UNews - Department of Women & Gender Studies

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge names Dr. Suzanne Lenon the 2021 Board of Governors Teaching Chair

trevor.kenney — Wed, 12 May 2021 19:36:40 +0000

Helping her students develop critical thinking skills by encouraging them to be curious about the world around them, Dr. Suzanne Lenon has been named the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge 2021 Board of Governors Teaching Chair (BOGTC).

Lenon teaches a wide range of undergraduate courses in the Department of Women & Gender Studies and she continually explores ways to bridge theory and practice in the design of her courses. This thoughtfulness has led to creative courses that students have said gave them a new way of looking at the world and helped them understand how the theories they learned in the classroom play out in everyday life.

Lenon will be presented with the Board of Governors Teaching Chair at the Chancellor’s Reception on Thursday, June 10, 2021.

Suzanne Lenon

Suzanne Lenon obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies and Development Studies at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and a master’s degree in Development Studies at Carleton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Her doctoral degree from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto was in the Department of Sociology & Equity Studies and part of the Graduate Collaborative Program at the U of T’s Women & Gender Studies Institute. Lenon joined the U of L’s Women’s Studies Program as an assistant professor, and she has been an associate professor in the Department of Women & Gender Studies since 2015.

In her teaching, her main goal is to empower students to think rigorously about the world around them, their own place in it and their own place in producing it. By bridging scholarship and engaged citizenship, Lenon opens students’ eyes to how complex theories play a role in their lives in ways that can disrupt established ways of thinking. While this process can be uncomfortable, Lenon works to create a positive learning environment that encourages students to participate and engage in critical work in ways that are respectful and constructive.

She sees teaching as an ongoing process and is committed to continually learning from her students and colleagues to find new and respectful ways of engaging students. Lenon designs her courses to develop students’ critical thinking skills, to spark their curiosity and to question the social structures and relations of power they see.

Blackfoot Women’s Empowerment project highlights community and collaboration

caroline.zentner — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 18:18:01 +0000

When Tanya Pace-Crosschild (BSc ’98), director of the Opokaa’sin Early Intervention Society, saw a call for proposals from Women and Gender Equality Canada in 2018, she immediately recognized an opportunity to develop a project to foster the economic empowerment of Indigenous women in southern Alberta.

“Many of our families are living below the poverty line and Blackfoot women don’t have the same opportunities as a lot of other Canadian women,” says Pace-Crosschild. “We wanted to look at what economic prosperity means to Blackfoot women and how to go from economic security to prosperity, keeping in mind many of our women aren’t even at the security level.”

Pace-Crosschild reached out to her network of women, including, from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Drs. Carol Williams (history, women and gender studies) and Jan Newberry (anthropology) and Rhonda Crow (BMgt ’99), coordinator with Indigenous Governance and Business Management at the Dhillon School of Business. They submitted a proposal and succeeded in getting $350,00 in funding for a three-year project called Blackfoot Women’s Empowerment from Security to Prosperity.

From left to right are Crystal Good Rider, Marjie Crop Eared Wolf (BFA ’09), Dr. Carol Williams, Dr. Jan Newberry, Rhonda Crow, Marsha Wolf Collar (BA ’11), Robin Little Bear, Tanya Pace-Crosschild, Coby Royal and Melissa Shouting (BHSc ’19), U of L graduate student.

“We’re really excited about Blackfoot Women’s Empowerment because it’s a grassroots initiative,” says Pace-Crosschild. “It acknowledges the voices of women, the strengths of Indigenous women, specifically Blackfoot women, and it gives us a basis to move forward. Our goals and dreams with this project are to empower women.”

Now in their final year of funding, they recently launched the Blackfoot Women’s Empowerment website, a portal for Blackfoot women to access resources to enhance their entrepreneurial skills and learn more about traditional ways of life. In addition, the website highlights two projects the group has funded — the Paahtómahksikimi Cultural Centre online craft store and the Red Woman Talks series.

The online gallery and store showcases the talents of 10 artisans and includes artwork, jewelry, accessories, clothing, moccasins and more available for purchase through the click of a mouse. Red Woman Talks is designed to be a series of seven interviews featuring Indigenous women’s successes in communities within the Blackfoot Confederacy. Still in the planning stages, the goal is to inspire, empower and motivate by having role models talk about the challenges they faced and how they overcame them on their path to success.

