Degrees

Ph.D. , Sociology, McMaster University, 1991

M.A. ,  Sociology, University  of Manitoba, 1971

B. A. ,  Sociology, University of Manitoba, 1969

Teaching

Attitude:  two factors have had a significant impact on my attitude to teaching.  First, I loved being a university student, I was truly excited about the power of knowledge to challenge and change a person’s understanding or interpretation of social events.  Second, my brief (5 year) bureaucratic career impressed upon me the yawning gap between theory and practice, design and implementation.  In government my job was to implement programs in the area of domestic violence.  I experienced directly all of the complex and complicating details of people, policy and politics that make program implementation far more difficult than program design.  This work left me with a deep respect for practitioners and it also drives my interest and commitment to action oriented research.

Practice:  As a result of my experiences in government I encourage students to undertake projects that involve them in the community and I have frequent guest speakers in my classes who are policy makers or direct service providers. At the undergraduate level I have taught a variety of courses; Introductory Sociology(SOC 1200), Women’s Studies(2040), Social Organization (SOC 2390), Sociology of Sex Roles(SOC 3650), and most recently, Sociology of the Family(SOC 2460), Interpersonal  Violence and Institutional Responses(SOC 3460) and an undergraduate Honours Seminar “Critical Issues” (SOC 2010).  At the graduate level I have taught a variety of courses; Sociology of the Family(SOC 7340), Family  Violence (SOC 7160), Qualitative Research Methods (SOC 7420) and Evaluating Social Programs(SOC  7470).

Research

I am the Director of RESOLVE a Tri-Provincial Research network on Interpersonal  Violence  with Centres at the Universities of Manitoba, Regina and Calgary.  Our Centre is part of a National Alliance of Research Centres across Canada. Our mandate is to work in partnership with service providers and policy makers to undertake pragmatic policy and program focused research.   At the Manitoba Centre we annually employ between 15 and 25 research assistants;  undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of faculties and disciplines.  Given  the complexity  of our research focus most of our activities are multidisciplinary in nature.  Currently I am the Principal Investigator of two longitudinal studies; first the 18 year analysis of the first Family Violence Criminal Court in Canada, the Winnipeg Family Violence Court and secondly, a 6 year CURA grant to study women who have experienced violence in their intimate partner relationship.  The CURA study involves over 600 women in the three prairie provinces who are interviewed twice a year over 4 years for a total of 7 waves of interviews. RESOLVE encourages students who work on our various projects to use the data for theses and dissertations.  At any given time our Centre is involved in 12-15 research projects lead by myself or our two Research Associates Dr. Jocelyn Proulx (Psychology) and Dr. Cheryl Fraehlich (interdisciplinary studies.

Recent Publications

Ursel, J, Tutty, L, & LeMaistre, J (2008) What’s Law Got To do with It: The Law, Specialized Courts and Domestic Violence in Canada.  Cormorant  Press, Toronto

Articles and Chapters

Ursel, J. Dean, L. (forthcoming, 2010) “Oskinakiskwewak-itamo – Young Women Seeking  Refuge”. in H. Berman, (Ed.) Intersecting Sites of Violence in the Lives of Girls. Althouse Press 

Ursel, J. Gordon, R. & Pazdzierski.  2009 “Women Seeking Safety: A longitudinal study of women who have experienced intimate partner violence. Currents

Rogers, K & Ursel, J 2009 Public Opinion of Mandatory Reporting of Elder Abuse and/or Neglect in Manitoba”.  Journal of Elder Abuse and/or Neglect Vol. 21, # 2

Ursel, J. & Hagyard C.  2008. “The Winnipeg Family Violence Court” in  J. Ursel, L. Tutty & J. LeMaistre (Eds) What’s Law Got to Do With It.  Toronto:  Cormorant Press

Ursel, J. & Tutty, L.  2008 “The Justice System Response  to Domestic Violence: Debates, discussions and dialogues”.  in J. Ursel, L. Tutty & J. LeMasistre (Eds) What’s Law got to Do With It: Toronto: Cormorant Press

Tutty, L, Ursel, J. 2008 specialized Domestic violence Courts: a caparison of Models” in J. Ursel, L. tutty & J. LeMasistre (Eds) What’s Law Got To Do With It: Toronto Cormorant Press

Ursel, J. 2006 “Over Policed and Under Protected: A question of justice for Aboriginal women”. In Hampton, M. and Gerrard N. (eds) Intimate Partner Violence: Reflections on experience, theory and policy.  Toronto, Cormorant Press pp. 80-89

Ursel, J. 2005 “Women and Social Welfare (Canada)”  Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America. John M. Herrick & Paul H. Stuart (eds) California: Sage Publications

Ursel, J. 2003 “Using the Justice System” in Family Violence in Canada: a Statistical Profile. Ottawa Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, pp. 54-56

Ursel, J. 2002 “His Sentence is my Freedom: Processing Domestic Violence Cases in the Winnipeg Family Violence Court” in Tutty, L & Goard, C. (eds) Reclaiming Self: Issues and resources for Women Abused by Intimate Partners.  Halifax:  Ferwood Publishing, pp. 43-63