UNews - Catherine Kingfisher

Kingfisher explores models of happiness

trevor.kenney — Fri, 16 Mar 2018 16:47:37 +0000

Dr. Catherine Kingfisher, a professor and researcher in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Department of Anthropology, will present Locating Happiness: Beyond Individualism on Thursday, Mar. 22, 7 p.m. at the Lethbridge Lodge. The talk just happens to coincide with the focus of her current research project, which is aimed at a non-academic audience and specifically policy makers.

Dr. Catherine Kingfisher has always been keen on influencing public policy with her work, with her latest project designed specifically to appeal to non-��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, which include policy makers.

The project is a study of two urban collective housing communities, one in Japan, the other in Vancouver. Kingfisher is exploring, in a broad sense, the concept of happiness and what kind of constructs in today’s society serve as models for happiness. She does this against a backdrop of neoliberalism that champions the good life but places responsibility on individuals for achieving their own happiness.

Her current work is the latest progression in an anthropological career that began with her undergraduate studies at Beloit College in Wisconsin, followed by master’s and PhD studies at Michigan State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Her interest in the discipline can be traced back even further, rooted in a childhood that saw her raised in both the United States and the Middle East by two parents from France.

“I think I developed an early sense of cultural relativity, which is the idea that the way we live in the world is only one possibility among many. So, that’s a clear line to anthropology,” she says.

Kingfisher has been at the U of L since 1999, having come to Lethbridge after a six-year stint at ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Waikato in New Zealand where she taught women and gender studies.

Much of her early work at the U of L examined issues of power, inequality, poverty and welfare reform. In 2010, she took note of the rapid rise in happiness studies and the hyper individualization that was being championed. She was appointed a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Scholar Research Chair and also earned CREDO funding, allowing her the opportunity to attack the issue.

“I was actively looking for models of happiness and well-being and the good life that do not locate it inside people’s heads but rather in what goes on between people and in particular forms of social organization,” she says.

She spent time in Samoa and then eventually turned her focus to intentional communities in Japan and Vancouver. Urban collective housing communities construct an entirely different approach to achieving happiness because they are founded on community support and engagement – and it seems to be a model that is gaining momentum.

“We’re kind of on the cusp of this as an idea that’s taking off, and anybody I talk to is extremely interested. There’s this real sense of a loss of community ties and people really wanting that. So, I think it’s an idea whose time has come,” she says, citing studies that show how loneliness effectively kills people.

“There’s this recognition that we live in a fragmented, alienated society. I’m not saying everyone needs to move into these communities but we need to look more broadly at what kinds of models of the good life are out there that aren’t just about me talking to myself to develop a more positive attitude.”

While Kingfisher has always been keen on influencing public policy with her work, this project is designed specifically to appeal to non-��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, which include policy makers.

“The primary output of this project is not going to be academic, it’s going to be a book collaboratively produced with people in both communities,” she says.

She is also working with fellow faculty member Don Gill (fine arts) to produce film shorts that focus on everyday life in each community.

“My big agenda in this project is to spread awareness that there are alternatives out there. If there’s one alternative, there are no doubt many more, so let’s look around. It’s about spreading the word that there are these other ways of thinking about happiness and well-being that don’t just make it something that’s inside your head,” she says.

The PUBlic Professor venue is an ideal opportunity to spread that message.

“I think the format of PUBlic Professor is absolutely brilliant because it challenges ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ to translate our work in ways that demonstrate its relevance to society at large, and also gives us the opportunity to learn from the feedback we get from the audience.”

U of L researchers awarded more than $907,000 in research funding

caroline.zentner — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 17:40:49 +0000

Today, Kirsty Duncan, Canada’s Minister of Science, announced the recipients of several Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants and seven ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are among those who secured funding for their projects.

“I want to commend the grant and scholarships recipients whose tireless efforts help us better understand our world and our relationships with each other,” says Duncan. “Our government is proud to support these talented researchers and scholars who are pushing the boundaries of knowledge to the benefit of Canadians and our growing middle class.”

“We are extremely pleased that seven U of L research projects were successful in this competition,” says Dr. Claudia Malacrida, associate vice-president (research). “It demonstrates the strength of our researchers in the social sciences and humanities and we congratulate each one of them.”

