Child, Youth, Family and Community Studies (MA)
In this program, your learning will be informed by multi-disciplinary theory and practice-based instruction. You’ll gain expertise through coursework and practical experience tailored to your goals. Your final project will be a research thesis or a research project.
This program is offered primarily online. There is a mandatory two-week summer institute held on-campus.
The MA in Child, Youth, Family & Community Studies (CYFCS) may be used as partial fulfilment towards a provincial or national counselling certification or credential.
| Expected length | Project or thesis | Course-based |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | Yes | No |
Quick facts
- Program options:
- Master's
- Study options:
- Full-time study, Part-time study
- Program delivery:
- Blended
- Dynamic learning:
- Co-op optional, Other: Required practicum
Outcomes
By the end of the MA program, graduates will be able to demonstrate:
- knowledge of decolonial, critical and justice-oriented approaches to research, practice and leadership in diverse local, national and global contexts for the purposes of promoting child, youth, family and community well-being
- respect for and commitment to the wellbeing, resurgence and self-determination of Indigenous nations globally, with responsibilities to local First Peoples
- ethical, strengths-based, relational approaches to working with diverse children, youth, families and communities, and ability to respond to intersecting forms of historical and ongoing structural and systemic exclusion based on race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, and citizenship, among others
- capacity for responsive and collaborative leadership, advocacy, activism and systems-level change in preparation for leadership roles in diverse human service sectors that serve children, youth and families (including organizations, government, private, not-for-profit, community, other)
- knowledge and application of diverse research methods, methodologies and knowledge mobilization approaches that reflect multiple contexts, knowledges and research paradigms
Find a supervisor
Please note in your application which potential supervisors' research interests align with yours. You do not need to have one to apply.
Alison Gerlach
Associate Professor Advancing equity-oriented policy, organizational, practice changes in early years and childhood dis/ability sectors so they are inclusive of and responsive to structurally marginalized communities, families and children. Principle-based and relational approaches including cultural safety and trauma- and violence-informed care. Critical, relational, and intersectional theorizing, mixed methods; community-engaged and participatory research.
Doris Kakuru
Professor, Graduate Advisor Violence against children and youth, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, African girlhoods, the social context of education, Children in marginalized urban spaces, , Young refugees, and African diasporic ethnographies.
Accepting graduate students
Jeff Smith
Assistant Teaching Professor music therapy and expressive therapies; research-creation; arts-based autoethnography; addictions, harm reduction, and recovery; mental health and well-being; Indigenous education and decolonial pedagogies; critical psychology/post structural counselling approaches; currere; discourse analysis; radical youthwork and youth wellness activities
Jennifer H. White
Professor Youth suicide prevention; ethics; discourses of professionalism; constructionist methodologies; collaborative research; narrative practices; professional development; praxis-oriented pedagogy
Accepting graduate students
Jin-Sun Yoon
Teaching Professor Critical identity development, racial literacy, racialized settler–Indigenous relations, JEDI training (Justice, Equity, Decolonization, Intersectionality), decolonizing praxis in health and education
LJ Slovin
Assistant Professor Queer and trans youth, ethnography, sexual health education, popular culture, qualitative methodologies
Accepting graduate students
Morgan Mowatt
Assistant Professor Indigenous sovereignty, law, authority Indigenous rights and governance Community-building, mutual aid, liberation Non-reformist reform
Accepting graduate students
Samantha Corrington
Assistant Teaching Professor teaching practice skills on-line, relational pedagogy, family counselling and work, decolonization and social justice in the practice space from settler social location, narrative and relational practice.
Sandrina Carere
Professor Participatory, action-oriented, arts-based research and practice, Child-, youth- and community-led research and practice, Intersectional, anti-colonial, land-based frameworks, Critical girlhood, youth and feminist studies, Child welfare, foster care, kinship care
Shanne McCaffrey
Teaching Professor Land and Water based learning, teaching, and interconnectedness, Child Welfare, colonialism as a shared experience, environmental nurturing, preservation and activism, and sharing the land with non-human relatives.
Shemine Gulamhusein
Assistant Professor exploring Muslim migration stories of belonging and identity; lived experiences of marginalized and minoritized people and communities; therapeutic recreational practices in community spaces; outdoor and solution-focused therapies; global perspectives of child, youth, family, and community research and practices; (auto)ethnographic methods; narrative inquiry; and community-arts-based methodologies.
Accepting graduate students
Program details
Providing you accurate admission requirements, application deadlines, tuition fee estimates and scholarships depends on your situation. Tell us about yourself:
Program details
Application deadlines
September entry – apply by December 15
All supporting documentation, including references, must be received by December 15.
September entry – apply by December 15
All supporting documentation, including references, must be received by December 15.
Admission requirements
Program specific requirements
CYFCS application form
- your responses should fit within the word count noted in the answer fields
- the selection committee won't review responses that go beyond the word count or are sent as attachments/addendums
- once completed, upload this form to the Statement of Intent field in the online UVic application portal
Two professional references
- your referees should be either colleagues or supervisors form your two years of relevant work experience
- have your references complete the CYFCS professional reference form and emailed to both gradrefs@uvic.ca and greenc@uvic.ca by December 15
Sample of academic writing
- you must be the sole author
- your sample should demonstrate critical engagement with the scholarly literature
- you may use a paper from your undergraduate degree
Current resumé/CV
- include work, education and training history
- demonstrate how you have met relevant two-year (3,000 hours) work experience requirement
Program specific requirements
CYFCS application form
- your responses should fit within the word count noted in the answer fields
- the selection committee won't review responses that go beyond the word count or are sent as attachments/addendums
- once completed, upload this form to the Statement of Intent field in the online UVic application portal
Two professional references
- your referees should be either colleagues or supervisors form your two years of relevant work experience
- have your references complete the CYFCS professional reference form and emailed to both gradrefs@uvic.ca and greenc@uvic.ca by December 15
Sample of academic writing
- you must be the sole author
- your sample should demonstrate critical engagement with the scholarly literature
- you may use a paper from your undergraduate degree
Current resumé/CV
- include work, education and training history
- demonstrate how you have met relevant two-year (3,000 hours) work experience requirement
Completion requirements
Funding & aid
Tuition & fees
Estimated minimum program cost*
* Based on an average program length. For a per term fee breakdown view the tuition fee estimator.
Estimated values determined by the tuition fee estimator shall not be binding to the University of Victoria.
Ready to apply?
You can start your online application to UVic by creating a new profile or using an existing one.
Faculties & departments
Related programs
Need help?
Contact Caroline Green at greenc@uvic.ca