VANCOUVER/COAST SALISH TERRITORIES – Senior lecturer Paola Ardiles is a well-respected educator at Simon Fraser University (SFU)’s Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS), where she exemplifies community-engaged scholarship, decolonial teaching practices along with evidence-based health promotion.
Vice-Provost Elizabeth Elle describes Ardiles as a transformative and passionate educational leader who exemplifies SFU’s commitment to community engagement and exceptional student learning experiences.
“Paola is one of our absolute shining stars, an innovator in experiential education, dedicated to inclusive teaching, active in research on teaching and learning, and widely respected for her leadership and generosity in supporting others.”
Ardiles accomplishments include co-creating the interdisciplinary Health Change Lab undergraduate course, in collaboration with academic and community partners in Surrey, as well as the redesign of the Master of Public Health team capstone graduate course.
Senior faculty at FHS look to Ardiles for leadership in the creation of inclusive, healthy classrooms. She is a trusted peer-mentor and facilitator for faculty discussions about anti-racism and equity, diversity and inclusion. She is deeply committed to the principles and practice of anti-racism and reconciliation, and actively integrates equity-centred design into all her work. Her expertise in this area is informed by both her scholarship, as well as her lived experiences as a racialized woman. Ardiles’ research on equity-centred design to promote community health and wellbeing has inspired others around the world to dig deep into the experiential education space.
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