This fall, the Blackfoot Women’s Empowerment group partnered with the Dhillon School of Business. Starting in January, Drs. Tanya Drollinger and Katie Lafreniere will lend their expertise in promotion to the two projects.

“We needed help in marketing and developing an online presence,” says Crow. “Hopefully, it will be an ongoing partnership because we’re hoping this project doesn’t end when the government funding ends. We’re looking at sustainability and how we can ensure this becomes a permanent program.”

The project began in 2018 with the formation of an Indigenous women’s council. With the help of Coby (Eagle Bear) Royal (BA ’08), they organized a series of meetings with Blackfoot women, both on and off reserve. Along with meetings in Lethbridge and Calgary, they met with women from the Siksika, Piikani, Kainai and Blackfeet First Nations to ask them how they define economic prosperity and what it means to them.

“The results were similar to what I had expected,” says Pace-Crosschild. “Economic prosperity to Indigenous families is not just based on money. It’s based on relationship — relationship with each other, to the land, and to the resources within the community.”

Following the meetings, the women developed a community plan and were asked to submit proposals to Blackfoot Women’s Empowerment. Crystal Good Rider (Ba/BEd ’04, MEd ’10) was hired as project manager to help implement the successful proposals.

“The website was developed in response to what the women were saying in the community needs assessment,” says Good Rider. “When you empower the women, you empower the whole community. There are so many challenges, but this is one positive. Everything we do has been guided by the Blackfoot women’s voices.”

The women identified needs for including cultural content, showcasing Blackfoot women role models and providing entrepreneurial opportunities for women.

“With the website, we’ve been able to work with the Paahtómahksikimi Cultural Centre to highlight artists within the community,” says Good Rider. “With that project, we were really focused on the collective effect of their proposal.”

Newberry says Blackfoot Women’s Empowerment highlights the many connections between the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and the larger community. Almost all the women involved in the project are either employees, faculty or alumnae of the U of L.

“This is a very exciting project,” she says. “It’s been going on for a while and we’re finally seeing some of the fruits of our labour. We used an assets-based model and the projects we’re supporting definitely build on the strengths that already exist among Blackfoot women.”

Symposium and exhibit focus on local queer history

caroline.zentner — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 19:50:31 +0000

An exhibit devoted to local queer history, set to open on Saturday, Oct. 12 at the Galt Museum & Archives, is the first of its kind in southwestern Alberta.

For the past year, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge professors Drs. Kristine Alexander (history) and Suzanne Lenon (women and gender studies) have been working with Aimee Benoit, curator of the Galt Museum, undergraduate students and the teenage members of the Queer Impact Club (QIC) of the Boys & Girls Club of Lethbridge & District on a project that documents the queer histories of Lethbridge and southwestern Alberta.

The Inqueeries: 2SLGBTQ+ Histories of Southwestern Alberta exhibit features a variety of objects from the community, including the first pair of high heels from a local drag queen, a chest binder and costumes created by artist and scholar Shawn Singer to personify two-spirit people in Blackfoot history. Objects will be paired with a quote from the donor describing the object, what it means to them and their relationship to it. The exhibit will also showcase buttons and promotional material from Pride Fest and OUTreach and issues of The Occasion, a queer newsletter.

“Inqueeries is, for me, a great starting point to begin challenging misconceptions about the history of Lethbridge and Alberta as a whole,” says Liam Devitt, a student involved in the project. “Alberta is often thought of as a place of the “severely normal,” which overshadows much of this province’s rich queer history. With this exhibit and the upcoming symposium organized by the U of L’s Institute for Child and Youth Studies, I hope Lethbridge can become a hub for queer history research and we can begin to realize Alberta as a place of the severely queer.”

A week after the exhibit opens, a one-day symposium on Friday, Oct. 18 will allow for further discussions of queer and community-engaged approaches to oral history, museums, and child and youth studies. The symposium features presentations by the QIC youth curators, keynote speakers, paper presentations by the U of L undergrads involved in the project and a roundtable discussion. The speakers are authors and professors with expertise in the history of queer communities in Western Canada, transgender children and youth and queer literature.

