Maureen Ford
Ph.D. (OISE/Toronto)
Email: maureen.ford@utoronto.ca
Tel: 416-978-1218
Research Interests:
Maureen Ford’s research and teaching interests focus on questions of power and knowledge, particularly as they are related to issues of social justice and diversity. She is particularly interested in ways of troubling conventional forms of knowledge both in school settings and in society at large. Her work draws upon a wide range of influences including philosophy of sport, feminist epistemology, Foucauldian discourse, poststructuralism, critical race theory and Aboriginal philosophy.
Her teaching and research focus on areas including: • Foucauldian studies of power, knowledge, discipline and normalization • Feminist and postmodern critiques of rationality & epistemology • Diversity and power in school settings • Feminist and critical pedagogies • Arrogant perception, authority, and agency in schools
Selected Publications:
Ford, M. (forthcoming Spring 2009). Knowing Differently Situated Others: Teachers and Arrogant Perception. Journal of Educational Thought, (Spring, 2009).
Ford, M. 2007. "Feminist Epistemology as Coalition Work" in “What Feminist Inquiry Contributes to Philosophy and the Philosophy of Education: A Symposium.” Ed. by Barbara Thayer-Bacon and Gayle Turner. Educational Theory, 57, 3: 307-324
Ford, M. 2005. "What is Postmodernism?" In Hare, William, John Portelli. Key Questions for Educators. EdPhil Books. 35-38.
"Considering the Standpoints of Others: Teachers and Arrogant Perceptions." (2004) In Higgins, C. (Ed.). Philosophy of Education 2004. Champagne: Philosophy of Education Society.
"Unveiling Technologies of Power in Classroom Organization Practice." (2003) Educational Foundations. 17, 2(Spring): 5-27.
Professional Background:
Maureen Ford received her PhD in Philosophy of Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, and has completed Masters degrees in both Philosophy of Education (OISE/UT) and Philosophy of Sport (UWO). She taught in the Faculty of Education and Women’s Studies at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay for seven years prior to coming to the department of Theory and Policy Studies, History and Philosophy of Education program, in 2001. Maureen is currently working on an edited collection of papers and interviews generated by a 2007, SSHRC supported workshop titled Agency After Foucault. She has also begun work on a new collection that will address questions of power and diversity in schooling that is tentatively titled, Diversity Matters. Other works in progress include two co-authored presentations dealing with pedagogical strategies for ‘troubling’ conventional forms of knowledge, an inquiry into editorial cartooning as a pre-internet ‘viral’ process of communication, and a study of educational discourses dealing with FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder). When not teaching in Toronto Maureen travels to the Kaministiquia region northwest of Thunder Bay Ontario, where her interests in the land, the river, and collaborative living amongst Anishnabe and Wabskiwe people can be pursued.
For Dr Ford's full CV, click here.