Vangie Bergum

Vangie Bergum (1939-2025) began her university studies in nursing (BScN) and adult education (MAdEd), which led to a PhD in Education and a career at the University of Alberta as a professor, researcher, and director of the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre.

Bergum’s research work focused on the ethical nature of relationships. Her early research centered on the experience of becoming a mother, from pregnancy to birth and beyond, which led to the publication of two books: Woman to Mother. A Transformation (1989), and A Child on Her Mind. The Experience of Becoming a Mother (1997). Her exploration of relationships continued with an interdisciplinary research project that explored health ethics from the daily experiences of professional practice. This research resulted in Relational Ethics: The Full Meaning of Respect (2005) (co-authored with John Dossetor). Together with Jeanne Van der Zalm, she edited the book Motherlife: Studies in Mothering Experience (2007). And in collaboration with Jeff Nisker, Vangie Bergum wrote and produced the play A Child on Her Mind (2007). She presented at national and international conferences and published numerous papers and book chapters throughout her academic career. Downstream: Bestemor & Me (2014) was her foray into creative nonfiction. She also wrote the play, a work in progress, The Imaginary: Speaking of Love, where she “imagined a better world, a world in which bodily autonomy is the right of every woman, every person."

Vangie Bergum will be remembered as the mother of relational ethics, whereby ethical practice is realized through mutual respect, relational engagement, and embodied knowledge. She emphasized that ethical action is not just theoretical, but instead must attend to what people actually experience. In this way, her work forefronted the value of presence, dialogue, experience, and meaning.