Dr. Blye Frank, Dean | Faculty of Education, UBC
March 13, 2015 | 12:30 – 2:00 pm (PST) | Scarfe 310
View the Seminar Poster
This seminar is part of the EDCP 2014-2015 Seminar Series “International Perspectives in Curriculum and Pedagogy” hosted by William E. Doll Jr., Donna Trueit and William Pinar.
Abstract
This talk takes up the growing concern regarding boys and schooling which is receiving international attention. Critical of the contemporary discourses of ‘panic’ which do not address the complexities and diversity of the lives of boys in schools, and men more generally, the presentation draws on the critical scholarship in masculinities. In addition to highlighting the heteronormative privilege which many boys have historically been granted, the talk makes visible the counter-hegemonic masculine performances of a group of young men in school in order to offer alternative possibilities of masculine practice. Finally, the presentation will suggest that the debate about boys in schooling may benefit from a focus on the social gendered performances of boys, rather than on the claim that girls are receiving too much attention or on educational deficiencies.
Short Bio
Dr. Blye Frank was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Education at The University of British Columbia for a five-year term, effective April 1, 2011.
A scholar and advocate for social justice and equity with over four decades working in education, Dr. Frank is an experienced educator and administrator who brings a strong commitment to excellence in research, teaching and academic leadership.
Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Frank was Professor and Head of the Division of Medical Education in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax. During his time in medicine, Dr. Frank worked extensively at the national and international level including work on projects in Tanzania, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Pakistan in medical education focusing on faculty development.
Dr. Frank has an active research career and is a recognized expert in the field of gender studies with academic interests that include masculinity and the sociology of boys’ and men’s health. He has held major research grants from the Social Science Humanities Research Council of Canada for research in the area of masculinity and schooling.
Dr. Frank has worked with faculties of medicine across Canada towards the promotion of diversity and cultural competency within the medical education environment. In 2005-06, Dr. Frank contributed to the development of a program for Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC); a cultural diversity training program for teachers of internationally educated health care professionals. His particular module, Education for Cultural Awareness, is being used extensively throughout Medical Schools in Canada.
Previous to his appointment in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie, Dr. Frank was Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Studies in Education at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax. He has taught in pre-service, in-service and graduate education programs.
In 2006, Dr. Frank was awarded the May Cohen Gender Equity Award by the Association of Faculties of Medicine Canada, in recognition of outstanding effort or achievement of an individual, program, department or school in improving the gender equity environment in academic medicine in Canada. He has also received awards for teaching (Mount Saint Vincent Alumnae Award for Teaching, 1997 and Association of Atlantic Universities Distinguished Teacher Award, 1998), and for research excellence (Mount Saint Vincent Award for Research Excellence, 1999).
He has been called upon to provide advice on issues of equity in schools and health care environments. He is one of five national researchers developing the Health, Illness, Men and Masculinities (HIMM) theoretical framework, which is intended to inform methodology and analysis of how the social construction of masculinity intersects with men’s health and wellbeing.
At present, Dr. Frank is the President of the Association of Canadian Deans of Education (ACDE) and Treasurer for the Association of British Columbia Deans of Education (ABCDE).