Meet Amy Conroy: SFU Criminology’s newest faculty member

SFU Criminology is excited to introduce the addition of Amy Conroy to our faculty team. After serving as a term lecturer for a few years, Conroy is now transitioning to a full-time lecturer role, enriching our school community with her dedication to the field and passion for learning and teaching.

What is your field of expertise?

My own doctoral research focused on an emerging use of DNA in the forensic context, familial searching. While I remain very interested in technological advancements and their uses in forensic investigations, I also focus on a number of other issues, including the intersection of health and criminal law (e.g. medical assistance in death, reproductive rights, drug policy) and various pressing social justice issues (e.g. privacy in the information age, decriminalization of sex work in Canada, intimate partner violence).

What developments in your research or teaching are you most excited about?

I really value face-to-face interactions with students and know that there is so much to be gained by speaking to one another in real time when working through content. I also know that students like are looking for flexibility. I will soon have the opportunity to try out the delivery of a blended learning course for the first time. Having taught in-person courses and purely online courses many times now, I am excited to deliver a blended course in order to balance those different delivery styles and hopefully offer a meaningful learning experience to students who also see the value in both approaches to learning.

Share the story of how you entered your current profession

I don’t remember thinking about doing a Ph.D. until I was in the midst of my master’s and realized how much I loved being part of academic research and the academic community more generally. As a graduate student, I was lucky to have several mentors who were so passionate about their own teaching and research that it rubbed off on me and I began to see myself possibly being in their shoes one day. I was able to teach my first course while I was still working on my Ph.D. I recall being very nervous about being positioned as an expert and leading a classroom of adult learners, but I also realized that I had landed a job that was extremely challenging, very rewarding, and a good fit for a person like me who loves to learn. That was the start to my career in teaching and I continue to find it to be challenging, rewarding, and a good fit for my personality.

What are you most looking forward to in your work at SFU and in the School of Criminology?

Teaching in postsecondary institutions is changing. Many recent changes were prompted by the pandemic and the sudden need to rely very heavily on technological means of communicating. During the pandemic, I learned to allow for more flexibility than I had previously understood to be necessary in the context of a university course. While this unexpected shift brought on so many challenges, it also promoted a more modern approach to teaching and learning and I think we are all still figuring out the details of that new model today. Along with changes in course delivery, there is an increasing and much-needed focus on decolonizing academia that introduces a critical opportunity for university faculty members to learn and grow. I am looking forward to taking on these challenges in my work at SFU.

What are your hobbies?

I am an avid runner and I love to play piano. In fact, one of my earliest jobs was teaching piano to young kids and I still miss doing that. If I had more space to create a home studio, I would probably look for a few students and start that up again, but for now I continue to play piano myself. I don’t consider myself a very good cook, but I’m working on that as well.

Can you share an interesting fact about yourself?

I am one of ten children, all born within the span of twelve years. People generally react with surprise to that since it isn’t very common these days.