“Queer Youth Curating Queer History is an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the historical research and intergenerational collaboration that has resulted in Inqueeries: 2SLGBTQ+ Histories of Southwestern Alberta, an exhibit open to the public until February, 2020,” says Alexander. “Featuring the work of queer youth, U of L undergraduate students and faculty, and invited keynote speakers from across North America, the symposium is going to make important contributions to academic and public discussions about resistance, community and queer histories in Lethbridge.”

Look into non/monogamous relationships earns student Parkland Institute Graduate Research Award

trevor.kenney — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 15:16:53 +0000

Jaisie Walker, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge graduate student in the Department of Women & Gender Studies, has been awarded the 2019 Parkland Institute Graduate Research Award for their project, Unsettling Lateral Violence: Queer Genealogies of Non/Monogamy in Southern Alberta.

Jaisie Walker has worked for the U of L’s Campus Women’s Centre and the Safe Haven Women’s Shelter Society in Taber.

Walker, born in England and raised in Scotland before moving to Canada following their high school years, has worked on the frontlines of anti-violence programming and seen how the queer and non/monogamous communities are underserved by current policies on interpersonal violence.

“What I continuously saw was that the literature these programs were relying on for their anti-violence programming still framed relationships in a heterosexual and monogamous lens and it continuously relies on this narrative of a victim-perpetrator model,” says Walker, who has worked for the U of L’s Campus Women’s Centre and the Safe Haven Women’s Shelter Society in Taber.

"For many LGBTQA2S+ people, non/monogamous relationships are seen as progressive and transgressive solutions to heteronormative violence. Consequently, non/monogamous relationships have become a way of mobilizing political values in an attempt to be more responsible, caring and loving. However, non/monogamies scholarship is beginning to outline significant constraints that factors such as race, gender and class have on negotiations of safety and desire in non/monogamous relationships. Furthermore, non/monogamous communities continue to express the need for community accountability and anti-violence models that move beyond punitive victim/perpetrator dichotomies."

Walker explains that, while the justice system still has its place in dealing with situations of interpersonal violence, most instances occur between people who have established loving, trusting relationships where criminal charges are not always a desirable outcome.

“When it comes to the queer community, for example, people don’t want to just rely on punitive justice frameworks,” says Walker. “When they are thinking about their relationships, they want to build sustainable new ways of doing things.

“Even in more progressive spaces, where a basic level of consent and agency is often emphasized, it can still be really difficult to identify, understand, communicate and navigate solutions around experiences of violence. This is especially fraught and complicated in LGBTQA2S+ contexts, where platonic and romantic community is relied on for survival, social and familial types of support, and the consequences of a punitive justice framework aren't sustainable. By using lateral violence as an anchor, a concept which acknowledges the peer-to-peer and structural components of violence, I’m hoping to create space for these community dynamics to be better addressed.”

Walker’s proposed study will utilize a participatory-action research approach. They look to gather 15 participants to photographically document community assets and concerns around violence, safety and accountability, critically discuss the resulting images, and communicate their desires for change with policymakers, educators and program developers through a participant-led public exhibit.

They gained approval from the Parkland Institute adjudicators for presenting a “well-prepared application with clear relevance to the communities of interest, and public policy applications.” The adjudicators also made note of the interdisciplinary nature of the project as it touches several fields of work while connecting to rural policy and governance issues.

“Verbalizing relationships can be really difficult, and interviews can be really difficult,” says Walker. “In PhotoVoice, participants are really leading what they produce. It’s exciting because this particular topic crosses over critical rural studies, feminist geographies, queer theory, anti-violence literature, gender studies, art—you can make this applicable in so many different kinds of fields.”

Dr. Trevor Harrison, U of L sociologist and director of the Parkland Institute, says Walker’s project is an excellent example of the breadth of research U of L students are involved in at the graduate level.

“Parkland supports research that pushes the boundaries of so-called common-sense understandings of the world, opening up instead avenues for greater dialogue,” he says. “Despite some legal gains in recent years, the LGBTQA2S+ community still faces many challenges, as Jaisie’s project highlights. Their submission was clear, well-articulated, and frankly exciting. We look forward to the results of their research.”

