IF... Speaker Series: Roberta Hawkins and Higher Expectations
On Tuesday, February 4, from 12-1pm, the THINC lab, on the 2nd floor of the McLaughlin Library, University of Guelph, will be hosting an in-person talk for the IF... Speaker Series, featuring Roberta Hawkins.
Roberta Hawkins is an associate professor at the University of Guelph. She describes herself as a “feminist geographer and critical social scientist” with research falling into three categories:
1. feminist academia and the oppressive power dynamics present in higher education,
2. digital technologies and how to use technology to frame cultural politics of sustainability, and
3. the Global North and how people here can create change through ethical consumption, online activism, volunteer tourism, and social entrepreneurship.
Additionally, Roberta Hawkins is a co-lead for the Reimagining Care Cluster at the Live Work Well Research Centre. This research cluster considers how care is, and could be, practiced in a range of community, academic, and digital spaces. The work of this cluster examines care practices that are often overlooked, such as friendships with colleagues, sharing resources with neighbours, and organizing online spaces of care.
At the IF... Speaker Series, Roberta will be discussing her book Higher Expectations: How to Survive Academia, Make It Better for Others, and Transform the University, published in May 2024 and co-authored with Leslie Kern. This text provides a practical day-to-day guide to make working within a constrained institution better for everyone.
Higher Expectations addresses critical issues facing those working and studying in the university. It offers insightful strategies in navigating institutional pressures to reinforce hierarchies of oppression, by coming together and advocating for meaningful change within university systems. Roberta and Leslie draw on extensive research and personal experiences to offer practical advice and thought-provoking perspectives aimed at fostering a new inclusive community.