

Our People
Behind every great initiative, is an incredible group of people who make it happen.

Dr. Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott
Director
Dr. Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Memorial University. Her interests include space and place, time, qualitative methods, symbolic interaction, culture, and science and technology studies. She has published in journals such as The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography and The American Behavioral Scientist. Dr. van den Scott co-edited The Craft of Qualitative Research and co-authored Qualitative Research in Action, 4th ed. She is currently the editor-in-chief of Symbolic Interaction. In addition, Dr. van den Scott has long been involved with the Annual Qualitative Analysis Conference, affectionately known as “the Canadian Qualitatives.”

Pouya Morshedi
Researcher
Pouya Morshedi is a Ph.D. candidate (ABD) in sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. He is a qualitative researcher specializing in the sociology of space and place, the sociology of cinema, and the sociology of revolution. In his dissertation, he investigates the changes in the cinematic representation of home during the 1979 revolution in Iran. Pouya is one of the co-organizers of the Qualitative Analysis Conference from 2022. He also serves as an anti-racism, representation, and diversity committee member at the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI). Pouya is one of the co-founders of Avalon Research Society.

Foroogh Mohammadi
Researcher
Foroogh Mohammadi is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the Memorial University of
Newfoundland and Labrador (MUNL). She is a qualitative researcher specializing in the sociology of space and place, sociology of home, and immigration. In her Ph.D. dissertation, Foroogh investigates how Iranian immigrants create, develop, or resist a sense of belonging to home in Canada through their everyday life experiences in the Atlantic Canada and Ontario. Foroogh has been involved in various committees, including the Graduate Student Union, MUNL Sociology department’s committee, and the 38 th and 39 th Annual Qualitative Analysis Conference organizing committee. She is a co-founder of the Avalon Research Society and she puts her effort to develop a network of scholars whose areas of research involve studying the social aspects of space and place as an inseparable part of our social interctions.

Rashmi Rahman
Student Support Worker
Rashmi Rahman, is a student of Memorial University of Newfoundland completing her Bachelors in Science. Born and raised in Bangladesh, she has always dreamt about reaching the highest summit which includes involving herself in extracurricular activities apart from studies. Rashmi aims to declare her major in Computer Science and a minor in Business. She already possesses certification in Social Media Management along with an internship arranged by the Memorial University of Newfoundland. She highly believes in adaptability which is immensely necessary in order to maintain pace with the current world.
"Change is the only constant"
-Heraclitus