U of L social scientists net SSHRC awards worth nearly $440,000

caroline.zentner — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 19:58:03 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge graduate students and faculty members will tackle a variety of research projects thanks to funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

“The U of L’s success rate with Insight Development Grants was very positive, higher than the national average and continues our momentum,” says Dr. Erasmus Okine, vice-president (research). “Our social scientists and humanities researchers are conducting leading-edge research and I heartily commend them for their efforts.”

U of L researchers received six Insight Development Grants. Dr. Robert LeBlanc (education) will examine how immigrant teens in a rural Alberta meatpacking town learn the forms and meanings of stylized speech. Dr. Glenda Bonifacio (women & gender studies) will study how the election of Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines has affected foreign disaster aid and gender equality following Haiyan, the 2013 super typhoon. Dr. Rhiannon MacDonnell Mesler (Dhillon School of Business, Calgary campus) will look at how consumer identities can divide and unite in an increasingly polarized world. Dr. Paige Pope (kinesiology & physical education) will compare the effectiveness of various messages designed to reduce sedentary behaviour in older adults.

Other researchers receiving Insight Development Grants include Drs. Fangfang Li (psychology) and Noëlle Gunst-Leca (psychology). As well, Dr. Inge Genee (modern languages), co-applicant on a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta-based project called 21st century tools for Indigenous languages, received a Partnership Grant.

Dr. Carly Adams, a Board of Governors Research Chair (Tier II) and a kinesiology & physical education professor, and Dr. Darren Aoki (BA ’90), a professor in world history at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Plymouth and adjunct professor in history at the U of L, received an Insight Grant for their Transforming Canadian Nikkei oral history project. This grant allows them to continue exploring the cultural and social history of Canadian Nikkei (people of Japanese descent) in southern Alberta from 1950 to the 21st century in partnership with the Galt Museum & Archives, Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden and the Nikkei Cultural Society of Lethbridge and Area.

Along with the faculty members who received awards, several U of L graduate students received SSHRC funding, including master’s students Jennifer Chernishenko, Margaret Ingram, Quinn Johnsson, Mary Siever, Michelle Sylvestre and Jaisie Walker and doctoral student Serena Visser.

Chernishenko will delve into how girls’ mindsets—whether growth oriented or fixed— affects their sense of belonging and participation in sports. Siever is studying the reasons why parenting and mothering, in particular, receive minimal support in post-secondary study. Sylvestre will examine how social issues and context get transferred into the medical world and how that’s connected to today’s consumption of pharmaceuticals. Visser will explore the impact institutional norms and practices within the mental health system have for trans and gender-diverse people.

Kaitlynn Weaver found her niche in Child & Youth Studies

caroline.zentner — Wed, 29 May 2019 21:53:55 +0000

When Kaitlynn Weaver (BA ’16) walks across the stage to receive her Master of Arts, she’ll do so knowing she took every opportunity available to learn and develop as a person and as a scholar.

“What has made my master’s experience so great are the people I’ve met here and elsewhere and the opportunities I’ve been given,” she says. “My supervisor, Dr. Kristine Alexander, and my committee (Drs. Caroline Hodes, Jan Newberry and Amy von Heyking) actively sought opportunities for me in places I wouldn’t even have thought to look. The level of investment they had in me, my experiences, my ability to network, to gain confidence in myself, my research and my public speaking skills has been so valuable. The last three years have been so formative for me in ways that I can’t even explain.”

Originally from Rocky Mountain House, Weaver followed in her older sister, Sarah’s, footsteps in continuing her education at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Right from the start, Weaver felt at home at the U of L.

“I was able to shadow Sarah as a university student over my spring break in high school,” says Weaver. “I sat in on a philosophy and a sociology class. I was excited and engaged and the philosophy professor asked me questions in class and had me participate like I was a university student. That was really impactful and being here has been awesome.”

When she first arrived in 2012, Weaver studied New Media. As part of the U of L’s liberal education requirements, she also took a class in sociology.

“I really liked it and I liked the way they were talking about people’s identities and power structures, and I wanted to pursue it further,” she says. “I decided to switch my major to sociology and do a minor in Women & Gender Studies, which was a huge part of my university experience.”

