Anthro-in-Action Speaker Series:
MacEwan [Summer 2022]
Topics covered: Age; gender; culture
“On gender and indigeneity”
Marian Sanchez (Edmonton)
Lecture will be available soon
Abstract: To be posted soon.
Biography: Marian Sanchez is a public health and community development practitioner from the Philippines. She is currently a guest at Treaty 6 Territory, Edmonton, as a PhD candidate in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. Marian's early consciousness was shaped by the socio-economic struggles and community spirit of the fisherfolks in her hometown, Binmaley. Her alignment with anti-oppression work is nourished by her exposure to the plights and strengths of the Indigenous peoples, the urban poor, the agricultural workers, and the Philippine migrant labour force. Any research or development initiative must uplift people’s dignity and strengthen their capacity to help themselves – this is her personal and professional compass.
The agile change journey of coming out in the workplace
Patrick Remo (Edmonton)
Lecture will be available soon
Abstract: Behind every company’s rainbow logos, colourful LGTBQ+ swags, and promotions during Pride month, lie real life stories that paint the not-always-colourful journey of LGBTQ+ people’s need for acceptance, belonging, and assurance that the place they call their second home, is a safe space for all.
In this presentation, I will take you on a ride to one of the most courageous, authentic, and worthy things I did as a professional, working in various industries and sectors in Canada. Using the lenses of agile and change management, I will break down the iterative process of my coming out journey, and the emotional roller coaster I went through to get to a place of confidence, inspiration, and empowerment.
Coming out in the workplace was a decision I didn’t take lightly as I know it can change perceptions, opportunities, and potentially having to deal with stereotypes that can impact my career growth and development. But by going through a structured approach to understanding where I was at in my change curve, I was able to determine what factors need to be in place before I can fully come out and live my truth.
Biography: Patrick Remo is a Change Management and Design Thinking professional whose mission is to design transformative and human-centered change journeys to make people's experiences in system implementation, product rollout, and organizational structure changes less uncomfortable and more impactful. He is committed to championing the power of design and putting people first to support bold strategic goals, solve wicked problems and drive innovation in any area of work or industry.
Gender and Intersectionality in Communication Sciences and Disorders
Nicole Salvador (Edmonton)
Lecture will be available soon
Abstract: This talk is an overview of what it is like to be a speech-language pathologist (SLP), particularly a SLP of colour. Here I will talk about how gender is relevant in my field in different lenses. Speech Language Pathology is a predominantly female and white field. According to previous US Labour Statistics, it is the 4th whitest profession in the nation just trailing behind veterinarians, tradesmen and farmers. What does it mean to practice in a traditional female field? How is the field addressing the dialogue about gender-sensitive and intersectional practice? How is it perpetuating traditional beliefs? Finally, how does an outsider, a person of colour situate themselves in this context? I am hoping that this talk will lead you to more questions and reflect on how gender and intersectionality plays a role in your experience, in your understanding of what “communication” is and can be.
Biography: Nicole Salvador is a registered speech-language pathologist in Treaty 6 territory (Edmonton and its surrounding areas). She is a Tagalog-English bilingual practitioner interested in the assessment, diagnosis, and intervention of pediatric communication disorders. Central to these areas is the issue of access and equity of services in children and families coming from diverse and multilingual backgrounds. Nicole is interested in adapting the notion of intersectionality when providing services in speech-language pathology, a field that's considered to be the fourth "whitest" profession in the US, a statistic not too far from the Canadian context. She believes that when we amplify the voices of the few or those unheard, we elevate everyone. In embracing this way of thinking, it is necessary to reflect on the different roles she assumes and how those can either perpetuate or expose privilege.
Drawing Gender in Comic Books and Media Movies
Charity Slobod (Vancouver)
Lecture will be available soon
Abstract: The massive increase of popularity in movies based on comic books have shattered box office records. Since the first Iron Man was released in 2008, 28 films have also hit theatres with another one, Thor: Love and Thunder, coming out just next month. We know these beloved characters are based on comic books, yet what does the casual viewer know about how these characters were drawn originally? Many of the female characters we see up on the big screen were introduced previously in comics during different cultural times. How were they depicted before then re-introduced in film? What about outside the binaries of male or woman? There are always mainstream forms of art, but then those that exist on the fringes. Through the lens of cultural studies and semiotics - otherwise known as the study of meaning - we will explore how different popular modes of expressions create their characters and what it says about us.
