Today we are up in Labrador speaking with Dr. Scott Neilson, an archaeologist and faculty member of the Subarctic and Arctic Studies with the Labrador Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland. This interview takes place on an active excavation site within the community of Sheshatshiu, Labrador. Scott and I discuss the advantages of having students, researchers and community members participating in an active excavation site, specifically as a possible way of connecting the western approach of archaeological history with the Innu peoples approaches to their story. In this discussion Dr. Neilson also puts emphasis on his role as a researcher in service which he describes, as research that is foremostly driven by the community’s needs and is initiated by invitation by community members rather than by the researcher request to explore questions formulated within a western framework.

In this episode of the fishy feminisms podcast, Kimberly Orren chats with me about the fishing industry in NL, climate change, feminism, and all the amazing community-based work she is doing to rethink fishing in more equitable ways.

The Fishy Feminist podcast is a bimonthly podcast that shares the stories of the amazing people and projects that take on fisheries, ocean, and watery places with a feminist lens. In this first episode of the fishy feminisms podcast, Dr. Madeleine Gustavsson chats with me about feminism, fishy feminisms, and what feminism offers fisheries and oceans related work

In this episode of the fishy feminisms podcast, local activist Kerri Neil chats with me about feminism, equity and justice, capitalism, and alternative ways to achieve more equitable and just societies.

Barbara dos Santos is currently pursuing a Master’s within the department of Gender Studies at Memorial University. With guidance from her supervisor(s), Carol-Lynne D’Arcangelis and Sonja Boon. Barbara’s research pursues the intersectionality of race, class, and gender within narratives of Black women intellectuals within her homeland of Brazil. Barbara’s research suggests that the success of decolonizing those narratives may be done so through the use of social media. This isn’t Barbara’s first Masters. The questions driving her current research are built from previous experiences as a graduate student in Brazil as well as from her own afro-Brazilian heritage.

Kelly Greenfield is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Supervised by Dr. Lisa-Jo van den Scott and Dr. Liam Swiss, Kelly’s research addresses questions about the social and cultural implications of integrating aquacultural technology into existing practices by rice farmers in rural Cambodia. After a year in Cambodia, Kelly’s observations reveal the importance of not only incorporating the lens of a fish biologist into such development projects, but that the socio-cultural lens is equally important as well; multiple perspectives are needed to ensure a more suitable integration of strategies and technological practices to see to the success of these project initiatives. In the following podcast, we discuss what Kelly observed through her socio-cultural lens, with regard to, community spirituality, social cohesion, and gender as well as the intended and unintended consequences of the project’s development in a non-western landscape.

Dr. Barry Stephenson is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. His work in the field of Religious Studies, focuses on ritual, religion and the arts, and religion in modernity. Currently, Barry co-directs the After Church Atlas research project, with colleague Dr. Nicholas Lynch. D. Nicholas Lynch is an Assistant Professor within Memorial University's geography department. His work as an urban cultural geographer focuses on the built environment with three key focuses: adaptive reuse, the Circular Economy, and coastal heritage infrastructure. The first of these approaches centres on the After Church Atlas research project, co-operatively shared with Dr. Barry Stephenson. After Church: Exploring Transformations in Sacred Space is a multidisciplinary study that explores the closure and transformation of worship spaces. Church closure is a socio-cultural phenomenon of major and growing significance. In recent decades, societal, demographic, architectural, as well as financial and other pressures have led to the shutting down of many worship spaces throughout North America and Europe. Church closure is generally researched from the perspectives of architectural history, built heritage, as well as planning and policy. And while Barry and Nick‘s approach complements this research, they offer a unique perspective combining the expertise of a cultural urban geographer and a religionist, focusing on the dynamic and processual transformation of church buildings as lived spaces.

Today we spoke with Bryan Heystee, a PhD Candidate working with Dr. Sean McGrath and Dr. Scott Johnston at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Bryan's research addresses questions such as: What is 'technology' and what does it do? Technology is everywhere around us and part of all of our lives. We often question this or that piece of technology; for example, what should we make of gene editing? But it is less common to ask what technology in general is. Most people take it for granted that they know what technology is: and that it is obvious and needs no careful reflection. To address some of these questions, Bryan is studying the Canadian philosopher Dr. George Grant. Grant is one of Canada's most famous philosophers and public intellectuals. He argued that technology is not simply a set of tools or machines that we use, but a way of life and a way of thinking.

The latest episode of Crosscurrents features Max Liboiron interviewing Kim TallBear, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous People, Technoscience, and Environment during her visit to Memorial

Join us for Episode 9 of Crosscurrents to hear Paul Foley speak on the political economy of fisheries management, and Bipasha Baruah speak on women in the renewable energy workforce at the Environmental Humanities in the Public Realm Workshop.