considers how the usage of technology, specifically AI-generative chat bots, could affect how people form, experience and maintain social connections. Down the road he hopes to study more in-depth how technology has altered how people experience the world beyond considering their usage as tools and conveniences. While Noah loves all things geeky, his true passion lies in boardgames with social deception mechanics!
Supervisor: Amanda Watson
Committee Member: Lindsey Freeman
Pavel Vlasov
Areas of study: Sovietology, Marxism, Collapse of the USSR, Slavic Studies
Pavel Vlasov is an MA student in sociology and a teaching assistant in the department. He earned his Associate's degree in Sociology from Douglas College before completing his BA in Sociology at SFU in 2022. He began his MA in 2023, investigating the collapse of the USSR by analyzing, categorizing, and evaluating the validity of various scholarly explanations for this historic event.
Supervisor: Gary Teeple
Isabella Wang
Areas of study: autotheory, contemporary poetry and poetics, experimental forms, queer activism, health policy, precarity and harm reduction for homeless youths, resistance and rebellion
Isabella the author of two poetry collections, On Forgetting a Language (Baseline Press, 2019), and Pebble Swing (Nightwood Editions, 2021)—shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. In the Canadian literary community, she is an editor with Room magazine, a bookseller with Massy Books, web coordinator with poetry in canada, program advisory consultant and mentor with the UBC Learner's Exchange, and directs her own non-profit writing program, 4827 Revise Revision St., which offers career consultations and mentorship services for at-risk youths free-of-charge. In her MA, Isabella hopes to develop Choreography of Forgetting, an experimental poetry manuscript that teases out the stories contained in the strokes of Chinese calligraphy, and explores the ‘forgotten’ when China, during the Great Leap Forward, made its full transition from traditional to simplified characters.
In her undergrad, Isabella worked as the department dog sitter for SFU English.
Supervisor: Lindsey Freeman
Committee members: Stephen Collis and Amanda Watson
Samantha Wong
Samantha entered the MA program in Sociology in Fall 2022.
Supervisor: Kyle Willmott
Adam Yahav
Areas of Study: Anti-Gender Movements, Right Wing Political Movements, (Neo)-Facism, Masculinities, Childism, Queer Youth, Public Policy
After beginning my undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa, I completed my BA in Community, Public Affairs, and Public Policy Studies with a minor in English Literature at Concordia University in August 2024. I began my MA in Sociology at Simon Fraser University shortly thereafter in September 2024.
I intend to examine how British Columbians-fathers in particular-relate to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) education in schools, considering how age, gender, nation, and other areas of difference invite or give rise to this ever-growing anti-gender political discourse. My master’s research project was inspired by my time living in both Ottawa, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec where I beared witness to the so-called Freedom Convoy in 2022 and the #1MillionMarch4Children protest in 2023, bringing to light the prominent mobilization of “anti-rights” movements in Canada.
Supervisor: Amanda Watson
Ying Zhang
Areas of study: Education reform in China; policy analysis;
Winnie entered the MA program in Sociology in the Fall of 2022. She graduated from SFU with her BA in Sociology in the summer of 2022. Her thesis focuses on China's newly released educational policy, the double reduction policy, and explores its impact on the Chinese education system as well as on those affected (teachers, students, and parents).
Supervisor: Cindy Patton
Committee member: Huamei Han
Anthropology MA Students
Ty Bryant
Areas of study: Asian-Indigenous relationalities, the more-than-human, Taiwan Studies, and global Indigenous social movements
Ty is a citizen of We Wai Kai First Nation. He entered the MA program in Anthropology in Fall 2023. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology (First Class with Distinction) at Simon Fraser University. Ty's upcoming MA thesis, "Making a Home in Vancouver: Taiwanese Reckonings With Settler Colonialism," will explore how the Taiwanese diaspora in Vancouver are reckoning with their roles and responsibilities towards Indigenous peoples and lands – and, by extension, reckoning with settler colonialism. For more on Ty's work, please visit his website.
Supervisor: Michael Hathaway
Committee members: Kyle Willmott and May Farrales
Yueming Chen
Yueming entered the MA program in Anthropology in the Fall of 2019.
Supervisor: Jie Yang
Vaughn Curioso
Vaughn entered the MA program in Anthropology in Fall 2023.
Supervisor: Kathleen Millar
Rajdeep Dhadwal (ਰਾਜਦੀਪ ਢਡਵਾਲ)
Areas of study: ethnoecology, Punjabi cultures and diaspora, climate change, ecological restoration, South Asia, Indigenous spiritualities, religion, natures of being, memory
Rajdeep entered the MA program in Anthropology in Fall 2023. She received her Bachelor of Arts, Honours in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia in 2019 and an Associate of Arts in Asian Studies from Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2015. Her undergraduate honours thesis explored how immigration from Punjab, India and long-time settlement in British Columbia affected relationships to and understandings of the natural world.
Rajdeep currently works in the Faculty of Environment, School of Environmental Science at SFU. She is also a community researcher and oral historian with the City of Burnaby, exploring Burnaby’s South Asian community.
Supervisor: Cristina Moretti
Shirley Huo
Shirley entered the MA program in Anthropology in Fall 2024.
Supervisor: Jie Yang
Carolina Miranda
Carolina entered the MA program in Anthropology in Fall 2023.
Supervisor: Kathleen Millar
Julio C. Moreno Correa
Areas of Study: social psychology, education
Julio entered the MA program in Anthropology in the Fall of 2022. He is an international student from Colombia, who studied undergraduate in Psychology and master in Education at Universidad de Antioquia. He is particularly interested in research about differences regarding the perspective of peace processes between Colombians in their country and migrants living in Canada.
Supervisor: Kathleen Millar
Niyat Ogbazghi
Niyat entered the MA program in Anthropology in the Fall of 2021.
Co-Supervisors: Maureen Kihika and Pamela Stern