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The necessity of support: Transgender Awareness Week

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Three gender-diverse people dressed in colourful clothing share a warm and joyful hug.

The week of November 13 – 19 marks the annual Transgender Awareness Week, which is followed by the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20. We at CHASI firmly stand with our transgender colleagues, family, and friends, and want to use this opportunity to restate the importance of loudly, visibly supporting transgender people in all … Read more

International Pronoun Day

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Quote from Dr. Evan T. Taylor reading "using people’s preferred pronouns creates environments where our students, colleagues, patients, customers, and employees can be themselves and trust that who they are and how they identify is welcome and respected." A faint background shows university students in a classroom.

This guest post for International Pronouns Day was generously provided by CHASI Faculty Associate Dr. Evan T. Taylor from UFV’s School of Social Work & Human Services.  October 20th is International Pronouns Day – a day started in 2018 by an organization of grassroots volunteers and taking place on the 3rd Wednesday of each October.   … Read more

Mental Health on Dark Days

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Illustration of a friend reaching out to embrace the viewer while wearing cozy winter clothes.

Seasonal depression is in full swing for many people this fall semester. Summer has now gone, the days are shorter, and the clouds are darker. The workload of a busy semester piles up, and we return to classrooms and offices. All during a pandemic. It’s a lot to process. This post is our virtual hug … Read more

Addressing the challenges of food insecurity

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Illustration by Celina Koops of a series of pipes labelled "income" feed money into three bowls. The bowls are labelled "rent," "bills," and "food." While "rent" and "bills" are full of coins, there is no money left to fill the "food" bowl.

In acknowledgment of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste Reduction, CHASI Lead Researcher Larissa Kowalski shares her insight into the field of food insecurity, a significant issue in the Fraser Valley and for university students. COVID-19 has led to severe and widespread increases in global food insecurity (World Bank, 2021; Statistics … Read more

Surviving and Thriving in a COVID-19 Remote Learning Context: A Survey of Post-Secondary Students and Instructors in Ontario

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Photo of a young person sitting at their open laptop, studying a book with a pen resting on their keyboard.

CHASI Faculty Associate Dr. Karun Karki recently completed a report on remote learning in Ontario during COVID-19, which was funded by eCampusOnatio, and has generously agreed to share the widely applicable findings with us. His co-authors for the report are Anna Markov, MSW; Rachel Yavnai, MSW; Ginette Lafrenière, MA, MSW, PhD; and Michael Woodford, MSW, … Read more

Striving for safe and respectful childbirth

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Illustration by Celina Koops of a mother holding her baby while wearing a mask. Both of them are symbolically being held and supported by embracing arms.

September 17 marks World Patient Safety Day, a day which “calls for global solidarity and concerted action by all countries and international partners to improve patient safety.” This year, the theme is safe maternal and newborn care — an essential conversation, as the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 6,700 newborns die every day, while 810 … Read more

Labour Day in Canada

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Illustration by Celina Koops of workers in clothes indicating different professions: a healthcare worker, a person in a suit, and a construction worker.

Canadians are about to enjoy the Labour Day long weekend with an extra day off as the unofficial end of summer and start of the new school year. But for such a major weekend of vacations and gatherings (in normal years, at least), how often do we really consider the name and origins of Labour … Read more

CHASI calls on the international community to support Afghanistan

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Photo of Chelsea Novakowski and Afghan women skating outdoors on a snow-covered frozen lake, with brown stone cliffs in the background.

In light of this weekend’s news that the Taliban has overthrown the government of Afghanistan, CHASI joins the call for the international community to act with immediacy and urgency to ensure the significant gains the Afghan people have made in recent years are not lost. Canada has committed to resettling 20,000 Afghans, and pledged to … Read more

International Day of Friendship

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Illustration by Celina Koops of two friends emerging from the screens of their laptops to share a hug.

Today is the International Day of Friendship. Writing on the day’s meaning, the U.N. explains that confronting the world’s challenges requires “promoting and defending a shared spirit of human solidarity that takes many forms — the simplest of which is friendship.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, friendship has looked different, and many of our connections have … Read more

Disability Pride Month

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Illustration of Karsten Renaerts wearing a cowboy hat and riding a horse, with a sun-like yellow glow illuminating him from behind.

July is Disability Pride Month, and in celebration of this observance, CHASI is proud to share the following guest post from Karsten Renaerts, an Accessibility Advisor for UFV’s Centre for Accessibility Services. When I was asked if I wanted to contribute to this blog post, I enthusiastically said “Sure! I’d be happy to.” Then, I … Read more