Biography: Charity Slobod is the Community Connect Program Lead for the University of Alberta's Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research. Although that is her work title, she brings numerous experiences and knowledge to the role. This includes completing her Master’s (basically) in Canadian Comic Book translation, organizing several arts and music festivals, and working to bring about change to marginalized communities. Charity is always keen to learn and share ideas. When not collaborating and engaging with others, she likes to frolic in the woods and hang out solo near any body of water.
"Standing up for Papatūānuku (Mother Earth)": Gendered experiences of resource extraction and environmental justice in Aotearoa New Zealand
Dr. Anna Bettini (Calgary)
Lecture will be available soon
Abstract: Extraction of resources such as minerals and fossil fuels can often disrupt entire ecosystems: soil degradation, water shortages, air contamination, biodiversity loss, and damages to flora and fauna are likely consequences of uncontrolled exploitation.
Through the years, environmental activists and grassroots movements have played an influential role in raising awareness of these anthropogenic practices' ecological and socially harmful impacts. Their opposition aims to prevent or stop the devastation of entire natural landscapes, regions, and communities. In more recent times, social scientific studies have stressed the crucial position of women within environmental activism movements in guiding ecological forms of justice (e.g. Willow and Keefer 2015; Bell 2013; Bell and Braun 2010; Di Chiro 1998).
In this lecture, I will rely on anthropological literature that critically advances the analysis of ecological injustices and grassroots responses to address women's involvement in shedding light on fossil fuel extraction's social and environmental impacts. Drawing from my research conducted in Aotearoa, New Zealand, I will present ethnographic examples to show women's experiences and perspectives, discussing how disruption of one's sense of place and environment can lead to changes in one's ecological consciousness.
Biography: Dr. Anna Bettini is an energy and environmental anthropologist originally from Italy. Thanks to her international travels and study opportunities, she developed a curiosity about topics linked to human-environment relationships from a young age. After receiving her Bachelor's degrees in anthropology, (with French specialization), and primate behaviour and ecology in the US, she pursued her MA in Social Anthropology (with a visual anthropology component) at the University of Kent, United Kingdom. In 2021, she completed her doctoral program at the University of Alberta, Canada. In her doctoral research, Dr. Bettini explored the perspectives on hydraulic fracturing in Taranaki, Aotearoa, New Zealand, to understand the changes and the impacts people have experienced on their senses of place and belonging.
Currently, Dr. Bettini is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Calgary, affiliated with the DéPOT SSHRC Partnership Project, examining deindustrialization's historical roots and lived experiences and political responses. In her multi-site research, she investigates changes in the energy sector in Canada and New Zealand to grasp the challenges and the uncertainties of communities transitioning to greener and cleaner forms of energy.
Pseudoarchaeology and Gender: A Brief Introduction to an Understudied Topic
Stephanie Halmhofer (Edmonton)
Lecture will be available soon
Abstract: The term “pseudoarchaeology” refers to, in short, archaeological conspiracy theories. The most popular pseudoarchaeological theories are those about ancient extraterrestrial ancestors and Atlantis, which today are kept popular through television programs, movies, books, comics, video games, YouTube videos, and TikTok videos. These theories may seem silly and outlandish on the surface, but racism and colonialism are at their core. As a result, pseudoarchaeology is an attractive tool to far-right groups and individuals looking for scientific evidence to support a variety of far-right narratives. The seemingly nonsensical surface appearance of pseudoarchaeology has led many to dismiss it as an area deserving of serious research and attention, despite the ways pseudoarchaeology connects its audience to the far-right and spreads far-right hate, and despite examples of violence and harm that have been connected to pseudoarchaeology. Pseudoarchaeology and gender is a topic that is seriously understudied but should be receiving far more attention. In this presentation I want to introduce you to what pseudoarchaeology is and how to identify it. And based on my own observations and experiences in researching pseudoarchaeology, I also want to share suggested directions for where I think research into pseudoarchaeology and gender could go.
Biography: Steph Halmhofer (she/her) is a Canadian archaeologist and bioarchaeologist and has worked on projects in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Spain. As a first-gen university student, she completed her Master’s degree at the University of Toronto in 2017, in which she studied a rare style of blown glass beads that she and her colleague uncovered on the south coast of British Columbia several years prior. Steph is currently a PhD student in the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology, in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta. Her research, funded in part by an Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship, is focused on the use of pseudoarchaeology (archaeological conspiracy theories) and archaeology by contemporary and historic far-right groups in North America, with a specific focus on far-right conspiritual groups (groups whose ideologies are built from a blend of New Age spiritualism and conspiracy theories). Her research is centred on Brother XII and the Aquarian Foundation, a conspiritual group on the south coast of British Columbia from 1927-1933 with many ideological similarities to contemporary conspiritual groups (e.g., parts of QAnon).