Our instructors

Leena Alkhammash

Meghan Allen

Meghan Allen, MSc, is an associate professor of teaching in the UBC Department of Computer Science. She joined UBC in 2007 and has extensive experience teaching program design, software construction and software engineering courses. Meghan holds a UBC Certificate on Curriculum and Pedagogy in Higher Education. Before joining UBC, she worked as a software developer for a local start-up company.

Norm Amundson

Dr. Norm Amundson, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus at UBC, and has worked in the career development field for more than 40 years. During this time, he has been involved in numerous national and international career development projects, and has published many books and articles.

Norm is a lead consultant for Doubleknot Works. He is a co-founder of the Hope-Action Theory, and the author of the award-winning book, Active Engagement. He recently co-authored Career Recovery, Creating Hopeful Careers in Difficult Times, and Career Flow and Development, Hope in Action. His books and workbooks have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and he has presented his work at conferences in more than 30 countries.

He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Umea in Sweden, and has been recognized by many national and international professional associations for his leadership and contributions to the career development field. In his work, Norm emphasizes the importance of creativity, imagination, storytelling, dynamic action, metaphors and hope.

Mariam Baldwin

Mariam Garau Baldwin, BA, was born in Curitiba, Brazil and earned her degree in Portuguese language and literature from the Federal University of Paraná in Curitiba. She started her career as a civil servant, working with the Brazilian Embassy, the Vatican and the Foreign Affairs Protocol division of the Paraná state government.

After leaving the public sector, Mariam managed the Montreal Language School in Curitiba for more than 20 years. There, she taught hundreds of adults and children from varied backgrounds and nationalities Portuguese and Brazilian culture. She has written Portuguese textbooks for multinational organizations, and has given intercultural awareness workshops for executives and their families.

Mariam brings dynamic learning methods and extensive experience as a Portuguese instructor to students in UBC Extended Learning languages programs. A native speaker of Brazilian Portuguese, Mariam is also fluent in Italian and English. She has worked in Rome, London and San Francisco, and now calls Vancouver home. She enjoys jogging, cooking, travelling and being in British Columbia’s outdoors.

Ela Bandari

Nesrine Basheer

Simon Bates

Simon Bates, PhD, is the UBC Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, Teaching and Learning, and Chair Associate of Pacific Rim Universities: University of the Future working group “How GenAI will enable, challenge and disrupt Higher Education.”

Simon works closely with post-secondary students, faculty and staff to develop and implement innovative approaches to teaching and learning, and focus on enhancing student learning outcomes, as well as overseeing continuous learning and continuing education.

Simon has facilitated numerous discussions around GenAI and its impact on teaching and learning in HESA’s AI Observatory round table community meetings which focuses on AI Policies in Canadian Post-Secondary Education.

Magali Blanc

Magali Blanc, PhD, is originally from Alès in southern France. She began her teaching career at the University of Victoria, and continued as a teaching assistant while pursuing her PhD at UBC. In 2016, she joined UBC Extended Learning as a French instructor, reconnecting with her first language and culture. Magali is passionate about sharing all that the French community has to offer: culture, food, music and art. Magali holds a PhD in French Literature from UBC, and a Maîtrise d’Anglais Enseignement from the Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3.

Deborah Blenkhorn

Deborah Blenkhorn, BA (Hons), BEd, MA, PhD (ABD), has taught for UBC's English department, Sauder School of Business, Faculty of Engineering, and at UBC Extended Learning for writing programs and the Experience University Life program. She has also been a writing instructor at SFU's Segal Graduate School of Business, and teaches undergraduate English at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Besides her academic articles and book reviews, and participating in community reading and writing groups, Deborah's projects include blogging and, most recently, e-portfolio development.

Michelle Boulton