Mentors of the Faculty of Humanities
View Catherine Léger’s UVic profile
View James Young’s UVic profile
English
Jamie Dopp comes from a large, working class family in Waterloo, Ontario. Despite living in a city with two universities, no one in his family had ever gone to university before he did. He did a doctorate and became a professor of Canadian Literature at UVic in 1990 thanks to a combination of luck, hard work, and the support of some amazing and kind professors. One of his greatest joys as a professor has been the chance to pay back the kindness of the mentors who helped him by helping students today.
I spent my first 23 years in Richmond, Virginia, where I also went to university. I must have changed majors at least six times, and I struggled to understand the differences between pursuing my interests (mostly in art and fiction) and “being practical.” Once I thought I figured out how university worked, I started grad school in Seattle. Imposter syndrome was palpable during those years, especially when people asked me about my personal history and education. I didn’t know how to “talk” like a graduate student, let alone a professor, but I was very excited to start teaching. In fact, teaching’s been my passion since grad school, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it at UVic. I’ve been here since 2011.
View Jentery Sayers’s UVic profile
I grew up in a law-income family in rural New Hampshire. When I received a scholarship to a prestigious nearby prep school, my father, son of Italian immigrant farmers, must have felt that he was dropping me off every day on the moon. I went from there to Georgetown University where I discovered philosophy, not so much a choice as a calling. I am the first in my family to graduate from high school, let alone graduate school. I have always felt that I was clueless, catching up; I want to help students now navigate with a bit more confidence.
I’m Associate Professor in the English Department. My teaching and research focus on modern literature, in particular modern and contemporary drama. Identity? Settler, maternal grand-parents immigrants from England, paternal grand-parents born in Quebec, with ancestors who immigrated from France to Canada at an unknown date. Pronouns she/her. Age 69. Raised in a small town (pop. Under 300) in Northern Ontario. As a former first-generation undergraduate, I’d like to help first-generation students navigate university and enjoy their studies.
I grew up in Terrace, BC and am the first in my family to go to university. I took many different courses until I discovered linguistics and then majored in it at UVic. I didn’t know why I didn’t quite fit in with other students until I realized most had family with degrees and could guide them and advise them about what it is like to go to university. I am grateful to have a position at UVic where I can work with First Nations communities to support their language revitalization goals. I am looking forward to supporting first generation students so that they can find their place and passion at UVic.
View Suzanne Urbanczyk’s UVic profile
Dr. Tri Phuong is Assistant Professor of Popular Cultures and Cultural Translation in the Dept. of Pacific-Asian Studiess (PAAS) at UVic. His research focuses on digital technology, global youth cultures, social movements, postsocialist transitions, and the anthropology of the state. Dr. Phuong was born in Saigon, Vietnam and immigrated to the US with his family at a young age. Prior to joining the University of Victoria, I have worked as a community organizer, a development consultant, and a journalist in previous lives.