As she was nearing the completion of her bachelor’s, Dr. Carol Williams (Women & Gender Studies) asked her if she was considering graduate school and told her that Alexander, who’s also a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Child and Youth Studies and director of the U of L’s Institute for Child and Youth Studies (I-CYS), was looking for graduate students.

Weaver knew she wanted to focus on youth during graduate school, as she had been a volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club of Lethbridge and District and had completed an independent study about youth unemployment with Dr. Muriel Mellow. She obtained a Canada Graduate Scholarship through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), which later led to receiving a Michael Smith Foreign Studies Supplement Award.

“When I started my master’s, I was a graduate assistant for a project called Elders of the Future, which was a 10-year project on Blackfoot child-rearing practices in southern Alberta,” says Weaver. “I was asked to run children and youth programming to create photos and artworks for an eventual exhibit at Casa.”

The project, a collaboration between the Opokaa’sin Early Intervention Society and I-CYS, celebrated the resiliency of local Blackfoot communities through their family and child-rearing practices. Weaver worked with children and youth at Opokaa’sin and helped organize events around the exhibit.

“I got to work with Blackfoot youth and children at Opokaa’sin and that’s not something I would have otherwise been able to do,” she says.

The foreign studies award allowed Weaver to spend three months studying at Rutgers ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Camden in New Jersey, the first American institution to have a childhood studies department. Supervised by Dr. Lauren Silver, Weaver lived in Philadelphia, just across the Delaware River from the university, from January to April, 2018. She attended Silver’s classes and met other faculty members in the department.

“I grew more as a person and as a professional in those three months than I ever have in my life,” she says. “I was completely taken out of my comfort zone and immersed in a different lifestyle. I presented in a class, got to talk to every professor in the department and gained lifelong friendships.”

For her thesis, Weaver spoke to Faculty of Education alums, asking them to focus on their childhood experiences and their experiences being adults. Her thesis, titled “Growing the Finest Teachers Possible”: Theorizing how Young Teachers Challenge, (Re)produce, and are Subject to Discourses of Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood, examined the expectations of new teachers and the reality they found in the classroom.

“These teachers focused a lot on their own experience as educators and expected a lot more freedom and autonomy in their classrooms to “shape” the children they’re working with,” Weaver says. “They found out that actually, just because they’re adults and just because they’re educators, doesn’t give them complete freedom. The expectations of adulthood and the realities didn’t really match up.”

Now setting off on her life as a professional, Weaver continues to be involved with youth. She recently began employment with Family and Community Support Services (Barons-Eureka-Warner) and the Boys & Girls Club of Lethbridge and District.

“It’s a partnership position funded by the Government of Canada. It’s a full-time position and I work in southern Alberta rural communities and get youth from Grades 9 to 12 involved in volunteering and civic engagement in some way.”

Research project to highlight Kainai women’s activism and build historical literacy

caroline.zentner — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 21:32:42 +0000

In line with the recommendations that flowed from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2015), a research project led by Dr. Carol Williams, a professor in Women and Gender Studies and History at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, will assemble diverse historical and contemporary accounts about Kainai women’s community reform work from 1968 to 1990.

“Our goal is to generate a history of southern Alberta Kainai women’s grassroots activism for social change,” says Williams. “We want to expand historical literacy to illustrate how women have positively transformed their communities.”

Researchers and collaborators in the Kainai Women's Project include (back row left to right) Erin Turner, Charlene Oka, Cherilynn Blood, Sonny Brewer, Dr. Carol Williams, Hali Heavy Shied and (front row, left to right) Lenore Hoof, Linda Weasel Head and Faye Heavy Shield.

Williams will collaborate with Hali Heavy Shield (BA, BEd ’06; MEd ’12), vice-principal at Aahsaopi Elementary School on the Blood Reserve; Linda Weasel Head, the library and learning coordinator at the Kainai Public Library, and Faye Heavy Shield, a nationally exhibited independent artist and Hali’s mother.

“The process of the project demonstrates Indigenous epistemology because it’s a coming together that will give youth, women and us, as a community of researchers, a chance to collaborate,” says Hali Heavy Shield. “In a sense, that’s the traditional way of knowing and learning for Kainai. We’re very much being authentic to the family systems of learning.”

