Don Fetherston

Ph.D. (Hawaii, 1996)
Senior Instructor

Dr. Fetherston began his teaching career in his teens when he taught swimming and scuba diving. This experience grew into a passion to learn more about teaching. Therefore, after high school he enrolled in the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary where he earned a B.Ed. with a major in Sociology and an M.A. in Educational Administration. After teaching special education, mathematics, and social studies in the public school system for several years, he became increasingly interested in social justice issues and decided to pursue a legal education. Three years later, he graduated from the University of Alberta with a degree in law. Dr. Fetherston’s law practice included legal aid work for young offenders along with criminal and civil litigation. After practicing law for over 10 years, Dr. Fetherston changed focus and returned to the academic environment. This time he enrolled in graduate studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa where he earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology. He was fortunate to have several eminent scholars on his Ph.D. committee, including Dr. Gene Kassabaum (originally from Harvard).

Dr. Fetherston’s primary interest is in undergraduate education, including methods of “active learning” and “deep learning” which attempt to engage students at the upper levels of their cognitive potentials. Collateral to this is Dr. Fetherston’s interest in exploring new ways to help students discover their passions and strengths through involvement in the University and the wider community. Dr, Fetherston’s research interests also include law and society issues, particularly those involving the legal rights of young offenders and social justice issues involving immigrants and other migrants.

RESEARCH AND PROJECTS

• Twenty years of legal research for issues involving criminal and civil litigation
• Currently working on an historical comparative analysis of Asian migrant disadvantage in Australia and Canada focusing on split labour markets and how disadvantage continues despite formal requirements of equity.
• Fetherston, D.W. (2004) Book review of O’Donnell, Ian and E. O’Sullivan, 2001. Crime Control in Ireland: The Politics of Intolerance. Cork Ireland: Cork University Press. International Journal of Comparative Criminology.
• Fetherston, D.W. (2004), “The Law and Young Offenders.” In J. Winterdyk (Second ed.), Issues and Perspectives on Young Offenders in Canada (3rd). Toronto, Harcourt Canada.
• Fetherston, D.W. (2001), Book Review of Ferrari, Silvio and Anthony Bradney, eds. 2000. Islam and European legal Systems. Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing Company Limited. International Journal of Comparative Criminology, 1.1: 146-149.
• Fetherston, D.W. (2000), “The Law and Young Offenders.” In J. Winterdyk ( First ed), Issues and Perspectives on Young Offenders in Canada (2nd). Toronto, Harcourt Canada.
• In 1998, the Center for Youth Research had a contract for a project for the State of Hawaii concerning youthful status offenders. There are specific and well-funded programs and procedures for serious juvenile offenders as well as very young neglected children. However, there are problems of policy, jurisdiction, coordination of services, and dispositions for 13 to 16 year old non-delinquent status offenders. My part in the project was to do the literature review and complete evaluative research on various programs. The Report was completed and presented to the Center and to the State.
• In 1997, I completed a report for the Department of Human Services for the State of Hawaii’ which analyzed Federal Statutory requirements and then evaluated health services delivered to date through the Hawaii’s Health QUEST Program.
• In 1996 my dissertation research set out to better understand the relation of business to anti-Chinese discrimination during their early migration to Canada. This required the integration of historical and legal materials and offered insights into how the law was used both to promote Anglo-business interests and to discriminate against and exclude the Chinese.

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Contact and other information

Office: Cornett A361
Phone:250-853-3780
Fax: 250-721-6217
Email:dwfether@uvic.ca
Homepage: n/a