Masters of Arts Students

Aidan Blockley

Supervisor: Dr. Zoreh BayatRizi

I earned a BSc in Sociology: Criminal Justice and a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Reinhardt University, a small, Methodist-affiliated university in the hills of Appalachian Georgia. My experiences growing up in Georgia made me primarily interested in relationality, queer-disabled identity formations, and how they all intersect with death and grief sociology. My hope is to continue my studies in sociology at a PhD level and do research that is reflexive, transdisciplinary, and as gentle as it is critical. More broadly, my interests/hobbies include Appalachian Studies, history, storytelling, and (poorly) playing the banjo.

Samuel Braden

Research Interests: My current research interests consist of the empirical validation of concepts emanating from classical social theory, regarding their utility to explain components of contemporary social reality, specifically concepts from both Durkheimian and Weberian social theory. I as well have a side interest in the social effects of meditation and other mindfulness practices, and the social effects associated with the use of various hallucinogenic substances.

Kaitlyn Budgell

I am interested in researching the impact of climate change on migration, mobility, and immobility in Canada.

Nader Chehayeb

Supervisor: Dr. Marta-Marika Urbanik

 Nader is an MA student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta. His research interests include policing and punishment, police-citizen interactions, and people experiencing houselessness. Through his research and course work, Nader hopes to better understand the experiences of various marginalized groups. Nader hopes to then apply such knowledge to the legal field as he plans to pursue law school after completing his MA. 

Samadrita Chowdhuri

Supervisors : Dr. Amy Kaler and Dr. Sara Dorow

My research interests are mainly focused on gender, health and illness and family studies. My Master's thesis is a qualitative exploration on Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome treatment (PCOS), which is an endocrine hormonal disorder in women and tries to explore women’s perspective of the disorder, their illness experience and its connection with perceptions of ‘femininity.’ My research aims to get a more nuanced knowledge of their experiences by examining how Indian and Indo-Canadian women in Alberta identify their bodies in response to living with a gendered disease.

Alexandra Hélène Gagnon

Supervisor: Dr. Sandra Bucerius 

Alexandra Hélène Gagnon is a Masters student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta. She obtained her Hons. B.A. in Sociology at MacEwan University and has experience using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Her research interests include deviance, reintegration, public criminology, and the sociology of law. Her Master's Capstone project will examine how research findings of contentious issues can be disseminated to the general public. 

Rachel Geldart

Sara Hill

My research interests primarily concern how factors such as economic development, education, geographic location, and even sustainable energy, influence intersectional labour market inequality in Canada.

Victoria Lopatka

Supervisor: Dr. Marta-Marika Urbanik

Victoria is a Master's student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta. She obtained her BA in Criminology and Communication at Simon Fraser University in BC. Her research interests include drug policy, people who use drugs (PWUD), drug decriminalization, and the ongoing overdose crisis. Her previous work focuses on the perceived impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on PWUD in BC

Audrey Medwayosh

I am Potawatomi, and a member of the Wasauksing Nation. My research interests are Indigenous perspectives on death and dying, with particular attention to Indigenous people in urban settings who have unexpectedly experienced loss.

Ismail Ayatullah Nasirudeen

My primary areas of research interest include gender-based violence, policing and law enforcement, juvenile delinquency, and transnational Crimes.

Gabriel Pratico

Gabriel is a master’s student in the Sociology department at the University of Alberta. He obtained his Honours Bachelor of Arts in Criminology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. His research interests include narrative criminology, discourses, far-right ethno-nationalist movements, communities, and terrorists, as well as far-right extremist populist movements. Pursuant to this, his honours thesis, “Written in Blood & Glass: Terrorist Narratives, e-Communities, and Mass Media Discursive Strategies and Themes”, focused on examining the narratives and discourses contained within the manifestos of two extremist mass killers, the discussion spaces of their ideological peers, and mass media reporting on their actions. Besides the University of Alberta and Simon Fraser University, he has also studied at Okanagan College in British Columbia and the University of Oslo in Norway.

Saira Shearer

Supervisor: Dr. Karen Hughes

Research Interests: Sociology of Work and Entrepreneurship; Female Work; Motherhood; Multi-level-Marketing; the #BossBabe rhetoric; Weight-Stigmatization; Ethical research

My research interests are focused in the Sociology of Work with a specific interest in multi-level-marketing (MLM), wellness, and motherhood. Within the broader scheme of qualitative research, I am also particularly interested in ethical research practice within academia.

Nicole Soroka

My primary area of interest is human rights with a current focus on women working in paramilitary milieus. I recently completed a capstone project which centred around women working as Correctional Peace Officers in Alberta. I plan to expand on this type of research in the future.

Leanne Stevens

Supervisor: Dr. Sandra Bucerius

Leanne is an MA student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta. She obtained her BA in Sociology from MacEwan University. Leanne's research interests broadly include correctional officer (CO) and prison subculture, CO mental health, and anti-terrorism law and policy.

Galiba Zahid

I am an MA student at the University of Alberta. I received my BA(Hons) at the University of Manitoba. My BA thesis assessed the effects on wages due to the feminization of occupations over 30 years in Canada and the US. I am interested in work and occupations, gendered labour, precarious occupations, social stratification, and income and wealth inequality.

Rujun (Ruth) Zhang

Research interest: work and employment; gig economy; transnational labor; immigration studies; gendered work; trustworthy autonomous systems;

Personal website: https://rj-zh.github.io/