News

  • 2025 CHYS Spring/Summer Courses

    Saturday, March 01, 2025 | By

    Students walking outside on Brock University's main campus.

    Whether you want to jump on the fast track to graduation, reduce next year’s course load, satisfy a program requirement or pick up an elective, Brock’s Department of Child and Youth Studies is offering a wide array of Spring/Summer courses to help you advance your area of study and explore topics of interest.

    Course Spotlight: Children, Youth and the Law (CHYS 3P39)

    ASY – ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE

    Interested in working with justice-involved youth and learning more about the ways in which children and youth are regulated through the law in Canada? In this course, you’ll examine complex and controversial issues in youth justice from critical and multidisciplinary perspectives.

    • Study the various stages of the justice system including police, bail, diversion, trial, sentencing and restorative justice.
    • Explore how law and justice are legal, economic, human, social and cultural systems.
    • Watch interviews with justice professionals that highlight the strengths and challenges of the youth justice system from an insider’s perspective.

    Required for all Year 3 Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice students.

    Fulfills the CHYS Year 3 Cluster C requirement and/or a CHYS 300-389 requirement for CHYS 4 Year BA with Major students.

    Prerequisite(s): CHYS 1F90 and CHYS 2P38.

    Other Spring/Summer CHYS Courses

    Spring:

    • CHYS 3P10: Qualitative Research Methods in Child and Youth Studies
    • CHYS 3P15: Quantitative Research Methods in Child and Youth Studies
    • (Cluster B) CHYS 3P20: Learning Disabilities

    Cross-listed (Summer):

    • LABR/CHYS 3Q96: Children and Youth at Work

    Learn more about our Spring and Summer courses.

    Registration opens March 5!

    For more information or to register for Brock’s Spring/Summer courses, visit brocku.ca/springsummer

    Categories: News

  • PhD Defence – Lisa Whittingham – April 30, 2024

    Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | By

    Lisa Whittingham, PhD candidate, Child and Youth Studies, will defend their dissertation “Is It Better to Be Known?: Understanding the Vulnerability of Autistic Individuals in Registry-based Programs Used by Police Services in Ontario, Canada” on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at 10:00 am in person at Brock University.

    The examination committee includes Dr. Brian Roy, Chair; Dr. Voula Marinos, Supervisor; Dr. Roxanna Dehaghani, External Examiner (Professor, Cardiff University); Dr. Kimberley Zonneveld, Internal-External Examiner (Associate Professor, Applied Disability Studies, Brock University); Dr. Maureen Connolly and Dr. Jennifer Lavoie, Committee Members.

    Categories: News

  • PhD Defence – Abneet Atwal – April 16, 2024

    Tuesday, April 09, 2024 | By

    Abneet Atwal, PhD candidate, Child and Youth Studies, will defend their dissertation “Moving through the system: The ruling relations of migration, mobility, and childhood disability” on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at 9:00 am in person at Brock University.

    The examination committee includes Dr. Elizabeth Vlossak, Chair; Dr. Donato Tarulli and Dr. Kathryn Underwood, Co-Supervisors; Dr. Jay Dolmage, External Examiner (Professor, Department of English, University of Waterloo); Dr. Sandra Della Porta, Internal-External Examiner (Associate Professor, Department of Educational Studies, Brock University); Dr. Dan Cui and Dr. Chelsea Jones, Committee Members.

    Categories: News

  • MA Defence – Sarah Epp – January 12, 2024

    Monday, January 08, 2024 | By

    Sarah Epp, Masters of Arts candidate, Child and Youth Studies, will defend their thesis “Moving forward: Perspectives of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities regarding the effectiveness of Individual Support Plans” on January 12, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. via video conference.

    The examination committee includes Dr. Dawn Zinga, Chair; Dr. Donato Tarulli , Supervisor; Dr. Heather Lawford , External Examiner (Department of Psychology, Bishop’s University); Dr. Maureen Connolly and Dr. Tricia Vause, Committee Members.

    Categories: News

  • PhD Defence – Ciotti, Sarah – May 11, 2023

    Wednesday, May 03, 2023 | By

    Sarah Ciotti, PhD candidate, Child and Youth Studies, will defend their dissertation “Three Papers on Patient Experiences with Symptom Persistent Lyme Disease in Canada” on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at 9:00 am in person at Brock University.

    The examination committee includes Dr. Brian Roy, Chair; Dr. Shannon Moore, Supervisor; Dr. Margaret Schneider, External Examiner (Associate Professor, Kinesiology and Physical Education, Wilfred Laurier University); Dr. Ebru Ustundag, Internal-External Examiner (Associate Professor, Geography and Tourism Studies, Brock University); Dr. Christine Tardif-Williams and Dr. Dawn Trussell, Committee Members.