The funding includes Partnership Development Grants, designed to foster new research with new or existing partners, Insight Development Grants that support research in its beginning stages, and Insight Grants for long-term research initiatives. The research projects are diverse, spanning the fields of visual arts, anthropology, psychology, digital humanities, finance and history and gender studies.

Dr. Dan O'Donnell

Dr. Dan O’Donnell, a professor in the Department of English, conducts research in the Digital Humanities, where tools and methods from computer science are applied to humanities fields like history, philosophy and literature. His digital tools, like the Internet, make it easy to share research information widely, but O’Donnell has found the world of research publishing hasn’t changed much, with the same major publishers running the market. He began working on building a different kind of research network called Future Commons where research is freely shared and publicly available and where corporations can still make a profit. The Partnership Development Grant, which includes three other organizations, will facilitate research to further the Future Commons network. For more information visit Future Commons.

Mary Kavanagh

Mary Kavanagh, a professor in the Department of Art, will examine nuclear anxiety in the post-Cold War era through interviews with visitors to Trinity, the site of the world’s first atomic bomb detonation. A rehearsal for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Trinity was the codename for the test blast in 1945, deep in the desert south of the Manhattan project’s headquarters in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Tourists now flock to the site during bi-annual open houses. Kavanagh, through interviews conducted at the site, plans to generate a series of art works or “chapters” that include moving-image vignettes, photographic works, book works, installations and an experimental documentary film that explores urgent questions of the nuclear age. For more information visit Atomic Tourism.

Dr. Catherine Kingfisher

Dr. Catherine Kingfisher, an anthropology professor, will explore urban collective housing communities as non-individualistic approaches to well-being. Such communities work to balance independence and interdependence by including both personal/private and shared/collective spaces, and, unlike many intentional communities, are integrated with, rather than segregated from, society at large. Kingfisher will compare communities in Tokyo and Vancouver to gain insight into how this model of the good life operates in cultural contexts that historically and ideologically have stressed different aspects of individualism and collectivism. The project is situated in the context of increasing academic and governmental interest in happiness and well-being. For more information visit Intentional Communities.

Dr. Fangfang Li

Dr. Fangfang Li, a psychology professor, will examine factors that may influence speech errors in second-language learners. She found that errors made by local students in French Immersion programs persisted over time, even though researchers expected the students would make fewer speech errors when they reached higher grades. Li hypothesizes that the errors persist because opportunities to speak with native French speakers are limited in a community where English is the dominant language. Li’s research will look at a mixed bilingual program in Edmonton to see if the second-language learners there, who have more opportunity to speak with native speakers, produce more accurate speech as they advance to higher grades. For more information visit Second-language Learning.

Dr. Yutao Li

Dr. Yutao Li, a professor in the Faculty of Management at the U of L’s Calgary campus, will explore the costs and benefits of banks’ involvement in lending networks. While greater connectivity in a network can be helpful because it gives a bank more information it can use to evaluate a borrower’s credit risk, it can also be detrimental if risk enters the financial system and spreads throughout the network, as it did during the financial crisis of 2007-2008. Li’s study is the first to investigate banks’ lending networks and the research will help build understanding about how banks’ network connectivity affects information acquisition, lending practices and quality of financial reporting. For more information visit Banking Networks.

Dr. Paul Vasey

Dr. Paul Vasey, a psychology professor, will delve into competition for mates in cultures that recognize third genders, specifically the muxes in the Istmo region of Oaxaca, Mexico and the fa’afafine in Samoa. The fa’afafine and muxes are same-sex attracted feminine males or what could be termed transgender in North America. They engage in sexual activity with masculine men who are bisexual, thus creating a competitive atmosphere for heterosexual women. In contrast, women in Euro-American cultures most often face competition from other women. Vasey and his students will conduct research in Canada and at their field sites in Samoa and Mexico to see how the presence of third-gender males affects the behaviour and psychology of heterosexual individuals. For more information visit Mate Competition.

