In the spring semester of 2017, I will be teaching two courses at SFU – one in Communication and the other in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies:

CMNS 342: Science and Public Policy: Risk Communication

In a globalized landscape, where threats of infectious disease outbreaks, bioterrorism, and natural disaster seem omnipresent, how do we (as communicators) translate scientific knowledge into actionable information for diverse publics? While “common sense” assures us that we simply need to deliver “the facts” in a comprehensive manner, what happens when scientific evidence is uncertain, controversial, or even suspect, to some of its most affected populations? How are these issues mediated and transformed through the ubiquity of new information and communication technologies (ICTs)?

This course examines the relationships between communication, science, technology, and public policy in the evaluation and management of risk. After introducing key theories, concepts, and problematics, each week will examine a different case study of risk and communication. Topics include: vaccinations, nuclear waste, HIV/AIDS, antibiotic resistance, tsunamis, and obesity. This case study approach will inform the final project, where students will work in teams to develop a podcast about a topic relevant to risk communication.

GSWS 210: Gender Today: Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Justice

Reproductive politics refers ongoing struggles to define, constrain, medicalize, technologize, spur, and/or prevent reproduction. This is an introductory course that builds interdisciplinary and feminist tools to analyze narratives, issues, practices, and arguments regarding reproductive politics as they manifest throughout the lifecourse, from preconception to end of life. Topics include reproductive choices, fertility, non-normative kinship, childbirth, child rearing, menopause and andropause, and the developmental origins of health and disease. Recognizing the topical and controversial nature of reproductive politics as well as the role of GSWS in transforming students into critical advocates for social change, assignments encourage students to engage in public dialogues on reproduction and to develop programmes of advocacy to advance reproductive justice.