The project, titled Kainai Women’s Activism in Treaty 7 Territory 1968 to 1990: Contemporary Histories of Social Change, has received more than $121,000 over three years from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

“This research project is very timely, given the 94 calls for action that came out of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” says Hali Heavy Shield. “We had two residential schools in Kainai, St. Paul’s and St. Mary’s, and so now is a time for the process and a call on our federal, provincial and even our community leadership to first tell the truth about our own history.”

Students will be involved in every step of the research, including creating a preliminary display consisting of historical articles, photos or government reports to be used as a starting point for conversations at community gatherings. Williams says many historical documents have not been accessible to community members and the research project is committed to repatriation of a range of relevant records.

Glenbow Archives #NA-2908-12. About the subject of this portrait, Faye Heavy Shield notes: “Kate Three Persons was married to Pete Heavy Shield, widowed, and then married to Tom Three Persons. Kate was an artist, designer and storyteller. I believe any art I’ve made was through her.”

The study will use a variety of methods to engage with community. Williams says her previous research on Indigenous women’s social and educational activism has indicated that the health and education of children has been a key motivation for action. For example, Faye (Heavy Shield), Hali (Heavy Shield) and Linda (Weasel Head) were part of the community group that was instrumental in building the partnership with Blood Tribe Chief and Council, Kainai Board of Education and Chinook Arch Regional Library System to get the public library on the reserve. The library was crucial in building literacy through access to books and the Internet.

Linda Weasel Head speaks to these ambitions: “Our goal in creating a library was to offer an essential service on the reserve as many people were unable to get to services in surrounding communities. The bigger picture is to offer an opportunity to increase literacy skills and that reading, writing and numeracy skills assist over time in lowering poverty. Our library’s motto, Okstakit (read), reflects what our people did to survive, thrive and pass on knowledge or pommotsiiysinni. Our library is a facet of all those purposes or ihpipototst and opportunities, or aksistoiypaittapiisini, while demonstrating kindness or kimmapiipitsinni, and respect or innakotsiiysinni. Most important is aasimmoiyihkanni, as we are all spiritual beings who must look out for each other through prayer and positive actions.”

Faye Heavy Shield reflects on how making art can also be part of women’s activism, as it was artists who kept traditional songs, ceremonies and beadwork alive, despite federal prohibitions against cultural and ceremonial life: “As a child, through the stories told me by Sommitsikana, I experienced an immersive adventure into the fantastic where animals spoke and a hero came to life from a blood clot. Later, I recognized the more profound impact of maintaining language, imagination, and the aspiration to values of kindness, courage and creativity and, not the least — time spent with a grandmother.”

The Kainai women’s project will include a series of cultural and historical workshops for all age groups. The workshops might take the form of using art to make graphic histories, sessions of storytelling, archival scanning of historical family photographs, talking circles or other small conversational gatherings.

“I am an educator and I hope to use my experience in the classroom to bring about and encourage and inspire members of the community to tell stories and to be inspired themselves, to tell their truth and to share,” says Hali Heavy Shield.

“One central motivation for this project is to expand historical literacy about women’s labour and social and community activism,” says Williams. “Another of the major eventual outcomes will be a sustainable website that will become a legacy for Kainai educators teaching kindergarten to Grade 12, but also for university students and other researchers.”

Dr. Carol Williams

Williams said another important goal of the project is to mentor and train Indigenous students so they can continue to build Kainai community histories and develop marketable skills for their future careers. Several research assistants have joined the project to assist in reviewing and assembling archival documents, helping with design of workshops and contributing to the thematic organization of the project.

Charlene Oka (BA ’17), Ii’ni’skin’akii (Buffalo Stone Woman), is a member of Kainai, mother to five children and grandmother to two grandsons, with a granddaughter on the way. She is working toward applying to graduate studies and is exploring and learning more about Kainai and its historical roots.

Sonny Brewer was raised with Blackfoot traditions and ceremony and brings an understanding of cultural practices and protocol to the Kainai Women’s project. As a third-year music (composition) student, Brewer offers a different perspective on the project, through a lens rooted in the aural realm.

