Dr. Cherylynn Bassani

BA (SFU), MA (California State Fullerton), PhD (Calgary), Post Doctoral Fellowship (UBC)
Cherylynn Bassani Photo
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Dr. Bassani currently focuses her research on gendered violence in the work place (2017 and beyond). In 2023/24 she was on education leave, measuring gendered violence in the KPU community among faculty and students with the aim of helping to create change in her workplace and more broadly. She has a career of equity, diversity and inclusion specialization and over the years has worked with various individuals and work places providing training and making suggestions of change for the workplace. Dr Bassani practices sociology -in the community working with non-profits (child and youth) and -in working with individuals (2011 beyond). Within KPU she has served in many ways, though most notably she has been the Status of Women Representative for the past six years with the Kwantlen Faculty Union. From her undergraduate degree to post-doctoral fellowship she specialized in ethnic discrimination, examining the impact of racism on the individual and its impact on the family and other groups. Over the past three decades she has taught in the university and k-12 systems and has worked with various child and youth community organizations. Dr Bassani completed her PhD at the University of Calgary (2004) with a quantitative focus. Here she cross nationally studied the importance of an individual’s self-worth/pride (social capital) in understanding their well-being. She then went on to complete a SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellowship at UBC (Medicine/Pediatrics, 2005-2007). At this time, she examined group indicators (quality of relationships, racism, self-worth) of children’s and primary care giver’s mental and physical health and well-being. Dr. Bassani went on to become research manager of the Vancouver New Canadian Children and Youth Study site (2007-2009). In this stage of her career, she helped expand the theory of social capital and worked with W.I.M.P.S. in the North of Ireland (2010-2014) to assist youth in the merging/understanding of ‘social realities’ that are the baseline of racism in the region. Apart from her academic work, Dr Bassani publishes in the area of mind-body-spirit connection. She is both an accredited Reiki Master as well as an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher. While she loves to teach research methods and see students learning through doing their own research, she is most passionate about teaching the Sociology of Religion and Death and Dying -as they are called at KPU- for it is here that her passions of the academy and the spiritual combine!

Courses taught

Scholarly Work