Dr. Carol Williams

Dr. Carol Williams, a professor in Women and Gender Studies and History, and her collaborators, Linda Weasel Head, Hali Heavy Shield and Faye Heavy Shield, will assemble diverse and new historical accounts of Kainai women’s social reform work between 1968 and 1990. The researchers will engage with the Kainai community and propose a series of cultural and historical workshops for all age groups to encourage conversation and storytelling. The study hopes to challenge the colonial character of the archives as they exist and the myths of Indigenous-Settler relations. The study, in line with the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, seeks to expand historical literacy about how Kainai women transformed their communities. For more information visit Kainai Women’s Activism.

Open Mike - March

trevor.kenney — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:36:55 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge President Dr. Mike Mahon chats about what's happening in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ campuses are places for discovery and discourse, where ideas are created and issues are debated. As I look around the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge I see a vibrant culture of engaged students and faculty and I am encouraged by the diversity of opinions that are shared.

This is one of the reasons why I was so enthused with the program initiated by the Gender and Diversity Caucus of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty Association. Last week's Show Respect, Get Respect at Your U event was extremely important for our campus in terms of pushing the notion of inclusivity and the importance of respect for diversity and difference.

The essence of a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ campus is to promote a place open to different voices, different perspectives and different ways to look at the world. We are a campus in transition, one that is continuing to grow as we establish ourselves as a destination university.

Already we are home to students from more than 85 countries. We welcome students from small communities and large cities, we strongly support the growth of our First Nations, Métis and Inuit student populations and we actively recruit faculty and staff from all over Canada, North America and the world. Our campuses in Calgary and Edmonton reflect a population of adult learners that continues to expand.

It is foundationally important that we maintain an atmosphere in which diversity of race, gender and opinion are respected. To that end, the conversation initiated by ULFA and the CAETL Talking About Teaching seminar that explored the topic of respectful teaching and respectful learning is fundamental to furthering an attitude of mutual understanding.

The U of L already has an appetite to celebrate its diversity. I look to successful ventures such as International Week, Native Awareness Week, OUTspoken, and I see a campus with diverse interests and ideals. It is imperative that conversation is encouraged to grow.

This past fall I had the opportunity to meet with organizers of a conference held here in Lethbridge that was organized by the Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination. Our own Catherine Kingfisher (anthropology) played a part in this conference and I pledged that the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ would be more fully engaged with next fall's event. Not only do we have a role to play in terms of messaging to our students, faculty and staff, with respect to diversity and inclusivity, but we also have an opportunity to engage the Lethbridge community as a whole in this conversation.

Our students, faculty and staff are all part of the community, and if we can act as a leader in creating a more accepting Lethbridge community, the better the quality of life for everyone.

My own work in disability research has been very much connected to the appreciation of diversity, of difference and of differing skills and ability. I often refer to this quote from Henry David Thoreau in my talks on disability and inclusivity.

"If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music in which he hears, however measured, or far away."

We have an opportunity to open the discussion, and I applaud ULFA for bringing this conversation forward and encourage everyone to engage in this debate.

For a look at the March issue of the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Long service awards and honoured retirees

trevor.kenney — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:27:38 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ recently honoured 83 employees at the annual Long Service Awards and Retirement Recognition Ceremony.

Employees who have completed 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service, as well as 18 retiring employees were all honoured at the ceremony.
Following is a list of those employees.

Retirees
Lynn Arnold, Judith Droessler, Eileen Ferguson, Peter Haney, Marilyn Hawryluk, Helen Henderson, Beatriz Housley, Luke Kwong, Ian McKenna, Linda Nicol, Ron Perverseff, Terry Prociuk, Lorraine Schimpf, Hiroshi Shimazaki, Helen Smith, Sara Stanley, Johnel Tailfeathers, Marie Yolland

Long Service Recipients

40 Years | Michael Kubara and Frank VandenHeuvel

35 Years | Lynne Brown, Gary Cunningham, Rose Helmer and Barbara Wolstoncroft

30 Years | Doris Kostiuk and Wendy Vogel

25 Years | Doran Anderson, Deb Bullock, Hank DeRidder, John Federkeil, Carol Gaetz, Ken Nicol, Stewart Rood, Linda Sebastian, Penny Secretan, Jerzy Szpakowski and Guy Vervoort

