Porch Sessions

A Public Humanities project in English and Cultural Studies

Porch Sessions are casual discussions of the publications and research work by our faculty in the Department of English and Cultural Studies. The interviews are open ended conversations to share our work more broadly with our students, their parents and the public. Porch Sessions are produced by Dr. Jennifer Gustar, filmed and edited by Joanne Gervais and directed by Shauna Oddleifson.

Ecocriticism

A Conversation with Greg Garrard

Greg GarrardDr. Astrida Neimanis sat down with Dr. Greg Garrard to discuss the third editions of his publication, Ecocriticism.

This conversation was filmed in the spring of 2023.

Find out more about Dr. Garrard and his research.

 

Ecocriticism explores the ways in which we imagine and portray the relationship between humans and the environment across many areas of cultural production, including Romantic poetry, wildlife documentaries, climate models, the Hollywood blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, and novels by Margaret Atwood, Kim Scott, Barbara Kingsolver and Octavia Butler.

The Performative Power of Vocality

A Conversation with Virginie Magnat

Dr. Kerrie Charnley sat down with Dr. Virginie Magnat to discuss her most recent publication, The Performative Power of Vocality.

This conversation was filmed in the spring of 2022.

Find out more about Dr. Magnat and her research.

This monograph significantly deviates from the dominant models of conventional treatment of voice through its investigation of the non-discursive, material, and affective efficacy of vocality, with a focus on orally transmitted vocal traditions. Drawing from her performance training, research collaborations, and commitment to cultural diversity, Magnat proposes a dialogical approach to vocality.

Wanting Everything: The Collected works for Gladys Hindmarch

A Conversation with Karis Shearer

Dr. Emily Murphy sat down with Dr. Karis Shearer to talk about her recent publication, Wanting Everything: The Collected Works of Gladys Hindmarch.

This conversation was filmed in the spring of 2022.

Find out more about Dr. Shearer and her research.

This book was edited by Dr. Shearer along with Deanna Fong, presents the collected works of Vancouver writer Gladys Hindmarch. Spanning over five decades, this diverse work challenges the conception of what constitutes a prolific literary career, extending the notion of writerly activity to include work that is social, collaborative, and dialogic.

Continuous Pasts: Frictions of Memory in Postcolonial Africa

A Conversation with Sakiru Adebayo

Dr. David Jefferess sat down with Dr. Sakiru Adebayo  to talk about his book, Continuous Pasts: Frictions of Memory in Postcolonial Africa.

This conversation was filmed in the spring of 2022.

Find out more about Dr. Adebayo and his research.

In this book, Dr. Adebayo claims that the post-conflict fiction of memory in Africa depicts the intricate ways in which the past is etched on bodies and topographies, resonant in silences and memorials, and continuous even in experiences as well as structures of migration.

The Social Life of Biometrics

A Conversation with George Grinnell

Dr. Jennifer Gustar sat down with Dr. George Grinnell to talk about his most recent publication, The Social life of Biometrics.

This conversation was filmed in the spring of 2021.

Find out more about Dr. Grinnell and his research.

In this book, Dr. Grinnell looks at the significant gap between what biometrics can reliably do and what we tend to imagine it can do, and examines various narratives in film and novels, life writing, theory, philosophy and scientific studies, alongside a history of biometric technology and its presence in our culture.

Gothic Metaphysics: From Alchemy to the Anthropocene.

A Conversation with Jodey Castricano

Jodey CastricanoGothic Metaphysics: From Alchemy to the AnthropoceneDr. Jennifer Gustar sat down with Dr. Jodey Castricano to talk about their book, Gothic Metaphysics: From Alchemy to the Anthropocene.

This conversation was filmed in the spring of 2021.

Find out more about Dr. Castricano and their research.

This book is a radical departure from Freudian-centred criticism of Gothic literature, it is multi-valent and explores how Gothic has sustained the view of a sentient world despite the disqualification of nature – not only in respect to the extirpation of animism as a worldview, but also with regard to an affirmation of consciousness beyond that of human exceptionalism.

About the Department

The Department of English and Cultural Studies offers the opportunity to study literature and culture. Our professors work to understand our cultural pasts and to pose critical questions of those pasts and our present. Faculty members explore literature and how it imparts meaning in multiple contexts and eras, including the contemporary globalized world.

English and Cultural Studies