CUFA BC’s work is directed and undertaken by a rotating team of elected faculty members from our member associations, four elected officers, and two staff members.
CUFA BC’s highest level of governance is Council, which meets several times per year to discuss shared concerns, and set priorities for the organization. Day-to-day work is carried out under the direction of the Executive Director and the President, with support from the Executive Assistant.
Officers
Dr. Kenneth Christie, President
Humanitarian Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies, Royal Roads University
Dr. Kenneth Christie is the Program Head and a Professor of the Human Security and Peacebuilding graduate program at Royal Roads University. Christie is a political scientist, author, editor and international academic who has taught and conducted research at universities in the U.S., Singapore, South Africa, Norway, the United Arab Emirates and Canada. Working all over the world has given him a unique perspective on peace, development and human security. His work has focused on issues of human rights, security and democratization. He is widely published as an author and editor with eleven books to his credit. His most recent book, co-edited with Marion Boulby, Migration, Refugees and Human Security in the Mediterranean and MENA was published by Palgrave MacMillan (2018). Today, he is working on issues of human security and its links to ethnic and state formation/failure in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Christie is also working on issues of de-radicalization, terrorism and human rights as well as populism (historical and contemporary) and corporate social responsibility. The work he produces is truly interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature. Dr. Christie is also a frequent commentator in the international and national media including television, radio and print on a wide variety of international affairs topics.
Dr. Monica Prendergast, Vice-President
Curriculum and Instruction, University of Victoria
Dr. Monica Prendergast is a Professor of Drama/Theatre Education at the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Victoria. Her research interests are varied and include drama-based curriculum and pedagogy, drama/theatre in community contexts, and arts-based qualitative research methods. Dr. Prendergast’s theatre and drama books include Applied Theatre and Applied Drama (both with Juliana Saxton), Teaching Spectatorship, Staging the Not-yet, and Drama, Theatre and Performance Education in Canada. Monica’s latest book is Portrayals of Teachers and Teaching on Stage and on Film: Dramatic Depictions (with Diane Conrad). Her CV includes over 50 peer reviewed journal contributions, numerous chapters, book reviews and professional contributions. Monica also reviews theatre for CBC Radio Canada and writes a column on theatre for Focus Magazine.
Karen Smith, Secretary-Treasurer
Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia
Karen Smith (she/her/hers) is a Lecturer at the University of British Columbia in the Dept. of Microbiology & Immunology. As an educator, she is primarily focused on the first year experience and conducted several scholarship of teaching and learning projects such as student wellbeing in the classroom, productive failure, and currently equity and diversity in learning activities. She is the secretary of the UBC Faculty Association and participated in the UBC FA bargaining committee in the 2019 round of contract negotiations.
Staff
Annabree Fairweather, Executive Director
Annabree has served as CUFA BC Executive Director since 2019. Annabree has worked in post-secondary academic labour relations union-side for over a decade in BC and Alberta. She has experience representing faculty rights in bargaining and labour disputes, as well as personal experience as a contract faculty member. Prior to her career in university labour, Annabree was a published researcher and a contract instructor at both the university and college level. She holds a Master of Science in experimental psychology and a double major Bachelor of Arts and Science in French and Psychology, as well as a Labour Relations-Management Certificate. Whenever she isn’t working, Annabree enjoys spending time with her wife and two children and distracting herself with hobbies, which include stone sculpture and playing piano. Email: [email protected]
Yasmin Irani, Administrative Officer
Recently hired to fill CUFA BC’s new role of Administrative Officer, Yasmin has served in various capacities in the post-secondary sector over the past two decades – as a student, activist, union representative, and staff person. She is a lifelong learner who has attended SFU and Douglas College, and will soon be working on a Community Capacity Building certificate at SFU. When not working, Yasmin spends time with friends and family, is an active volunteer in anti-poverty networks, and passionate about building community. Yasmin’s superpower is recognizing 80s songs with nothing more than a vague lyric or guitar riff. Email: [email protected]