Menu Close
The Conversation

Katherine B. Starzyk

1

Article

0

Comments
Associate Professor and Social Justice Laboratory Director, University of Manitoba

Katherine Starzyk, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in Social and Personality Psychology at the University of Manitoba. She is also a Founding Member of the Centre for Human Rights Research and a Research Affiliate of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation as well as the Centre for Social Science Research & Policy. Born in Poland, Katherine immigrated to Canada when she was seven years old. She brings her identities as a Polish Canadian woman to her work. She was the first person in her working-class family to attend university.

Through her research, teaching, and service, Katherine aims to contribute to social justice. Katherine's research focuses on how to shift attitudes toward past and present human rights issues. In collaboration with students in her Social Justice Laboratory and others across disciplines and sectors, Katherine’s work is multidisciplinary and involves diverse methodologies, including interview, focus group, public polling, survey, correlational, and experimental methods as well as quantitative, qualitative, and archival analysis. Through this work, Katherine aims to make both scholarly and applied contributions.

Presently, alongside a dedicated team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners and collaborators, Katherine is spending much of her time on the Canadian Reconciliation Barometer. Funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant, the team’s goals are to understand what reconciliation means to in Canada; track reconciliation progress, in a way that is respectful of Indigenous Peoples and uses best practices in psychometrics (the science of psychological measurement) and public polling, and; develop evidence-based interventions and initiatives to promote reconciliation.

Experience

  • –present
    Associate Professor and Social Justice Laboratory Director, University of Manitoba
  • 2013–2018
    Assistant Professor, University of Manitoba
  • 2012–2013
    Assistant Professor, Mount Royal University
  • 2006–2012
    Assistant Professor, University of Manitoba
  • 2004–2006
    Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, Social Psychology, University of Waterloo

Education

  • 2004 
    Queen's University, Ph.D., Social-Personality Psychology
  • 2000 
    Queen's University, M.A., Social Science
  • 1998 
    University of Alberta, B.A. Hons. (First Class), Psychology

Grants and Contracts

  • 2021
    The Canadian Reconciliation Barometer: Understanding, Measuring Progress Toward, and Creating Interventions to Promote Reconciliation in Canada
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  • 2020
    The Psychometric Development and Validation of the Canadian Reconciliation Barometer
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Mitacs Accelerate Industrial Fellowship
  • 2017
    The Socioemotional Reconciliation Barometer: A Tool for Tracking Reconciliation Between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Peoples in Canada
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
  • 2014
    Embodying Empathy: Fostering Historical Knowledge and Caring Through a Virtual Indian Residential School
    Role:
    Co-Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
  • 2013
    The Right to Clean Water in First Nations: The Most Precious Gift
    Role:
    Co-Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
  • 2009
    A Tarnished Silver Lining: Victim Suffering and Support for Reparations
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Professional Memberships

  • International Society for Justice Research
  • Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
  • Society for Personality and Social Psychology
  • Social Psychology Network
  • International Society of Political Psychology
  • Canadian Psychological Association