Lorry-Ann Austin Assistant Professor, Chair | Social WorkFaculty of Education & Social Work

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Interests

Lorry-Ann Austin is an Assistant Professor and Chair of the School of Social Work and Human Service where she has been teaching since 2013. As a registered social worker and critical social work educator, her practice centres ethical leadership, equity, and collaborative governance. She is a former broadcast journalist with strong communication skills and has more than 15 years experience as a practicing social worker in the field of mental health and substance use.

Lorry-Ann is the British Columbia Association of Social Workers Representative to the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW-ACTS). She is a Commissioner with the Canadian Association for Social Work Education's (CASWE-ACFTS) Commission on Accreditation. She is also the President of the Board of Directors for A Way Home Kamloops Society, a non-profit that aims to end youth housing instability. Her joys come from family, food, travel, and her two dogs Birdie and Ruby.

Research Interests

Lorry-Ann's primary research agenda explores the influence of the orchestration of cultural institutions on polarization, extremism, and democracy. This work includes a focus on rising gender antagonistic discourse and legislation, its connection to extremism, and the role of news media in legitimizing queer hate. She also explores the university as a contested site within broader ideological struggles that attempt to situate post-secondary institutions as either neutral facilitators of free exchange or as advocates of social progress and the public good.

Lorry-Ann also prioritizes interdisciplinary and community responsive research and is an active member of TRU's Cultural Mapping Research Group. She is part of a team that brings together researchers and community partners to explore neighbourhood perceptions of wildfire mitigation and implications of wildfire prevention practices for people from equity-denied groups. She has also partnered with health and non-profit service providers to support explorations of program development and evaluation.

Publications

Selected Publications:

• Austin, L-A. (2025, May 8). The attack on public broadcasting is part of a growing threat to press freedom and democracy. The Conversation Canada. //theconversation.com/the-attack-on-public-broadcasting-is-part-of-a-growing-threat-to-press-freedom-and-democracy-255855
• Austin, L-A., & Hoare, A. (2025, June 3). University politics: Institutional neutrality in polarizing (and anti-democratic) times [Paper presentation]. Canadian Society for the Study of Education. Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Toronto, Ontario. //events.decorporate.ca/CSSE2025/abstract/event-schedule.php
• Austin, L-A., & Hoare, A., (2024). The intersection of student assessment and faculty learning: Reflections on a method for assessing student achievement of institutional learning outcomes. Intersection: A journal at the intersection of assessment and learning 5(2), 1-19.
• Hoessler, C., Hoare, A., Austin, L-A, Dhiman, H., Gibson, S., Huscroft, C., McDonald, B., Mihalicz, L., Noakes, J., Reid, R. (2023). Faculty in action: Researching a community of practice approach to institutional learning outcomes assessment. Journal of Formative Design in Learning 7(1), 171-181. //doi.org/10.1007/s41686-023-00084-6
• Austin, L-A. (2023, April 13-16). Uncivil discourse: Culture wars and the battle for emancipatory education. American Education Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, USA. //doi.org/10.3102/2010090
• Austin, L-A. (2021). Weathering the storm: Reflections on homeless supports in a pandemic. Perspectives: Newsmagazine of the BC Association of Social Workers, 43 (2), 12-13.
• Austin, L-A. (2020). Social work exemplar: Childhood neglect and trauma. In J. Stokes (Ed.). Social work practice in Canada: Knowledge, values, and skills (pp. 154-155). Thompson.
• Austin, L-A. (2020). Virtual care: Keeping the social in social work during the pandemic. Perspectives: Newsmagazine of the BC Association of Social Workers, 42 (3), 6-7.
• Austin, L-A. (2018). Zoned out: Regulating street sex work in Kamloops, British Columbia. In C. Walmsley & T. Kading (Eds.) Small cities, big issues: Reconceiving community in a neoliberal era (pp. 53-74). Edmonton: Athabasca University Press.
• Austin, L-A., Hoare, A., & Dishke-Hondzel, C. (in press). Grassroots and growing pains: The fusion of diverse North American approaches to create a unique general education model. In C. E. Watson and C. J. Keith, General Education Book Series. Routledge.
• Hoare, A., & Austin, L-A., (in press). Student achievement of institutional learning outcomes: Case study of a regional university in western Canada. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

Courses Taught

• CCYA 2240 - Introduction to Child and Youth Trauma
• HUMS 1560 - Introduction to Families
• HUMS 1600 - Human Service Field Education Year 1
• HUMS 2221 - Theoretical Foundations in Human Service Practice
• HUMS 2230 - Introduction to Mental Health and Substance Use
• HUMS 2600 - Human Service Field Education Year 2
• HUMS/SOCW 2120 - Introduction to Social Welfare in Canada
• HUMS/SOCW 2060 - Introduction to Social Work Practice
• SOCW 3550 - Human Development
• SOCW 4550 - Social Work Practice with Communities
• SOCW 4650 - Older People, Aging, and Society
• SOCW 4770 - Social Work Practice with Families
• SOCW 4780 - Introduction to Disability Studies

Professional Affiliations

• CASWE-ACFTS, Commission on Accreditation
• CASW-ACTS, Board of Directors
• British Columbia Association of Social Workers, CASW Rep
• British Columbia College of Social Workers, RSW
• Canadian Society for the Study of Education
• American Educational Research Association