Throughout my Master of Arts in Human Rights and Social Justice at Thompson Rivers University, I have developed a deeper understanding of how inequality operates and what it means to respond to it responsibly. Entering the program with a background in education and political science, I brought an interest in institutions, access, and the experiences of people whose needs are often overlooked. My graduate studies have helped me connect these interests through interdisciplinary theory, research, communication, and practical experience.
Four program learning outcomes have been particularly meaningful to my development: applying interdisciplinary theories and practices; developing knowledge through experiential learning; articulating original arguments through presentations and writing; and critically examining social and political structures and legal definitions. My progress in these areas has been closely connected to my research on organ trafficking and transplant tourism, alongside my placement in an institutional Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion office.
Outcome 1: Applying Advanced, Interdisciplinary Theories and Practices
One of the most significant developments in my learning has been my growing ability to examine an issue through several disciplinary perspectives. Organ trafficking involves questions of law, healthcare, economics, ethics, and human rights. Understanding it requires attention to the relationships among these fields.
My TED-style presentation in Foundations of Human Rights and Social Justice introduced me to organ trafficking as a research interest. As I continued exploring the subject across subsequent assignments, I moved toward a more structural analysis. Rather than focusing primarily on individual perpetrators or transactions, I began examining how poverty, unequal access to healthcare, and institutional failures create conditions in which exploitation becomes possible.
Structural violence provided a framework for considering harms that arise through social arrangements. It helped me examine how restricted opportunities and unequal access to resources can constrain a person’s choices before an organ transaction occurs. Dependency theory also encouraged me to consider the relationship between global economic inequalities and the movement of resources, including organs, across borders. Together, these perspectives helped me connect individual experiences with wider systems of power.
My work on transplant tourism further required me to bring ethical and legal perspectives into conversation with social justice analysis. Questions about consent, bodily autonomy, and exploitation could not be answered solely by asking whether someone agreed to a transaction. I also needed to consider the circumstances surrounding that agreement and the alternatives available to the person.
Through this process, I have become more deliberate in my use of theory. I increasingly understand theories as tools for inquiry: they help identify patterns, reveal assumptions, and raise questions, but they must also be assessed against evidence. This outcome has strengthened my ability to construct arguments that connect human rights principles with the conditions people experience.
Outcome 2 : Developing Knowledge Through Experiential Learning
My field experience in an institutional Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion office gave me an opportunity to connect classroom learning with the practical work of an organization. It encouraged me to consider how commitments to fairness and inclusion are translated into institutional initiatives, communication, and everyday practices.
In academic work, it is possible to identify a problem and propose a response without fully encountering the circumstances that affect implementation. Experiential learning helped me appreciate the importance of institutional context. Advancing equity requires attention to the people involved, existing practices, available resources, and the ways decisions are communicated.
My placement also encouraged me to reflect on my role within an institution. I began thinking more carefully about how to contribute while remaining open to perspectives that differed from my own. This involved recognizing that an academic understanding of equity does not automatically provide a complete understanding of another person’s experience. Listening, asking questions, and responding thoughtfully are essential parts of responsible practice.
My background in teaching provided another connection between human rights and everyday responsibilities. Questions of access and inclusion have practical consequences in educational settings. Graduate study has given me stronger language and analytical tools for examining those questions, while professional experience reminds me that institutional decisions affect people in immediate and personal ways.
This outcome has been meaningful because it has grounded my learning. It has strengthened my understanding that social justice involves both identifying systemic problems and participating responsibly in efforts to address them. Moving forward, I want to carry this combination of analysis, reflection, and practical engagement into my professional work.
Outcome 3 : Articulating Original Ideas Through Presentations and Writing
My TED-style presentation on organ trafficking in Foundations of Human Rights and Social Justice was a turning point in my academic development. Preparing the presentation required me to identify a focused argument, select relevant evidence, and explain why the issue mattered to an audience that might have limited familiarity with it.
The assignment sparked my interest in organ trafficking and opened the door to further research. It also showed me that communicating research involves more than presenting information. I needed to create a clear relationship among the problem, my argument, and its human rights significance. This required decisions about what to include, how to explain complex ideas, and how to keep the experiences of affected people central to the discussion.
My subsequent writing on transplant tourism allowed me to develop a more sustained argument about exploitation and modern slavery. Longer research assignments required a different form of communication: defining terms carefully, organizing several strands of evidence, considering competing interpretations, and maintaining a coherent argument across the paper.
An important part of my progress has been learning to distinguish between a strong position and an overly broad claim. For example, examining exploitative transplant tourism requires care in distinguishing it from other forms of travel for transplantation. Precision strengthens an argument by making clear which practices are being criticized and why.
Across presentations and written work, I have become more attentive to audience and purpose. A classroom presentation requires accessible explanations and a clear flow, while an academic paper allows for more extensive engagement with scholarship. Developing competence in both has helped me see communication as part of the work of human rights advocacy.
This outcome has also strengthened my confidence in developing a research direction. My organ trafficking presentation began as a course assignment, but the questions it raised became a continuing focus of my graduate studies. That development has helped me recognize my capacity to contribute an informed perspective while remaining open to criticism and revision.
Outcome 4: Challenging Social and Political Structures and Legalistic Definitions
My research has encouraged me to examine the relationship between formal protections and people’s lived circumstances. Legal rights and prohibitions are important, but their existence does not necessarily ensure meaningful protection or equitable access.
Organ trafficking research brought this tension into focus. Laws prohibiting exploitation may offer limited protection when people face financial desperation, barriers to healthcare, or inadequate institutional support. This encouraged me to ask both how violations should be addressed and how the conditions that make people vulnerable might be changed.
My examination of transplant tourism and modern slavery also required me to think critically about definitions. Terms such as consent, coercion, and exploitation shape how an issue is understood and which responses appear appropriate. I became interested in whether narrow understandings of coercion adequately capture situations in which poverty severely restricts a person’s options.
At the same time, I have learned that challenging a definition requires careful reasoning. A morally troubling practice should not automatically be assigned a particular legal category. My responsibility as a researcher is to explain the basis of my argument, acknowledge distinctions, and consider the implications of the language I use.
This outcome has helped me move toward a more socially responsible form of critique. Identifying institutional failures is only part of the task. I must also consider whether proposed responses address underlying inequalities, protect affected people, and avoid reinforcing stigma. In organ trafficking research, this means paying attention to victim support, equitable healthcare, and economic vulnerability alongside regulation and enforcement.
The program has strengthened my ability to ask who benefits from existing arrangements, whose experiences are overlooked, and what assumptions are embedded in familiar explanations. These questions will remain important to my work beyond graduate study.
Together, these four outcomes reflect a shift in how I approach human rights and social justice. I have developed from an interested student into a more deliberate researcher and communicator who connects theory with evidence, institutional experience, and questions of responsibility. My studies have reinforced my commitment to examining the relationship between inequality and healthcare, while my experiential learning has emphasized the importance of listening and practical engagement. As I complete the MA, I will carry these approaches into future research, education, and my long-term goal of working in medicine.