Meet Your Instructor

Hi, I'm Katie!

I am a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Dalhousie University.

I am excited to be teaching Rural Society at Dalhousie this summer. My research explores women's informal work in the reproduction of ethnicity among rural Acadians in Nova Scotia, so this is a topic I am quite invested in. 

I look forward to sharing my knowledge with you this year and also look forward to learning from you in return.
What do you research?
My main topic of reseach is Acadian identities and culutre in Nova Scotia; however, I have also been involved in projects in the areas of research ethics, online-learning, Indigenous business, and Métis Status in Canada.​ My doctoral reserach explores the role of women and gender in community organization and community development through the theoretical lens of social and cultural reproduction. It examines the ways Acadian women are able to reproduce culture and identities that deviate from the dominant Acadian nationalist movement; a movement primarily controlled by an urban male elite.
What do you enjoy about teaching?
I enjoy engaging with students and seeing their skills develop over time; however, full engagement is a bit difficult in this new online format. Online-learning just involves a different approach, and I hope that we will still be able to engage with module components. I like to teach hands-on skills, qualitative research, and demonstrate how theories and concepts in anthropology and sociology are widely applicable in our daily lives. I am to have student think critically about subject matter and reflect on how their personal experiences tie into the messiness of social and cultural relations and institutions. 
What do you do in your spare time?
In my spare time, I spend a lot of time with my partner and daughter. I also enjoy reading, drinking coffee, and watching far too much Netflix and YouTube. I also enjoy cooking - one of my new research interests is to understand people's cultural attachments to food and to explore the oral history of recipes. Most of my time outside of teaching, if am being honest, is spent writing my doctoral dissertation, which is nearing completion (phew!) and parenting a three-year-old, who is very demanding of my attention.