Dr. Dana Sawchuk

Associate Professor and Chair

Contact Information

Email: dsawchuk@wlu.ca
Phone: 519.884.0710 ext.2306

Office Location: DAWB 5-135A
Office Hours: Winter Term 2013: Wednesday 10:30 - 11:30 a.m., Or by appointment

Languages Spoken

English
Spanish

Academic Background

Biography

I first came to Laurier in 1998 as a sessional instructor and joined the Department of Sociology as a full-time faculty member in 2001.  Since that time my research has focused on various social justice issues and movements in Latin America and Canada. More specifically, my research includes work on the Catholic Church and social change in Costa Rica, as well as on the social and political implications of Catholic social teaching and liberation theologies more generally. Currently I am studying aging and activism as they are expressed in the Raging Grannies, a social movement made up of older women who use “granny” costumes and satirical political song to raise awareness about social justice issues.  Alongside these research pursuits, I am very interested in the scholarship of teaching and learning and in experimenting with innovative ways to engage students in the undergraduate classroom.  I teach undergraduate courses on Introduction to Sociology (SY101), Sociology of Religion (SY/RE311), and Social Movements (SY414), and a graduate seminar on Religion, Social Movements, and Social Justice (SY611).

Additional Information

Selected Publications

2009.  "The Raging Grannies: Defying Stereotypes and Embracing Aging through Activism." Journal of Women and Aging 21(3): 171-85.

2007. "Exploring Power and Gender Issues Emergent in an Institutional Workshop on Preventing Clergy Sexual Misconduct."  Dana Sawchuk with Thomas St. James O'Connor, Richard Walsh-Bowers, Christopher Ross, and Maria Hatzipantelis. Pastoral Psychology 55(4): 499-511.

2005.  "Horkheimer and Adorno on Social Change: Problems and Potential in Light of 'History from Below.'" Critical Sociology 31(4): 537-57.

2004. The Costa Rican Catholic Church, Social Justice, and the Rights of Workers, 1979-1996.  Editions SR. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press and Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion.

1997.  "The Catholic Church in the Nicaraguan Revolution: A Gramscian Analysis." Sociology of Religion 58(1): 39-51.