UNews - Institute of Child and Youth Studies

U of L students create innovative programming for Galt Museum

caroline.zentner — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 17:51:41 +0000

Two ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students completing Applied Studies courses have developed unique tools to help educate school children about local history.

Ashley Henrickson (MA ’19), museum educator at the Galt Museum & Archives, and Dr. Kristine Alexander, associate professor of history and Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Child and Youth Studies, supervised LaRae Smith and Benjamin Weistra, both Education students, as they completed Applied Studies courses last semester. Their projects involved working with museum staff to research and produce new educational programming for school groups visiting the Galt.

“Recent scholarship about teaching and learning in higher education has shown that the opportunity to work on community-engaged research projects produces enormous gains in terms of student engagement and retention,” says Alexander. “The U of L’s Applied Studies program is a model in this respect, and it has been a real pleasure to be able to watch Ashley, LaRae and Ben work together to connect historical research, cutting-edge technologies and museum education.”

From left to right are Dr. Kristine Alexander, Ashley Henrickson, LaRae Smith and Benjamin Weistra.

Smith’s project, sponsored by Farm Credit Canada, was about the Great Depression in southern Alberta. Smith, with guidance from Henrickson, developed a simulation that’s like a board game.

“The game, which is designed for Grade 5, is played in a number of rounds and, in each round, students choose what crops to plant and which agricultural techniques to implement,” says Henrickson. “The students analyze newspaper articles and photographs from the 1930s to help inform their choices. Their farms are then hit by a number of travesties which affected Alberta farmers, including drought, grasshoppers and low market prices. Finally, the emotional reality of life in the Great Depression is driven home by sharing the stories of local families who lived through the period. LaRae collected these stories through oral history interviews.”

“As the ideas for this simulation started flowing and it began to take shape, I couldn’t help but get increasingly excited for the launch of this program,” says Smith. “I can’t wait for students to be able to come and experience firsthand what it was like as a farmer in southern Alberta during the Great Depression. It was a very rare opportunity to get to spend so much time on a single lesson plan and dive right into the fine details. I feel lucky to have been able to partner with the Galt Museum on this project and I am excited to see how students react to the program.”

Smith’s Great Depression simulation is still in the building stages but is expected to launch in September.

“LaRae’s work has been amazing,” says Henrickson. “I had envisioned the Applied Study being a jumping-off point for the research and the game, but she was so effective that it was nearly a finished product at the end. She’s also a very talented teacher.”

Weistra’s project focused on Ukrainian-Canadian internment in the First World War, a topic that’s part of the Grade 3 curriculum.

“There was an internment camp here in Lethbridge, although many people don’t know a lot about it,” says Henrickson. “Ben researched the camp in Lethbridge, located where Exhibition Park is now, and the camps in Banff because people from Lethbridge went there.”

Several prisoners escaped from the Lethbridge camp in 1916 using shovels, an auger and a fan to dig a tunnel under the fence. These tools are now held in the Glenbow Archives and therefore cannot be easily accessed by Grade 3 classes in Lethbridge. Ben examined how technologies like augmented reality, photogrammetry and 3D printing can be used to bring replicas of these objects to local students.

“This project not only made me realize the potential of using 3D/AR/VR technology in my future teaching adventures and other history projects, but also led to great connections at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, the Galt and Agility,” says Weistra. “It also led to other great experiences like taking part in the Agility pitch competition. As a student with Ukrainian heritage, it also makes me proud to be able to take part in a project like this which helps bring light to a darker and lesser-known part of Ukrainian-Canadian history.”

U of L Agility, a student-centred program that focuses on innovation, provided valuable support for Weistra’s project by sharing knowledge about virtual reality and 3D printing. He also won the Agility Pitch Competition with his idea and now the Galt is waiting for the outcome of a grant application to help with the costs of digitizing the objects.

As part of their learning, Weistra and Smith presented their projects during the recent Institute for Child and Youth Studies symposium and have each won scholarships as a result.

“LaRae and Ben were spectacular students and they made significant contributions to the museum,” says Henrickson. “We are very excited that both of them are working with us again during the summer. I am also very thankful to Dr. Alexander and the U of L for supporting these projects.”

