Dr. Kaye Hare

Dr. Kaye Hare hadn’t always planned to have a career in academia.

After completing a Master of Arts in Health Promotion and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Sociology and Anthropology, she went on to work in health policy for the Government of Alberta.

After she returned to school to complete her PhD in Education at the University of British Columbia (UBC), she realized she wanted to stay in academia.

“I realized that I love how post-secondary education can invite people to think in deeper and more complex ways about the world around them. I get to help people do so with both teaching and research,” she says.

Dr. Hare then dove headlong into the world of teaching. She taught as a sessional instructor in the Faculty of Education at UBC and worked with the UBC-Ritsumeikan Academic Exchange program – a program for international students from Ritsumeikan University in Japan visiting UBC.

She joined UCW as a sessional instructor in 2020 and was recently hired as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Arts, Communications and Social Sciences, teaching classes in Anthropology and Social Justice. Some of her favourite courses to teach include Introduction to Theories of Social Justice, Social Justice in Practice, and Critical and Contemporary Perspectives on Social Justice and Human Rights.

“I love teaching at UCW because its classrooms are full of students from all over the world. When we are talking about topics like social inequity, justice and culture in coursework, it is invaluable to hear perspectives from people coming from many parts of our global community,” she says. “I truly believe that such engaged, global dialogue is essential for addressing ongoing issues related to colonialism, racism, sexism and other forms of oppression.”

She added that the diversity in the classroom challenges her to constantly rethink complex topics to account for a wider range of shared experiences.

“As an educator, I find that engaging with an international audience also invites me to be creative and inventive with my teaching practices,” Dr. Hare says. “I am constantly pushing myself to create as many entry points into concepts, methods and content as possible.”

When she is not in the classroom, Dr. Hare is passionate about advocacy and leadership. She is the Co-President of Options for Sexual Health Association, which is Canada’s largest sexual health not-for-profit, and volunteers with SIXPO, a groundbreaking hybrid sexual health conference organized by and for people with disabilities.

Her research interests include sexuality education, bodies and embodiment, and feminist and arts-based research methods. Her work is published in academic journals, such as Culture, Health & Sexuality, The International Journal of Qualitative Methods, and Emotion, Space and Society.

“A faculty position at UCW is the exact academic job I wanted once I graduated from my PhD program,” Dr. Hare says. “It is a young, rapidly growing university that offers career opportunities and chances for development. I am thrilled to be working here.”

She adds that as an early career academic, she enjoys the flexible, integrated approach to scholarly activity at UCW.

“There is a strong recognition that workloads need to be balanced,” she says. “Faculty have a great deal of agency and are invited into active decision-making around publication and participation.”

Dr. Hare says she finds it fulfilling to work at an institution where her colleagues are also deeply invested in their work.

“The faculty and staff bring a range of experiences and strengths to their roles, with the aim of providing relevant and accessible education for students,” she says. “There is a lot of heart and dedication at UCW.”