    Categories: News

  • PhD Defence – Roma, Renata – May 2, 2023

    Tuesday, May 02, 2023 | By

    Renata Roma, PhD candidate, Child and Youth Studies, will defend their dissertation “Young People’s Well-Being and their Relationships with their Dogs: Exploring the Role of Perceived Human-Dog Personality Matching and Attachment” on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at 2:00 pm via video conference. 

    The examination committee includes Dr. Brian Roy, Chair; Dr. Christine Tardif-Williams, Supervisor; Dr. Andrea Breen, External Examiner (Associate Professor in the Department of Family Relations & Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph); Dr. Andrew Dane, Internal-External Examiner (Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, Brock University); Dr. Shannon Moore and Dr. Patricia Pendry, Committee Members.

    Categories: News

  • Nov. 16 CHYS Panel – International Education Week

    Monday, November 08, 2021 | By

    Challenge. Growth. Journey. – Navigating family life in Canada as an international student

    This event is featured in 2021 Brock International Education Week, focusing on the experience of international students accompanied by their families in Canada. This panel discussion will bring together scholars at the Department of Child and Youth Studies and international students, and focus their attention on the experience of navigating family life in Canada while studying and working hard. This Panel is a collaborative effort of the Department of Child and Youth Studies (CHYS) International Committee and Brock International Services. To learn more about this event, please click here.

    Eventbrite link

    Categories: Events, News

  • Open Letter on Residential Schools

    Wednesday, June 16, 2021 | By

    An open letter on Residential Schools from the Department of Child and Youth Studies.

    Click here to read.

    Categories: News

  • CHYS HIGHLIGHTS

    Monday, October 21, 2019 | By

    Categories: News

  • Brock grad and Guernsey native applies transdisciplinarity in law career

    Wednesday, September 04, 2019 | By

    Emma Alderton (BA ’17) came from Guernsey to study at Brock University on a Brock Guernsey Undergraduate Scholarship. Coincidentally, soon after her arrival, the statue of a more famous Guernsey Island native was erected on the campus of the university that bears his name.

    Major-General Sir Isaac Brock now resides in bronze in front of the main entrance to the University. Alderton returned to Guernsey in 2017, translating the lessons and experience gained as a Brock University student into a career in law.

    As a Child and Youth Studies (CHYS) major, she was introduced to the notion of transdisciplinarity – “the inclusion of perspectives and knowledge from all disciplines including Indigenous ways of knowing” – by Professor Richard Mitchell who also co-supervised her honours thesis.

    With her curiosity piqued, Alderton was inspired to learn more about the University’s namesake and the significance of his statue for the University and the community. Her research resulted in what Mitchell calls “a critical rendering of that statue with regard to our ongoing lack of acknowledgement of First Nations participants at Queenston.”

    A transdisciplinary lens considers contexts of history, culture and politics, elements that he says are “typically left out of western, modern scientific methodologies and metrics due to fallacious claims of objectivity.”

    As described in the Guiding Values of Brock University’s strategic plan, transdisciplinary research is one element contributing to the “unique student experience” that “positively transforms our students’ abilities, understanding and impact on the world.”

    Alderton’s student experience was indeed transformative. She graduated from Brock with new knowledge and new perspectives. For one thing, she veered from her original career choice.

    She had planned to work with young people in prison. However, she says, “after taking some legal courses, first in the CHYS department and then further in other departments, I realized that I actually really enjoyed law.”

    Upon graduation, she successfully applied to law school in the U.K.

    Alderton was interested to learn of Brock’s new Law Plus program which is open to students in any program at Brock, is designed for students who are interested in pursuing any career in the legal field. She calls it “a great opportunity for students to get an introduction to the legal world without feeling the pressure of having to pursue a career in law.”

    In addition to practical skills, she hopes the program can open students’ eyes to the many and varied opportunities available for them to qualify as lawyers, whether in Canada or abroad.

    Brock’s Law Plus program includes workshops on effective communication, team building and leadership skills, computer training, presentation skills and time and stress management workshops. For more information, including admission requirements, expected outcomes, visit the Co-op, Career and Experiential Education website.

    Alderton acknowledges that Mitchell’s teachings about transdisciplinarity continue to resonate in her professional life. “The concepts and principles Richard discussed surrounding culture, history and politics are not just relevant to young people,” she says. “They play a vital role in any sort of communication.”

    Throughout her professional experience, she has found “the concepts he taught about interacting with children and youth are also a vital part of building positive client relations.”

    “I think the bottom line is that everyone has a history and a culture that we do not necessarily understand,” she says.

    Alderton says her Brock experience taught her that “it is okay to ask questions and it is okay to make mistakes (as long as you learn from them). And that, even when a task seems extremely overwhelming, there is always a way to break it down and work through it.”

    Echoing the sentiment of Sir Isaac Brock’s famous “Surgite!” (Latin for “push on”), she says one of the most valuable ways Brock prepared her to study law was to instill “the determination and patience to sit and figure something out” even when her first thought is “I can’t do this!”

    Categories: News