Awards Highlight: Dr. W. Y. Alice Chan Wins the AERA Religion & Education SIG Dissertation of the Year Award for 2020
McGill Department of Integrated Studies in Education’s recent alumni, Dr. W. Y. Alice Chan, is the winner of the American Education Research Association’s Religion and Education Special Interest Group’s Dissertation of the Year Award for 2020. This competitive award recognizes her doctoral study titled, “Exploring a potential connection between religious bullying and religious literacy in Modesto and Montreal public schools,” which stemmed from her experience witnessing religious bullying as a middle school teacher. Dr. Chan’s research committee included Dr. Ratna Ghosh (supervisor), Dr. Kevin McDonough, and Dr. James Fraser from the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Dr. Diane L. Moore, Harvard Divinity School, was the external reviewer for her dissertation.
“This dissertation really represents ground breaking work in the field of religion and education,” noted one reviewer in the award’s double-blind review process. “The purpose of the study is very clearly articulated, both through the literature examined and in the personal connections the author brings to the topic. Although such personal stories are not always appropriate in such writing, in this case, I feel that they contribute important motivation to the study and highlight the very personal nature of the problem being explored. This is not an abstract problem happening with abstract students, but something that the author has first-hand knowledge of. This makes the implications for practice even more impactful. The discussion of how the research was disseminated within the communities demonstrates the author's dedication to sharing the findings and using the research for social good. This is not always the result of dissertation research. While the research may not have found direct positive links between teaching about religion and decreased religious bullying, it sheds a great deal of light on the relationship between the two and the many other factors that come into play. As the first study on this topic, this dissertation opens the field to further research in many different possible directions. I look forward to seeing this work continue to be shared and expanded on in the coming years.”
Dr. Chan has since mobilized her research and that of other colleagues in co-founding the Centre for Civic Religious Literacy – a non-religious non-profit that fosters understanding about religious, spiritual, and non-religious people across Canada. Her work at the Centre combines her teaching, research, and professional work experience and engages with all sectors of society. To learn more about her doctoral work on religious bullying, visit AliceChan.org.