Erin Turner, a fourth-year history major at the U of L, will lend her expertise as an archival researcher. Her travels abroad have given her a greater respect for cultural diversity in Canada and around the world.

Rachel Hoof, Sootaaki, (Rain Woman), is a fourth-year social work student studying at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary’s Lethbridge campus. Hoof wants to help youth, women and families as they work toward healing and recovery from the historical impacts of colonization.

Cherilynn Blood, Puhksikaki’ihkitsikimuhksaki, is a member of Kainai and the mother of one. She is working towards becoming a teacher of Social Studies and Native American studies. She’s an advocate for Indigenous peoples and looks forward to working on the Kainai women’s project to learn more about Blackfoot history for future use in classrooms.

“Our commitment is to collaboration, reciprocity and challenging the colonial character of the archives with alternative stories and histories,” says Williams. “We will find our path as we go.”

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.

PUBlic Professor talk a very personal story for Fiske

trevor.kenney — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 17:37:58 +0000

Scholars rarely stumble onto a research focus without some sort of personal interest or connection and for Dr. Jo-Anne Fiske, her latest research project delves into issues that shaped her childhood and continue to resonate today.

Fiske (Women & Gender Studies) is the daughter of a Canadian war veteran of the Great War of 1914 to 1918, and although her father passed away when she was just 12-years-old, her upbringing was both remarkable and unique. Anything but a shell-shocked, broken man, her father was engaging, enlightened and a cherished member of his community.

On Thursday, October 26, 2017, 7 p.m. at the Lethbridge Lodge, Fiske will present Remarkable Husbands and Unusual Fathers. Understanding the Great War a Crucible of Tenderness and Nurture. Her talk is the latest PUBlic Professor Series event and second of this semester, and comes on the centenary of the beginning of the Battle of Passchendaele. Considered by many to be the defining moment of Canadian military history, Fiske’s father fought on the front lines and survived the horrific, 16-day campaign.

Her interest in the Great War comes from an anthropological perspective, trying to decode the narratives of the war and its aftermath through the experiences of the soldiers who came home to resume their lives as brothers, husbands and fathers.

“What were the cultural moments?” she asks. “These men, who were so ordinary, they were never in the dispatches, they never won a medal, they survived. That is really what the stories are all about, they survived. What made them so different in a family relationship?”

Fiske remembers her childhood as entirely unique from her friends. She describes her father as a feminist before there were feminists. A stay-at-home dad, he instructed the local bank to open an account for his 19-year-old wife the first banking day after their marriage. She had a job and her wages were to go into her account, something unheard of in the 1930s.

He also talked about his wartime experiences, breaking the stereotype of the stoic soldier unable or unwilling to engage his family. He spun yarns, often with his war buddies, of their time overseas and the life that persisted amongst all the death.

“The stories they would tell about the war were often very funny and mundane but they gave you a sense of what little things would mean and how to be appreciative of those things,” says Fiske.

She recounts a tale where her father and a soldier buddy were marching between trenches en route to Passchendaele, on the eve of one of the bloodiest battles the world had ever seen. The Okanagan-born men spotted an apple orchard and being around Canadian Thanksgiving, they clamored to reach the ripe apples.

“You can imagine this apple meaning so much to them because in the midst of all this violence, there was this humanity. I’m quite sure my dad and his pal were aware this story didn’t mean too much to us when we were kids but as we got older, we understood and it became a story we told our kids.”

Having only recently been able to visit the sites of Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele because of their profound emotional affect, Fiske says it is important these tales of humanity and the cultural legacy of our soldiers is preserved.

“What was it about the war that allowed these men to carry a very, very different relationship into family?” she asks. “I’m finding the more I reach out to people who were raised by men and women from the First World War, I’m finding we do have a very different parental family experience.”

This research tangent is a departure from her life’s work, with her primary interest the legal rights of First Nations peoples. Teaching in her final semester at the U of L, Fiske will be leaving Lethbridge to return to northern British Columbia as she embarks on a significant project involving Aboriginal and treaty rights in B.C., as well as an international project examining the implications of human rights on indigenous rights with respect to corporations.

But with serendipity bringing her in front of the podium on a day as significant as Oct. 26, 2017, speaking about her father and the men who helped shape a young nation was a story that had to be told.

