Research Interests
Imperial intimacies and colonial encounters, negotiations of belonging in aboriginal/non-aboriginal “contact zones”, artist-as-geographer/arts methodologies, field studies, archival activism.
Research
I am interested in negotiations of belonging in colonial “contact zones”, and the migrations, through place and time, of the imperial geographic imagination in Upper Canada. Research of this kind is a means to understand the colonial legacy in negotiations of belonging in contemporary contact zones – like that of Manitoulin Island and Lake Huron’s North Channel, in Northern Ontario. My work focuses on the writings and drawings of 19th century travel writer, first-wave feminist, art critic and tourist Anna Jameson. I examine the trans-imperial circulation of Jameson’s representations of place and aboriginal people and the constitutive legacy of her work on contemporary representations and belonging in the ‘post’colonial contact zone of Northeastern Ontario’s North Channel/Manitoulin area; and theorize Jameson’s sense of belonging and its relation to particular discourses and specific claims (i.e. belonging to a Chippewa family, to be the first European woman to the region). My research aims to produce an embedded historical geography of Jameson, gaining insights on geo-historical narratives and imaginings of Canada.
Publications
Review of Frontiers of Femininity, by K.Morin, Thirdspace, 10 (March/April 2011).
“La Cloche, Northeastern Ontario: liminal passages” in C. Brace, A. Johns-Putra eds. Process: Landscape and Text. Spatial Practices Series. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2010.
Curriculum development Grades 7/8, “Telling Stories about ourselves and our place,” Little Current Public School. Manitoulin Island: 4elements Living Arts.
Edwards, S. and C. Belcourt. 2009 Willisville Mountain Project Catalogue. Willisville Mountain Project.
Shki Mawtch Curriculum Project, Kenjgewin-teg Educational Institute, Primary School Curriculum, 2008.
Paper Presentations
“Schools, story and narrative: geographies of place,” Canadian Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, Calgary, 2010.
Guest Lecture, “Aboriginal geographies in Northeastern Ontario,” Canadian Geographies course, Queen’s University.
“Little Current Public School, telling stories about ourselves: project impacts and assessment, Association of Bibliotherapy and Applied Literature, Humanities Congress, Ottawa.
Closing Session Facilitation/Summary, Memory and the Environment Symposium, Laurentian University, 2008.
“Narrative and Geography,” English Gradutate Conference, McGill University, March 2007.
“Passage and Place,” University of Exeter, Penryn, England, September, 2007.
“A School Under Pressure: The Value of Helpfulness - Little Current Public School. Laurentian University Practicum Colloquium, March, 2007.
Literary and Artistic Awards, Shows and Publications
Ontario Arts Council, Writing Grant for “The Anna Line” creative non-fiction book in progress, $10,000 award, 2008.
Ontario Arts Council Grant, Storytelling Project – “Telling Stories about Ourselves and Our Place”, Little Current Public School
Co-Curator Willisville Mountain Project, La Cloche, Northeastern Ontario. www.willisvillemountain.com
“Land, Art, Spirit: The Art and Artists”. Willisville Mountain Project Catalogue, 2009.
“Agnes and Arthur” adapted for the stage, Debajehmujig Theatre Group, Spring 2009.
3-woman show, Coach House Gallery, Midland, Ontario, January 2008.
Exhibition Assistance Grant, Ontario Arts Council, 2005, 2007.
Solo Show: Hill From Home: Abstractions, Centennial Museum, 2006.
ParaPhrase (Ontario Arts Council multi-arts grant) Institute group show (digital video), Manitoulin Island, 2006.
“The Belly Hears” poetry and digital media, contribution to group show, Centre for Creativity, Valetta, Malta, 2006.
Vision Project, Ontario Arts Council Award, Little Current Public School, Ontario, 2005.
Body and Landscape Project, Ontario Arts Council Emerging Artist Award, 2005.
Honarary Mention 2003, publishing Northern Ontario Poetry Anthology, inclusion, 2003, 2004, 2006.
International Association of Co-operative Educators Award for curriculum development in conjunction with the Ontario Co-operative Association, 2002. |
Sophie Anne Edwards (Ph.D. Candidate)