lakehead professor inspires 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 through study of social justice issues

may 26, 2011

the first time i entered paul carr's office at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 's new orillia campus, i was amazed and intrigued. here was a faculty office that was not only filled with the usual shelves of books and journals, but decorated with a colourful collection of artifacts and photos, suggesting an international traveller with a sense of adventure.

indeed, dr. paul carr, an associate professor with the faculties of interdisciplinary studies and sociology, came to lakehead - orillia with an abundance of interesting experiences and global research interests. during the past couple of years, dr. carr has travelled to brazil, argentina, romania, sicily, algeria and all over canada and the united states.

carr's interest in intercultural research, critical pedagogy and democracy is what led him to many international opportunities. his ability to speak and work in both french and spanish also contributed to the development of international collaborations.

originally from toronto, carr's interest in international culture and democracy began in his youth when he had the opportunity to spend two years studying in france. upon returning to canada, carr enrolled in political science at york university's glendon college. during his undergraduate years, carr's interest in other cultures grew. he studied spanish and began to work with latin american refugees in toronto and also became involved with cuban and other latin american solidarity movements. he went on to complete his masters degree in public administration at queens university before embarking on a career in the public service. carr worked for the ontario ministry of education for almost two decades as a senior policy advisor.

during this time, carr completed his doctorate in the sociology of education at the ontario institute for studies in education at the university of toronto (oise), with his thesis examining anti-racism and institutional culture in education. "i became more and more interested in these areas and in order to continue my research, i knew i would have to move from government to a university setting," said carr.

carr was offered a position at youngstown university in ohio, where he taught for five years before moving back to canada to accept the 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 position in september 2010.

during his academic career, carr developed an area of specialization focused on social justice - including democracy, political sociology, critical studies in education, media literacy and peace studies. he has a wide range of publications in this area, including six co-edited books, as well as his first single-author book, does your vote count?: democracy and critical pedagogy (new york: peter lang), published in 2011. carr's most recent co-edited publication, the phenomenon of obama and the agenda for education: can there be hope in a time of neoliberalism? (information age publishing) is a collection of essays examining education under the obama administration.

another of carr's co-edited books, the great white north? exploring whiteness, privilege and identity in education (rotterdam: sense publishers), won awards from the canadian race relations foundation and the canadian association for foundations in education. the book is used as one of the texts in carr's sociology of education class.

"i really think the book and our study of social justice issues have made an impact on the 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 ," says carr.

nicki holmes, who took the course this year, agrees. "the discussions we have in dr. carr's classes encourage us to share different perceptions and think about things in a different way," says holmes. "from the first day of class, dr. carr rearranged the desks into a circle to stimulate discussion." holmes adds that she will now think about how to incorporate some of the social justice and anti-racial concepts from carr's course into the classroom when she becomes a teacher.

carr says that his teaching style is intended to encourage 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 to be critically engaged. "university is a place where we can delve into our consciousness and be very critical; it's an opportunity to interrogate what is happening, to ourselves and to others." carr believes that we often overemphasize the notion of going to university to get a job. "the ability to read and think and synthesize won't necessarily lead you to a job, but they lead to a whole range of things. being critically engaged means we can do things that are very important, and as we continue to try to understand our own and others' identities, we will be making a more decent society."