International child and youth studies conference looks to engage local practitioners

trevor.kenney — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 20:19:04 +0000

Leading researchers and practitioners will examine the state of child and youth studies at an international conference to be held at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in May.

Mapping the Landscapes of Childhood II will be held in Markin Hall, May 8-10, 2015, and is hosted by the U of L’s Institute of Child and Youth Studies (I-CYS). It will bring together scholars and practitioners from a wide variety of academic disciplines including the sciences, arts, humanities, social sciences, policy studies, social work and education in an effort to share knowledge and create collaborative opportunities.

“Conferences like this are important in that they promote and empower new ideas,” says Dr. Kristine Alexander, I-CYS co-director and a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Child and Youth Studies. “Bringing a wide spectrum of people together – ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, community members, practitioners – will allow for a broader understanding, and creation of, new knowledge and the opportunity to ensure that new ideas are considered by those who work with youth.”

All interested parties are invited to attend the conference and take in the multidisciplinary panels, scholarly presentations, poster sessions, keynote events, practitioner sessions and feature film screening. Registration and conference details can be found at uleth.ca/conreg/icys/.

The conference builds on the understanding of the inaugural event held at the U of L in 2011 that attracted an international group of 125 scholars. That conference was a catalyst for the creation of I-CYS, which is now directed by a group of seven primary researchers.

Mapping the Landscapes of Childhood II features keynote addresses by three international speakers:

- Tim Gill (British children’s advocate): From Protection to Resilience: Why and How We Should Reframe our Approach to Risk in Childhood.
- Dr. Katie Hinde (Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ): Food, Medicine, & Signal: How Mother's Milk Shapes Infant Development.
- Dr. Karen Wells (Department of Geography, Environment and Development Studies, Birkbeck ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of London): Theorising Transnational Childhoods: Networks, Capital, and Social Reproduction.

Additionally, Dr. Jane Humphries (Professor of Economic History, All Souls College, Oxford) will host a discussion following a screening of the BBC4 documentary, The Children Who Built Victorian Britain, based on her book, Childhood and Child Labour in the British Industrial Revolution.

Practitioner workshops that pair ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ with professionals such as teachers, social workers, policy makers and others will also take place at the conference. These workshops include:

- Moving the Mountain: Brianna Olson & Wallis Kendal (iHuman Youth Society, Edmonton).
- Making the Most of Individual Differences in Education: Applications from the Montessori Method: Zahra Foroud & Dr. Afra Foroud.
- Practical Advice for Fostering Healthy Brain Development: Dr. Robbin Gibb, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.
- Bridging Cultures: Engaging Aboriginal Learners in Culturally Relevant Ways: Dr. Michelle Hogue & Ira Provost (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge).

The U of L’s Institute for Child & Youth Studies is a multidisciplinary research institute committed to examining what children and youth mean as social, demographic, artistic, legal and existential categories. While strongly grounded in the humanities and social sciences, I-CYS connects scholars working in all disciplines and faculties at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and beyond.

I-CYS is also a community-building project. Through events, an e-newsletter and website, the group fosters conversations and collaborations that cross the boundaries of traditional academic disciplines, while creating links between scholars, practitioners and community members. The group aims to foster innovative, cross-disciplinary research – both curiosity- and policy-driven – about young people.

5 Questions with Dr. Elizabeth Galway

trevor.kenney — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 21:25:16 +0000

Dr. Elizabeth Galway has been a faculty member in the Department of English since 2003 where she teaches courses in Canadian literature, children's literature and nineteenth-century literature. She is the author of From Nursery Rhymes to Nationhood: Children's Literature and the Construction of Canadian Identity (Routledge 2008), and is currently working on a book about children's literature and the First World War.

What first piqued your interest in your research discipline?

I have a variety of different research interests but my primary research areas are children's literature and Canadian literature. I became interested in these subjects while I was completing work for my master's degree in English literature. I was studying at Durham ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in the north of England at the time and I was conscious of the fact that the English literature that I had read as a Canadian child had shaped my expectations about life in England, and had led directly to my desire to live and study in Britain. These thoughts about the continuing resonance of children's literature in my own life were the first step towards my reconsideration of the apparent simplicity of the genre. I became interested in exploring what one might call "adult themes" in children's literature, and started to consider how literature for children is inextricably bound up with issues of concern to adults.

