Sarah Wakefield

Professor and Graduate Chair
University College, Room B101, 15 King's College Circle, Toronto, ON
(416) 978-3653

Campus

Fields of Study

Areas of Interest

Food access and security, sustainable agriculture, community development, environmental justice/just sustainability, urban health inequalities.

Biography

My current research has two main themes: food activism, policy and practice; and, improving neighbourhood health equity through participatory community development. These areas are connected by an overarching interest in understanding how individuals and organizations work together to create healthy, just, and sustainable communities. I ground my work in local contexts and communities of practitioners, to maximize the impact of my research.

Publications

Pothier, M., Christy, K., Wakefield, S. and Borstad Klassen, S. 2019. Is “including them” enough? How narratives of race and class shape participation in a resident-led neighbourhood revitalization initiative. Geoforum, 98, 161-169.

Whetung, M. and Wakefield, S. 2018. “Colonial Conventions: Institutionalized Research Relationships and Decolonizing Research Ethics”. In Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Eve Tuck, and K. Wayne Yang (eds), Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies in Education: Mapping the Long View. London: Routledge.

Cahuas, M.C., Malik, M., and Wakefield, S. 2016. When is Helping Hurting? Understanding and Challenging the (Re)Production of Dominance in Narratives of Health, Place, and Difference in Hamilton, Ontario. In Giesbrecht, M.D. & Crooks, V.A. (Eds.) Place, Health, and Diversity: Learning from the Canadian Experience. London: Routledge. Chapter 8.

Wakefield, S. Fredrickson, K. and Brown, T. 2015. Food security and health in Canada: Imaginaries, exclusions and possibilities. The Canadian Geographer 59(1): 82–92.

Wakefield, S. 2007. Reflective action in the academy: exploring praxis in critical geography using a “food movement” case study. Antipode. 39(2), 331-354.

Education

PhD, McMaster University

Administrative Service

Graduate Chair (Tri-Campus) - Present
Associate Chair, Graduate Geography - Previous