HRI Research Showcase
HRI Research Showcase Schedule
Thursday, April 4th
RIC Atrium, University of Regina
1:30 pm
Welcome and Land Acknowledgement
Dr. Charity Marsh, HRI Director
Opening Remarks
Vice President of Research, Dr. Chris Yost
1:45 - 2:15 pm
Dr. Kathleen Nolan, Education
"Problematizing child sponsorship: Shifting from deficiencies in the Global South to decolonization in the Global North"
Child sponsorship (CS) does little to educate the public on global poverty and inequity. As it stands, CS programs (re)produce problematic perceptions of the North ‘helping’ to address the ‘deficiencies’ in the South. Through the lens of decolonization, and taking Ecuador as a case study, this project analyses how South-South relations can serve to educate those in the North about global justice. The research question guiding this study is: How can South-South perspectives move North-South relations toward a decolonizing of minds?
2:20 - 2:50 pm
Dr. Alex Oehler, Anthropology – with graduate students Alesha Stark and Pradeep Barman
"Discourse Analysis with Pre-linguistic Communicative Partners"
Discourse analysis (DA) is a qualitative approach, studying the relationship between speech acts and the social environment. It traces how language use affects the social sphere, and vice-versa. Our research adapts strategies from DA to non-linguistic interaction between humans, animals, and plants. As part of a 5-year externally funded research project on non-verbal interspecies communication, we seek to develop a methodological tool kit for the study of more than human meaning-making in the humanities.
2:55 - 3:25 pm
Dr. Mel Hart, Science
"Discovering Ledingham: uncovering the history within the George F. Ledingham Herbarium"
The George F. Ledingham Herbarium is a little known gem housed at the University. In addition to specimens, the herbarium contains a wealth of historically valuable documents and images that provide unique insight into the creation of Grasslands National Park, and the early days of the University. This multidisciplinary project sees the Faculty of Science, History Department, and University Archives collaborating to provide students hands-on experiences to preserve and disseminate the Herbarium’s rich history.
3:25 - 3:30pm
Closing and Moving to Lab Cafe for Reception
3:30 - 4:30 pm
Reception & Art Opening
Bringing specimens from the G.F. Ledingham Herbarium to light
Researcher Bios
Kathleen Nolan
Kathleen Nolan is Professor of Mathematics Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in mathematics teacher education, curriculum development, and educational research methodologies. During her twenty-two years as an education faculty member, Kathleen’s teaching and research has featured theories of social justice and critical and culturally responsive pedagogies in mathematics teacher education. As well, Kathleen has been active for many years in international development and solidarity work through her personal volunteer experiences. Since 2018, she has extended her research program into areas of global citizenship, justice education, and international development through a previous HRI Fellowship award (2020-2022) and several publications which offer a deeper understanding and critique of child sponsorship. Kathleen’s passion for justice, coupled with that for learning, researching, and writing, sets the context for continuing her work on child sponsorship by highlighting what the North can learn from South-South relations; that is, her current research proposes that a focus on South-South relations and, more importantly, including voices from the South is a promising way forward in decolonizing our actions and our thinking in the North.
Alex Oehler
Alex Oehler is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. He is the author of Beyond Wild and Tame: Soiot Encounters in a Sentient Landscape (2020, Berghahn Books) and co-editor of the book Multispecies Households in the Saian Mountains: Ecology at the Russia-Mongolia Border (2019, Lexington Books). He was a member of the Arctic Domus research team (2012-2016) at the University of Aberdeen and now is the principal investigator for a five-year SSHRC-funded project called “Sensory Acts: More Than Human Communication in the Circumpolar North.” His work is concerned with nonverbal interspecies communication, and he has a special interest in developing interdisciplinary methods for the study of more-than-human relations.
Mel Hart
Mel Hart is Associate Dean Student Experience and Engagement in the Faculty of Science. In their home department of biology, Mel is a Lab Instructor who is passionate about hands-on biology that focuses on plants and animals, living and dead. Mel is enthusiastic about collaborating with those inside and outside the Faculty of Science to create new learning opportunities for students, find new ways to showcase the interconnectedness of disciplines traditionally seen as disparate under the Eurocentric teaching model, and highlight the incredible opportunities possible at the University of Regina. Current projects that are keeping Mel excited include the revitalization of the George F. Ledingham Herbarium, Science Camps for Saskatchewan Indigenous Youth, and a suite of collaborative efforts with colleagues in Arts and MAP.