GARY SINCLAIR
Lecturer, School of Business
DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY
Email: gary.sinclair@dcu.ie
BIO
DR. GARY SINCLAIR is a Lecturer in Marketing, specialising in Consumer Behaviour. He has also lectured in the University of Stirling, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Trinity College Dublin. He is the Programme Director for Business Studies International. His research focuses primarily on the contexts of music, sport and sustainability with an emphasis on the ethical and broader societal implications of such consumption practices. His work has been widely published in a variety of top international peer-reviewed journals such as the European Journal of Marketing, The Journal of Business Research, Marketing Theory and the Journal of Business Ethics in addition to more mainstream media outlets such as the Irish Times, RTÉ and the Conversation. Gary recently guest-edited a special issue on music and marketing for the European Journal of Marketing and hosted an inter-disciplinary conference on the same subject.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
The reality is that we live in a society where business practices have a direct (and indirect) impact on a variety of social justice issues (e.g. equality, climate change, labour rights, gender rights, privacy). It is our responsibility to teach students about responsible business practices and make social justice themes central to every programme and module within the business school. The reality is that most business schools take a somewhat ad-hoc approach to most of these issues. I want to be part of a more formalised solution that places social justice themes as front and central in any business school education.
I teach a module called ‘Information Technology and Society’ where we dig deep into the impact of modern technology on society. We ask the big questions around AI, automation, the influence of social media on civic engagement and psychological well-being. We consider human rights around fair and equal access to technological development and the possibilities of technological empowerment. Social justice is central here but more work needs to be done in formalising the teaching and assessment structures around such themes that places emphasis on practical action.
- To formalise learning structures that can be applied to a variety of social justice themes and classroom settings
- To motivate students to prioritise social justice themes in their learning
- To learn new ways of approaching teaching from fellow Project Advocates and voices from outside my discipline
COURSE DEVELOPMENT
To learn more about Gary’s course development and planning for the Spring 2020 semester, please choose from one of the links below.
REFLECTIONS AND OUTCOMES
To learn more about Gary’s pedagogical orientation and approach as well as his experiences of participating on the DISCs Project, please click on one of the links below.
What is the purpose of Higher Education?
What does it mean to incorporate social justice principles into my teaching?
Reflections on the DISCs Project