Morgan Braganza
Adjunct Faculty
I am pursuing a PhD in Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University. I have completed all course requirements and hope to defend my thesis in 2019.
I received my bachelor’s double degree (Hon.) in Psychology and Sociology in 2007, and my Master of Social Work in 2009 from Laurier.
I joined Martin Luther University College (formerly Waterloo Lutheran Seminary) as an adjunct faculty member in 2015, and Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Social Work in 2014. Prior to that, I taught in an adjunct capacity at Georgian College. I continue to work with urban and rural agencies to conduct research and program evaluation projects covering a variety of mental health and social issues.
My research interests are diverse as I have had the opportunity to be involved in a number of federally funded, provincially funded, and locally funded research and evaluation projects working with diverse populations across Canada. My research and evaluation projects have covered topics including inter-organizational collaboration; poverty; domestic violence; violence against women; and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
I have also conducted numerous program evaluations which have investigated the effectiveness of, and sought improvements for services related to: domestic violence; newcomers to Canada; healthy behaviour and relationships for teenaged girls; mobile crisis response; and students who are the first in their families to attend postsecondary education.
The main focus of my doctoral research is on improving encounters with those who hold contentious, or difficult, differences (e.g. religion) in social work. This research has broader applicability for improving encounters with diverse "others" in academia generally.
Research / Areas of Expertise
- encountering diverse groups/persons, particularly Christians in academia
- inter-organizational collaboration
- program evaluation
- research ethics
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) (2013-2017).
- Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Scholarship (2015/16).
- Laurier Graduate Incentive Scholarship (2013-2015).
- Laurier Graduate Scholarship (2013/14).
- TD Financial Bank Academic Achievement Award (2012/13).
- Laurier Graduate Fellowship (2012/13).
- Social Sciences and Humanities Council (SSHRC) (2008/09).
- Dean’s Honour Roll and In-Course Scholarships each year at Wilfrid Laurier University (2004-2007).
I am willing to supervise undergraduate and/or graduate students. Please contact me to discuss possibilities and areas of interest.
- Braganza, M. E. (in press). Introducing a hospitality framework to encounter diverse others in professional social work. Social Work and Christianity, 45(2).
- Braganza, M., Sheehan, T. D., & Young, D. (under review). Evaluating a rural mobile crisis service for children and youth.
- Akesson, B., Braganza, M. E., & Root, J. (2018). Is theory development essential for the social work dissertation? Social Work Education, 37(2), 209-222. doi: 10.1080/02615479.2017.1391196
- Braganza, M. E., Akesson, B., & Rothwell, D. (2017). An empirical appraisal of Canadian doctoral dissertations using grounded theory: Implications for social work research and teaching. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 37(5), 528-548. doi: 10.1080/08841233.2017.1386259
- Braganza, M. E. (2017). [Review of the book America’s blessings: How religion benefits everyone, including atheists, by R. Stark]. Social Work and Christianity, 44(3), 153-155.
- Braganza, M. E. (2016). It's a relationship: A qualitative exploration of the qualities, characteristics and processes that can fracture inter-organizational collaborative relationships. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 35(1), 15-28. doi: 10.7870/cjcmh-2015-022.