Dr. Janice Stewart loves playing video games as much as they love studying them — more specifically, how societal norms surrounding gender and sexuality impact the way we play them.
“You could be in a game where you could be an elf ... yet still, we bring in these gender norms and sexuality norms, and we reproduce them again and again,” said Stewart. “Even in places where you could be anything, it’s very difficult to break out of those cultural norms.”
Stewart’s research has found that even in games like Second Life — a virtual space where players can create an avatar for themselves and interact with other users and content — players reproduce norms through their avatars. And those whose avatars do not conform face greater difficulties forming friendships with other players.
“Second Life was really fascinating because it was the first big thing [and] millions of people were playing it at one point, but it really had that promise to be anything,” said Stewart.
“And yet, if you went in and you looked a little differently, it was much more ... difficult to meet people and play it.”
In many ways, Stewart’s research values parallel the perspective they bring to their current position as UBC’s deputy provost. Their role consists of all things policy, administration and academic support. This includes overseeing faculty hiring and promotion, bargaining on behalf of the university, collaborating with the faculty association and providing “strategic leadership.”
“If you’re going to open up a space to new people, how do you make room for them, but also, how do you make it so that it’s a wonderful place for them to be?”
Meeting the needs of the time
Stewart loves teaching and research. Their work spans anti-racist frameworks, post-modernist theory and psychoanalysis. But their interests also lie in faculty relations and UBC’s administration.
“I’ve really turned my attention to ... the lives of my colleagues and to think about the challenges that they face in their jobs, how to streamline things, but also to be supportive to the president and to the provost at a broad level,” said Stewart.
“[I want] to help make UBC run as smoothly as it can, to make sure that we’re constantly thinking about the changes that we need to make.”
For Stewart, policies are not just unmoving words on paper — they are “living documents.” And these policies and documents must “meet the needs of the time,” whether it be through UBC administration considering if they are still appropriate or if they should be changed or archived.
“What we do now might be really different than what we did 20 years ago when everything came in on paper,” Stewart said. “Do we still need that paper trail? Can we make moves to a digital [one]?” — Stewart described the strategy behind administrative policy as an “ongoing” process.
“Everything needs a refresh,” they said. For Stewart, this means a greater focus on decolonization and Indigenous engagement.
UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan was created in 2020 as a commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Calls for Justice. The plan takes “a human rights-based approach to our Indigenous strategic framework” through a series of goals and actions informed by some of UBC’s Indigenous students, faculty, staff and community partners, according to the plan’s webpage.
“We want to be thinking a lot about the Indigenous Strategic Plan and trying to make sure that that work is showing up in all of the places that it needs to show up,” said Stewart.
When asked if there were specific policies they hoped to implement or tackle, Stewart said that it’s more about the “nitty gritty” details rather than the large-scale policy moves.
“I think this is really about the small incremental changes that adapt to make department faculties run smoothly.”
Challenging tradition
Stewart noted that one major carryover from their previous role as associate dean Faculty of Arts is ensuring university policies are “working in a playing field that is equitable.”
From hiring to promotion to tenure decisions, Stewart’s current work focuses on expanding these practices to become more inclusive and diverse.
“I think that work is extremely rewarding, it’s very near and dear to my heart ... It’s just so key to the university becoming a great, expansive place that allows for all different cultures to participate.”
However, there is much work to do in the realm of equity in classrooms and academia. Stewart said that across disciplines, tradition remains steadfast and change remains uncomfortable, or even unwelcome. As reported by The Ubyssey in March 2024, marginalized faculty members in traditionally white and male-dominated fields are often subject to evaluation biases and, in turn, inequalities related to promotion.
To truly become a “world-class university,” tradition must adapt and new life must be breathed into UBC’s policies and practices. Stewart said this process “takes time, and it takes thought and it takes coming together.”
“We’re doing really well, and I think we need to just keep doing more, keep digging in.”
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