Research Description

My program of research addresses responsibility, health and care/support across the life course. This encompasses aspects of the sociology of health, aging, and family as well as the social determinants of health, including social support and care work. I utilize qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods to address the issue of responsibility for health and care, within various ‘sites’ (i.e., long-term care, health promotion, home care and family caregiving), and employ primarily interpretive or critical perspectives. My current focus is on family care provided to older, chronically and terminally ill individuals, understood within broader social, cultural and structural contexts.

Teaching Description

I welcome graduate students with interests in the sociology of health, aging, and family, and am open to a variety of methodological, theoretical and applied perspectives. I am committed to promoting integrity within a supportive and encouraging graduate student-supervisor partnership.

Currently at the University of Manitoba, I am teaching Soc 1200 (Introduction to Sociology) and 2620 (The Sociology of Aging). Prior to this, I have taught the Sociology of Aging and Sociological Perspectives on Family at the University of Victoria, and Introduction to Sociology at University Canada West. I have facilitated the Instructional Skills Workshop at the University of Victoria and continually seek opportunities to develop my own teaching skills.

Past students have commented that I provide prompt and complete feedback, am well-prepared, approachable, helpful, and enthusiastic; these have been identified as principles of effective teaching.

Public/Media (Non-Technical) Description

Dr. Funk studies the sociology of health, aging, and family. She is particularly interested in examining interpretations of responsibility for health and care. Currently, her focus is on the societal contexts informing the provision of care by family members to older, chronically and terminally ill individuals.