A public lecture by: Dr. Kiran Mirchandani, Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

Tuesday, February 16^th

10 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.

Oland Hall 104

University of New Brunswick

(Saint John Campus)

In her most recent publication (Phone Clones: Authenticity Work in the Transnational Service Economy), Dr. Mirchandani focuses on the lived experience of workers in the global call centre industry, with regard to the concept of ‘authenticity work’. She shows exactly how these workers have to ongoingly constitute themselves as experts, `familiar’ with their customers’ everyday needs (even though those same customers may be located thousands of miles away, and inhabit a completely different culture), while simultaneously constituting themselves as ‘deferential’, ‘empathetic’ and ‘subordinate’ in these same situations. Moreover, she shows how issues of class, race and gender are subtly (and not so subtly) interwoven into the daily accomplishment of this work.

Dr Kiran Mirchandi (Professor in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education) holds a BA from Trent University, an MA from Cambridge university, and a PhD from McGill. Her current SSHRC-funded research project is entitled: “National Futures or Emerging Crises: Youth Labour Market Policies and Practices”

For further information, contact Christopher John (nob) Doran, (doran@unb.ca) 648 5729.