Academic Research
I received a Doctor of Education in 1999 at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.
My doctoral dissertation, titled Casting Shadows Now and Then, considered photography as a tool for observing and analysing social change. The research examined a large body of photographs taken by John Collier Jr. in Nova Scotia in the 1950s. Collier is one of the photographers whose work was commissioned by the well-known Farm Security Administration photographic project in the 1930s and 40s. His book Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method (published in 1967, and revised and republished in 1986) was influential in the use of photography in anthropology. My research looked at the photographs of Digby County taken by John Collier Jr. in 1950-51, and proposed a methodology for using the images in social action research and community development project. I published a brief article about my research titled “Photographs of Digby County, Nova Scotia 1950-51” in the International Visual Sociology Association Newsletter (Fall 1999).
My doctoral dissertation, titled Casting Shadows Now and Then, considered photography as a tool for observing and analysing social change. The research examined a large body of photographs taken by John Collier Jr. in Nova Scotia in the 1950s. Collier is one of the photographers whose work was commissioned by the well-known Farm Security Administration photographic project in the 1930s and 40s. His book Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method (published in 1967, and revised and republished in 1986) was influential in the use of photography in anthropology. My research looked at the photographs of Digby County taken by John Collier Jr. in 1950-51, and proposed a methodology for using the images in social action research and community development project. I published a brief article about my research titled “Photographs of Digby County, Nova Scotia 1950-51” in the International Visual Sociology Association Newsletter (Fall 1999).
I received a Master of Education degree in 1992 from Dalhousie University’s School of Education in Halifax.
My master’s thesis, Part of the Solution, developed a community-based, anti-racism program for use in an educational setting. Prepared with input from parents, teachers, and community activists at Saint Joseph-A. McKay School (SJAM) in North End Halifax, the program detailed innovative strategies, resources, and approaches for challenging systemic racism and bigotry. The program was awarded Dalhousie’s 1992 Mowat Prize for Excellence, and was subsequently adopted by other schools in Halifax. I drew on this research for a paper that was published in Teaching English in the Workplace (Belfiore and Burnaby, ed., OISE Press, 1995) under the title “Responding to Racism in Workplace ESL”.
My master’s thesis, Part of the Solution, developed a community-based, anti-racism program for use in an educational setting. Prepared with input from parents, teachers, and community activists at Saint Joseph-A. McKay School (SJAM) in North End Halifax, the program detailed innovative strategies, resources, and approaches for challenging systemic racism and bigotry. The program was awarded Dalhousie’s 1992 Mowat Prize for Excellence, and was subsequently adopted by other schools in Halifax. I drew on this research for a paper that was published in Teaching English in the Workplace (Belfiore and Burnaby, ed., OISE Press, 1995) under the title “Responding to Racism in Workplace ESL”.
I received a Bachelor of Applied Arts in 1981 from Ryerson University’s Film and Photography Department, Toronto.
My graduating project from Ryerson consisted of photographs of vernacular architecture located in Nova Scotia. Vernacular architecture is the term used to describe a style of buildings where the structures are built by local house-builders (often the people who live in the housing), using local construction materials, and designed according to local traditions and local landscape and weather conditions. Social values and ideas are manifested in vernacular architecture. My photographs were published, with text by Joann Latremouille, in Pride of Home: The Working Class Housing Tradition in Nova Scotia 1749-1949 (Lancelot Press, 1984). Some were also included in The Oxford University Encyclopedia of Canadian Architecture (Oxford University Press, 1993).
My graduating project from Ryerson consisted of photographs of vernacular architecture located in Nova Scotia. Vernacular architecture is the term used to describe a style of buildings where the structures are built by local house-builders (often the people who live in the housing), using local construction materials, and designed according to local traditions and local landscape and weather conditions. Social values and ideas are manifested in vernacular architecture. My photographs were published, with text by Joann Latremouille, in Pride of Home: The Working Class Housing Tradition in Nova Scotia 1749-1949 (Lancelot Press, 1984). Some were also included in The Oxford University Encyclopedia of Canadian Architecture (Oxford University Press, 1993).