Academic X’cellence: Sharing stories from our inspiring StFX community
It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with StFX that our campus is filled with highly engaged students, educators, researchers, and leaders. Academic X’cellence shines a spotlight on members of our educational community to find out more about their unique experiences—both inside and outside of the classroom. (To see the full series, please click HERE.)
Here we meet Dr. Norine Verberg, a faculty member who joined StFX’s Department of Sociology 31 years ago. Dr. Verberg has taught over a generation of students, and she has impacted countless people through her teaching, research, and community involvement. Her interests in community development and grassroots activism guided her research, including exploring how families who faced a preventable tragedy organized to create constructive social change. Over the last decade, her teaching and research shifted to focus on community-based refugee resettlement in rural areas of Nova Scotia. She successfully received national and provincial research funding from agencies such as SSHRC, CLARI, and Mitacs, which created opportunities for undergraduate students to work as research assistants. Dr. Verberg received the University Outreach Award in 2017 in recognition of her volunteer efforts in a variety of community organizations. She was and is actively involved in both the StFX and Antigonish community, serving as interim faculty advisor for the StFX World University Service of Canada (WUSC) Society, board member for the Antigonish Performing Arts, fundraiser for SAFE, and a leader with Antigonish County 4-H.
Dr. Norine Verberg: Helping students find their voice, and examining major social issues of our times
Tell us about yourself.
I was fortunate to join the Department of Sociology in 1994, where I work among a brilliant and collegial group of scholars. I was immediately captured by the community spirit of Xavierians and the people of Antigonish town and county. I met my wonderful husband, Yvon Grenier, here and we have loved raising our sons in this generous community, where so many people create opportunities for kids to play and learn. Our kids loved Music for Young Children with Sister Lillian Gaudet at Bethany, 4-H, and sports, mostly hockey and basketball. We enjoy traveling, but we are always glad to come “home” to Antigonish.
What drives you in your teaching?
It is a true privilege to be a teacher. I believe that education enriches us, and that teaching and learning are reciprocal processes. I am the first generation in my family to attend university. I enrolled at university because I believed I would learn skills and gain credentials needed for a great job. While this is true, I soon realized that going to university offers students more than getting on a career pathway. It is also about finding your voice, gaining critical thinking skills, and becoming meaningfully involved in civic life. This has always inspired my teaching. Teachers serve students by creating spaces in their curriculum and pedagogy so that students can explore and examine current events and make sense of them.
What impact do you hope your teaching will have?
My hope is that my teaching helps students develop critical research skills and insights that serve them in their personal life and professional roles. All of us, not just students, must navigate complex social, political, economic, and technological changes and challenges, and we must do so in ethically responsive ways. I hope that my teaching encourages students to ask questions, examine what is known or not yet known, and engage in critical analysis that helps them make sense of what comes their way. Our Sociology Department routinely meets to reflect on and develop our course offerings to ensure that we keep pace with changing times. Our students inform us about the worries and concerns of their generation and the important questions they’re asking. I encourage students to curate their degree, by selecting courses that inform their personal and professional interests.
Could you talk about innovations in your classrooms or research?
Soon after starting at StFX, my interests in community development and grassroots activism guided my research. I studied how families who faced tragedy organized to create constructive social change. After completing projects on Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD Canada) and the Westray Families Group, I began studying how people came together to respond to the Syrian refugee crisis. My first project focused on the response of rural communities in Nova Scotia and the surge of rural refugee resettlement that happened through community sponsorship. After community members established a sponsor group called SAFE: Syria-Antigonish Families Embrace, Xavierians established the StFX for SAFE campaign to raise $100,000 to donate to SAFE. I co-chaired the campaign with a fourth year student, Kristian Rasenberg, who brought wisdom, passion, and energy to the campaign. After reaching the $100,000 goal, our group was invited to work with the Class of 2018 committee to raise $50,000 to establish a bursary for refugee-background students in the Xaverian Bursary Fund. Through my research, I was able to study another StFX campaign run by the StFX WUSC Society campaign to revitalize its funding model. This led me to co-author a paper with StFX student, Jordan MacDonald, which was published in a prominent Canadian journal. Since then, I have studied the resettlement experiences of refugees in rural areas of Nova Scotia. With research funding from SSHRC, CLARI, and Mitacs, I have been able to provide full and part-time employment to students as research assistants. It has been an incredibly enriching experience to work with undergraduate students.
Are there awards, accomplishments or involvements to mention?
I received the University Outreach Award in December 2017 in recognition of my volunteer work with community organizations.
What drew you to teaching?
I believe in the transformative potential of education. Teaching at university is very stimulating because students bring new experiences and knowledge to the classroom, making learning an exciting, two-way street. Sociologist C. Wright Mills describes the sociological imagination as a quality of mind, where people examine and make sense of challenges in our lives by examining the major social issues of our times. Students come to campus with important new questions and concerns. As they seek to make sense of the puzzles they face in their lives, they draw from, and often transform, the rich intellectual resources in the arts and sciences. Academic research must always be informed by the diversity of human experiences and the challenges people face. Students bring new and diverse perspectives and insights. These days, youth are shaping research agendas on a range of critical topics around their concerns. They experience public issues in a different way than older generations, and they bring fresh energy and ideas. Students encourage me to explore new, extraordinarily pertinent matters, thereby fostering my education.
What excites you about teaching at StFX?
As a small, primarily undergraduate university, we have opportunities to work closely with students. Whether in class, during office hours, at thesis meetings, or during research projects, working with students involves a valuable exchange of ideas and collaborative learning. This is fantastic. We also encourage students to participate in campus and local activities, which enhances their and our learning. Our students quickly learn to appreciate that Antigonish is a special community. I believe the Antigonish community is as active, caring, collaborative, and innovative today as it was when Moses Coady inspired people to care and promote security through cooperation. Our students make this discovery too. Many students participate in local voluntary associations through Service Learning and Students’ Union’s societies, such as Enactus, Best Buddies, and X-Pride – and they love it. It is impressive that during the busy month of March, thousands of students participated in three major student-led fundraisers: Pucks for Purpose, Relay for Life, and the StFX WUSC Society online auction. In addition to building community, these campaigns raised thousands of dollars for cancer research and StFX’s student refugee resettlement program.
What’s something surprising about yourself?
I sometimes share with my students that I didn’t finish high school, and yet here I am.
