Research 2006
The Lives and Work of Women
Parvin Ghorayshi
Professor, Sociology
When Parvin Ghorayshi walks into her office in Graham Hall each day, she is greeted by images of women who have inspired both her research and her life. “These are strong women,” she says pointing to a photo of a grandmother working in a field, a small child strapped on her back. In the frame beside her an 83-year-old woman smiles radiantly, her arm wrapped around a young boy. Dozens of photographs line her walls, and each one tells a story that honours the lives and work of women.
For Ghorayshi, research is a personal journey that breaks down barriers and reveals similarities between people and cultures while acknowledging their differences. “It is important to respect individual experiences,” she says. “Feminist issues in the Western world cannot be transferred to rural women in Iran, for example. Testing and applying theoretical concepts in different contexts can ignite an exciting global dialogue—one that creates a meaningful space in our conversation for women living in the margins.”
According to Sociology Department Chair Sandra Kirby, Ghorayshi is a courageous researcher. “She has frequently gone into communities far off the beaten track and done exceptionally detailed and insightful research. She has also worked alongside women in their kitchens and fields and the markets in these remote locations to better understand their lives and to make her own contribution to their well-being.”
A social justice advocate and feminist, Ghorayshi has devoted herself to research that touches a wide variety of domains: work, gender, the Middle East, feminism, economic sociology, and community development. Recently, Ghorayshi was a key organizer of the OmniTRAX/Broe Quest Conference on war-affected children entitled, “Two Steps Forward: Looking Back & Facing the Future,” held at UWinnipeg in 2005.
Her commitment to an interdisciplinary approach has enhanced Ghorayshi’s studies while dissolving the boundaries between disciplines. “Collaboration is a very enriching experience,” she says.
Through her current collaborative research on Community Economic Development (CED), Ghorayshi has sought to bridge the often-enormous gap between the academic community and the public. “CED is about empowering people, having respect for groups and their diverse cultures and economies,” she says. “When your research makes an impact at the policy level, you feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. This kind of research is like gardening: you plant the seed and watch the flower grow.”
To learn more about her research on the lives and work of women, contact University of Winnipeg faculty member Parvin Ghorayshi at p.ghorayshi@uwinnipeg.ca