“These were ordinary men who survived a horrific experience and they have a narrative that hasn’t been told,” she says. “It’s those very emotional, caring relationships between the soldiers that have been overlooked and essentially their role in domestic labour that has not been studied in great detail.”

Education begins with respect

trevor.kenney — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:04:10 +0000

A year after opening a dialogue on diversity and respect, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty Association's Gender, Equity and Diversity Caucus is looking to build upon that momentum with the 2nd Annual Respect & Diversity Awareness Week.

Running Mar. 5-9 at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, this year's theme for the weeklong conversation is "Respect and learning go hand in hand".

"Last year was great for an inaugural event," says Dr. Carly Adams, Chair of the Gender, Equity and Diversity Caucus. "We thought how it was taken up by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community was wonderful. It's a conversation that needs to be ongoing."

Events such as a Talking About Teaching panel discussion through the Centre for the Advancement of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CAETL) spurred the campus community into thinking about how we interact with one another, in classrooms, meeting rooms and even as we walk through the hallways.

"As a faculty member who attended these talks, I thought about the issues raised and then took them into my classroom," says Adams. "I hope that others took the things they heard and tried to adapt new strategies in the ways they dealt with students or fellow faculty."

If anything, the week created an environment where issues of inclusion and respect can be discussed. It also established an awareness of the caucus and took its work to another level. In early February, the caucus played a role in the Discover Diversity conference hosted by the City of Lethbridge and co-sponsored by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

"I was really pleased we were able to be a part of that because not only did we have an opportunity to talk about the caucus but also the respect and diversity week and some of the other initiatives we're involved in," says Adams. "It led to an even wider discussion about workplace diversity and respect beyond our campus."

This year's awareness week will feature a few new additions, including an Ignite! event on Wednesday, Mar. 7 at 5 p.m. in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library (10th floor). Described as a fun, informative, rapid-fire session, participants are tasked to speak to 20 pictures or slides of their choice, all in a five-minute window of time, as they wax eloquent about diversity and/or gender.

"We're really excited about this event," says Adams. "We have a number of faculty lined up to take part, as well as people from the Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group (LPIRG) and the Students' Union. In total it's about 12 to 15 people, and it should create a really lively discussion from all the different perspectives across campus."

The line up of speakers includes Dr. Kevin McGeough (Geography), Yale Belanger (Native American Studies), Dan Johnson (Environmental Science), Carol Williams (Women and Gender Studies), Phil Jones (CAETL/Health Sciences), Marinus Swanepoel (Library), LPRIG, Shelia McManus (History), Rob Sutherland (CCBN/ULFA) and Tanya Harnett (Native American Studies/Fine Arts).

Other events for the week include a film screening of MissRepresentation, a documentary exploring how the media's misrepresentation of women has led to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence. The Gender, Equity, and Diversity Caucus is joining the YWCA, Womanspace, Campus Women's Centre and LPIRG in sponsoring the film screening that takes place Thursday, Mar. 8 at 7 p.m. in Galileo's Gallery and coincides with International Women's Day.

On Friday, Mar. 9, Craig Milner from the Faculty of Management will present Student Diversity Rocks: Developing High Performance Teams in the Classroom (1 p.m., M1040).

"He's discussing diversity in teams, and how we might leverage some of the different experiences of our students in the classroom to create different conversations in groups," says Adams of the one-hour workshop.
While the week concludes with Milner's presentation, the conversation does not, and will be picked up a week later when the Department of Women & Gender Studies, with assistance from Adams' group, will present Why Women and Gender Studies? A Multigenerational Roundtable and Conversation, Friday, Mar. 16 at 2 p.m. in the Students' Union Ballroom.

"Last year, we came away thinking it was a very positive week and worth continuing," says Adams. "We invite everyone to come out for these events and I hope that this will give these important issues even more exposure."

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty Association's Gender, Equity and Diversity Caucus consists of: Andrea Amelinckx, Andrea Glover, Dr. Hester Jiskoot, Dr. Kevin McGeough, Dr. Noella Piquette, Dr. John Sheriff, Dr. Robert Sutherland, Jennifer Thannhauser and Dr. Carly Adams (Chair).

This story first appeared in the March 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

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