I am a faculty member in the Department of Equity Studies, Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies.
I worked as a Nurse Manager in psychiatry while attending York full time for my MA and Ph.D. As a therapist, I never thought of leaving Mental Health and entering academia. My love for sociology kept me returning to York University and I was able to blend my health background when completing my Ph.D. in Women and Work: Staff Nurse Collegiality. The issues of racism and abuse in a predominantly women’s profession, one where I worked as a racialized woman, provided not just the lived experience but allowed me to base my knowledge on research and theory. I have a strong commitment to critical race theory and the social determinants of health. Empirical and ethically engaged sociology inspires my research and teaching. I try to cultivate students’ critical thinking skills and sensitize them to the connections between personal experiences and the social world around them. In 2001, I was invited by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) to join their Graduate Programme prior to working full-time at York University.
The origin of my research can be traced to my life experiences as an immigrant, and my early professional background in health. Leaving Burma alone, as a teenager on a one-way ticket to the West, heightened my sensitivities to gender inequality, mental health, disruptive family relations due to political violence, human rights, and social justice. As a result, my research and scholarship are situated in a) mental health, b) health professionals, c) race and ethnicity in women’s work, and d) my current research: Anglo Burmese culture.
Burmese refugees in Canada: social justice and human rights, relocation, and ties with Burma/ related activist groups in Canada.
I am currently working on completing my book on - Anglo Burmese Culture: Letters from my mother

Research project with colleagues - Refugees in Kurdistan and their trauma as well as Canadian refugees and immigrants originated from the Middle East including Iraq. This research is within a team of scholars in Canada and in the Middle East.
Current Research - Race and Racism in health professions

Research Interests

• John O’Neill Award. Teaching Excellence. - 2004

Current Research Projects

Approach to Teaching

I teach because I believe that education above all else is the means to creating equality of conditions and opportunity. In a classroom, there is an unequal distribution of power. Students who believe they have little influence are unlikely to feel committed. This dissatisfaction can decrease participation. With this in mind, I encourage students to ask questions and challenge what they hear. I encourage analytical discourse, self-reflection, and dialogue based on knowledge.
I teach first year courses in Health Equity. Also, third year courses in Trauma and 4th year courses in Theory and Methods

Current Courses

I am a faculty member in the Department of Equity Studies, Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies.
I worked as a Nurse Manager in psychiatry while attending York full time for my MA and Ph.D. As a therapist, I never thought of leaving Mental Health and entering academia. My love for sociology kept me returning to York University and I was able to blend my health background when completing my Ph.D. in Women and Work: Staff Nurse Collegiality. The issues of racism and abuse in a predominantly women’s profession, one where I worked as a racialized woman, provided not just the lived experience but allowed me to base my knowledge on research and theory. I have a strong commitment to critical race theory and the social determinants of health. Empirical and ethically engaged sociology inspires my research and teaching. I try to cultivate students’ critical thinking skills and sensitize them to the connections between personal experiences and the social world around them. In 2001, I was invited by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) to join their Graduate Programme prior to working full-time at York University.
The origin of my research can be traced to my life experiences as an immigrant, and my early professional background in health. Leaving Burma alone, as a teenager on a one-way ticket to the West, heightened my sensitivities to gender inequality, mental health, disruptive family relations due to political violence, human rights, and social justice. As a result, my research and scholarship are situated in a) mental health, b) health professionals, c) race and ethnicity in women’s work, and d) my current research: Anglo Burmese culture.
Burmese refugees in Canada: social justice and human rights, relocation, and ties with Burma/ related activist groups in Canada.
I am currently working on completing my book on - Anglo Burmese Culture: Letters from my mother

Research project with colleagues - Refugees in Kurdistan and their trauma as well as Canadian refugees and immigrants originated from the Middle East including Iraq. This research is within a team of scholars in Canada and in the Middle East.
Current Research - Race and Racism in health professions

Employment equity for racial minorities and aboriginal people: including Social Justice, Setup and Backlash, Nursing and collegiality Vicarious trauma when working in helping professions; race as a category

Burmese refugees in Toronto: Trauma in ethnic women, social justice and human rights, relocation, and ties with Burma/ related activist groups in Canada.
Anglo Burmese culture: a subculture within Burma.

War and forced migration in the Middle East.
(A Eight-year Internationally collaborative, a multilateral partnership project with Universities in Kurdistan)
Christian refugees in Canada from the Middle East

Degrees

Professional Leadership

2020- Chair, Department of Equity Studies
2018 - Coordinator Human Rights and Equity Degree
2017 Chair, Department of Equity Studies
2011-12 Undergraduate Program Director, Department of Equity Studies
2010- 12 Chair, Department of Equity Studies, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
2010-11 Coordinator Human Rights and Equity Degree
2010-11 Coordinator Race Ethnicity and Indiginaty Degree

Community Contributions

2022-,Board Member. Vitanova
2020 Consultant for Outreach Oasis of Praise
2013-2015 Chair – Canadian Friends of Burma
2013- Member and BOD - Canadian Friends of Burma
2010- 2012 Member, Central LIHN IHSP Health Equity Advisory Network
2007- 09 Chair, The Marcus Garvey Centre for Leadership and Education
2008 Governance Committee, York Central Hospital
2006 Quality and Performance management Committee. York Central Hospital
2004 - 06 Community member, Strategic Planning Committee. York Central Hospital

Research Interests

Awards

• John O’Neill Award. Teaching Excellence. - 2004

Approach to Teaching

I teach because I believe that education above all else is the means to creating equality of conditions and opportunity. In a classroom, there is an unequal distribution of power. Students who believe they have little influence are unlikely to feel committed. This dissatisfaction can decrease participation. With this in mind, I encourage students to ask questions and challenge what they hear. I encourage analytical discourse, self-reflection, and dialogue based on knowledge.
I teach first year courses in Health Equity. Also, third year courses in Trauma and 4th year courses in Theory and Methods

Current Courses