20 Years | John Bain, Allan Besplug, Craig Bullock, Cynthia Chambers, Helena Danyk, Lisa Doolittle, Marty Gadd, Andrew Hakin, David Kaminski, Luke Kwong, Judy Lavorato, Ian MacLachlan, Edward Malinsky, Duane Rockerbie, Gloria Samuels, Michael Stingl, Carrie Takeyasu, Pat Tanaka, Barb Thomsen, Gitte Villiger, Kathleen Willms, Shelly Wismath and Sajjad Zahir

15 Years | Jim Booth, Teresa Heyburn, Joan Kendall, Rob Kern, Richard Lutwick, Ron Schreiber, Terri Thomas, Nicholas Wade and Judith Whitehead

10 Years | Andrea Amelinckx, John Bronk, Adam Carter, Yllias Chali, Margaret Cook, Robert Cooney, Dennis Fitzpatrick, Fred Greene, Shauna Haag, Geoffrey Hale, Susan Hill, Shahadat Hossain, Charlene Janes, Harold Jansen, Randy Joseph, Edward Jurkowski, Catherine Kingfisher, Laurie Martin, Cathy Newman, Margot O'Donnell, Steve Patitsas, Michele Roberts, Chris Robinson, Debi Sandul, Stephane Simard, A. William Smith, Mike Spiteri, Stuart Thomas, Dawn-Ann Thys, Edwin Wasiak, Cheryl Wheeler and Jim Wills

Long service awards, Wednesday

trevor.kenney — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:52:19 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is holding its annual Long Service Awards and Retirement Recognition Ceremony on Wednesday, May 6, beginning at 1 p.m. in the Students' Union Ballrooms. A total of 83 employees who have completed 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years of service, and 18 retiring employees will be honoured at the event.

All employees are invited to the ceremony and reception to honour the award recipients listed below. The reception will include light refreshments.

Retirees

Lynn Arnold, Judith Droessler, Eileen Ferguson, Peter Haney, Marilyn Hawryluk, Helen Henderson, Beatriz Housley, Luke Kwong, Ian McKenna, Linda Nicol, Ron Perverseff, Terry Prociuk, Lorraine Schimpf, Hiroshi Shimazaki, Helen Smith, Sara Stanley, Johnel Tailfeathers, Marie Yolland

Long Service Recipients

40 Years

Michael Kubara and Frank VandenHeuvel

35 Years

Lynne Brown, Gary Cunningham, Rose Helmer and Barbara Wolstoncroft

30 Years

Doris Kostiuk and Wendy Vogel

25 Years

Doran Anderson, Deb Bullock, Hank DeRidder, John Federkeil, Carol Gaetz, Ken Nicol, Stewart Rood, Linda Sebastian, Penny Secretan, Jerzy Szpakowski and Guy Vervoort

20 Years

John Bain, Allan Besplug, Craig Bullock, Cynthia Chambers, Helena Danyk, Lisa Doolittle, Marty Gadd, Andrew Hakin, David Kaminski, Luke Kwong, Judy Lavorato, Ian MacLachlan, Edward Malinsky, Duane Rockerbie, Gloria Samuels, Michael Stingl, Carrie Takeyasu, Pat Tanaka, Barb Thomsen, Gitte Villiger, Kathleen Willms, Shelly Wismath and Sajjad Zahir

15 Years

Jim Booth, Teresa Heyburn, Joan Kendall, Rob Kern, Richard Lutwick, Ron Schreiber, Terri Thomas, Nicholas Wade and Judith Whitehead

10 Years

Andrea Amelinckx, John Bronk, Adam Carter, Yllias Chali, Margaret Cook, Robert Cooney, Dennis Fitzpatrick, Fred Greene, Shauna Haag, Geoffrey Hale, Susan Hill, Shahadat Hossain, Charlene Janes, Harold Jansen, Randy Joseph, Edward Jurkowski, Catherine Kingfisher, Laurie Martin, Cathy Newman, Margot O'Donnell, Steve Patitsas, Michele Roberts, Chris Robinson, Debi Sandul, Stephane Simard, A. William Smith, Mike Spiteri, Stuart Thomas, Dawn-Ann Thys, Edwin Wasiak, Cheryl Wheeler and Jim Wills

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Kingfisher explores models of happiness

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