Dr. Elizabeth Galway believes that children's literature has a profound effect on the attitudes we carry as adults.

Living in England gave me a better understanding of British literature and culture, but it also heightened my awareness of my own status as a Canadian. I began to consider the extent to which the literature read in childhood influences how Canadians perceive themselves, and how others perceive them. I have been able to combine my interests in nineteenth and early twentieth-century Canadian and British literature and to explore how children's literature reflects and influences attitudes towards nationalism, imperialism, gender and citizenship.

How is your research applicable in "the real world?"

We should not consider scholarly research as something separate from "the real world," since the work being conducted across different disciplines is applicable to many aspects of everyday life. Although my current project about WWI has me studying literature written nearly one hundred years ago, it has direct relevance to events taking place today. I recently published an article on the portrayal of child soldiers in WWI literature that can help us understand current debates about the use of underage fighters. Exploring literary portrayals of child contributions to the First World War can help us understand contemporary definitions of childhood that simultaneously include a longing to protect children, a need to shape them into "good citizens", and a desire to give them a sense of confidence and agency.

First World War children's literature may have also had a lasting impact on how Canadians viewed the nation, its role in the world, and concepts of citizenship and patriotism. Canada has not ceased to be engaged in military activity in different parts of the globe, so understanding earlier attitudes towards armed conflict can help us better comprehend our current place in the world.

What is the greatest honour you have received in your career?

Every time that I accomplish something that is part of the job, whether it be receiving a grant, generating a great class discussion, or receiving a copy of one of my publications, I feel a sense of excitement. The most recent achievement that I am very proud of is my role in helping to establish the Institute of Child and Youth Studies (I-CYS) at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. This institute represents a major step forward in facilitating interdisciplinary relationships between scholars working in different areas related to childhood studies.

How important are students to your research endeavours?

My desire to become a university professor arose directly from my own love of being a student; so creating a positive experience for students is something that is very important to me. There is a direct link between my research and my teaching and I am often able to include readings on my courses that stem directly from my research trips. For example, on my reading list for Canadian Literature 1867-1914, I have included a number of stories and articles that are long out of print, but which provide students with a more complete picture of what early Canadians were reading. The SSHRC grant for my project on WWI has also enabled me to hire several students as research assistants. They've been a real help to me, and have had the opportunity to conduct hands-on research by visiting libraries and museums, and working with primary source material from the war period. The study of literature can be a very solitary pursuit, so it has been wonderful to have this opportunity to work with students outside of the classroom and to share ideas about the material that is being studied.

If you had unlimited funds, which areas of research would you invest?

If I had unlimited funds, I would invest in every area of research! The real question is how to decide what projects to support when the funds are limited. The short answer is that we need to strike a balance. After all, what good would it do to invent an iPod or a Kindle, if there was no music to listen to and no literature to read?

Each month, the Legend will present 5 Questions With . . . one of our researchers. For a look at the entire catalog of 5 Questions With . . . features, check out the Office of Research and Innovation Services website at www.uleth.ca/research_profiles.

This story first appeared in the June 2013 edition of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

5 Questions with Dr. Elizabeth Galway

trevor.kenney — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:13:37 +0000

What first piqued your interest in your research discipline?

Dr. Elizabeth Galway believes that children's literature has a profound effect on the attitudes we carry as adults.

How is your research applicable in "the real world?"

What is the greatest honour you have received in your career?

How important are students to your research endeavours?

If you had unlimited funds, which areas of research would you invest?

This story first appeared in the June 2013 edition of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

UNews - Institute of Child and Youth Studies

U of L students create innovative programming for Galt Museum

Related Topics

International child and youth studies conference looks to engage local practitioners

Related Topics

5 Questions with Dr. Elizabeth Galway

Related Topics

5 Questions with Dr. Elizabeth Galway

Related Topics