www.trickstershift.com

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Degree: Ph.D. Anthropology (1995)

University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
Degree: M.A. Museum Studies/Anthropology (1977)

Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba
Degree: B.G.S. (Bachelor of General Studies)
Native Studies/Anthropology (1975)

Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Ontario
Diploma: AOCA (Associate of the Ontario College of Art) (1967)

2001-Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
New Sun Chair in Aboriginal Art and Culture
Tenured Associate Professor, School of Canadian Studies/Art History

2002 Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba
Visiting professor, Summer Institute of Indigenous Humanities

2000-2001 University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
Assistant Professor, Department of History in Art

2000 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Sessional Lecturer, Department of Anthropology and Sociology

1998-2000 University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
Sessional Lecturer, Department of History in Art

1997-1999 Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Sessional Instructor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

1995-1996 Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba
Assistant Professor, Department of Native Studies

1994, 1995 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Sessional Lecturer, Department of Anthropology and Sociology

Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba
Sessional appointment as Assistant Professor, Department of Native Studies

1993 Brandon University/Inter-Universities North, The Pas, Manitoba
Sessional appointment as Assistant Professor, Department of Native Studies

1986 - 1987 Brandon University/Inter-Universities North, Thompson, Manitoba
Assistant Professor, Department of Native Studies

1978 - 1984 Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba
Sessional lecturer appointments, Department of Native Studies

1982 McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
Sessional lecturer, Department of Anthropology

1980 - 1981 Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Ontario
Sessional lecturer, Department of Liberal Arts

1987 - 1988 Native Communications Inc., Thompson, Manitoba
Contracted to draft a proposal for a Native Arts and Culture television series. Developed the concept for and co-wrote a number of segments on Native contributions to western society for a children's television program.

1976 - 1977 Arizona State Museum, Tucson, Arizona
Assistantship in Museum Display while completing M.A. at the University of Arizona. Responsibilities included assisting the Curator of Exhibits in the preparation and revitalization of ethnographic and archaeological displays, including design, construction and copy writing.

American Book Award for The Trickster Shift: Humour and Irony in Contemporary Native Art (2000)
UBC nominee for the CAGS/UMI Distinguished Dissertation Award (1997)
Brandon University Gold Medal for General Studies (1975)
Brandon University Silver Medal for Anthropology (1975)

In preparation. “Cinematic Diplomacy: Tracing the Travels of a Canadian Aboriginal Film Festival.” In special edition of La revue de l’Association brésilienne d’études canadiennes, Brazil, devoted to Canadian Cinema (2010)

In preparation. Review of “The Sea Woman: Sedna in Inuit Shamanism and Art in the Eastern Arctic” by Frédéric Laugrand and Jarich Oosten, University of Alaska Press, 2008. Canadian Journal of Native Studies.

Riel Benn’s “Best Man”: An Unlikely Successor to Iktomi’s Trickster Legacy. American Indian Art Magazine, Spring, 2010, pp. 46-53, 71.

Review of “Isuma: Inuit Video Art” by Michael Robert Evans, McGill-Queens University Press, 2008, Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 2, Summer, 2009, pp. 31-33.

“Writing Survivance: A Conversation with Joseph Boyden.” In Survivance: Narratives of Native Presence, editor, Gerald Vizenor, University of Nebraska Press, 2008. pp. 297-311.

Co-curator with Zena Pearlstone, and co-author of curatorial essay. About Face: Native American, First Nations and Inuit Self-Portraits, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2006. Curatorial essay, pp. 1-44. Exhibition catalogue, 186 pages.

Visual Voices: A Festival of Canadian Aboriginal Film and Video.Online Study Guide. National Film Board of Canada/Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, 2006. In English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. (English, pp. 1-26, 114 pages in total.) Sections also translated into Mandarin for booklets published in conjunction with the “Canada-China Forums on Aboriginal (Ethnic) Identity: Cultural Preservation”, Northwest University for Nationalities, Lanzhou, Gansu Province; Qinghai Nationalities University, Xining, Qinghai Province, China. March, 2007.

“One Big Indian,” essay on Mohawk artist, Bill Powless, in Me Funny, editor, Drew Hayden Taylor, Douglas and McIntyre, 2006. pp. 5-22.

“Tracing Raven: A Few Fleeting Thoughts on Transformation in Contemporary Northwest Coast Art.” Catalogue essay in Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation, Part II, Contemporary Native American Art from the Prairie, Plains, Plateau and Pacific. Museum of Arts and Design, New York, 2005. pp. 232-234.

Entry on Aboriginal Art, Oxford Companion to Canadian History, Oxford University Press, 2004. pp. 3-5.

“The Accidental Academic: Or What Can You Do With a BGS Degree?” Ecclectica, Brandon University online journal, Fall, 2002. www.ecclectica.ca/issues/2002/3/ryan.asp

Review article, Acorn Soup: Drawings and Commentary by L. Frank, Berkeley: Heyday Books, 1999. News from Native California, Winter 2000/01. pp. 36-38.

The Trickster Shift: Humour and Irony in Contemporary Native Art, the University of British Columbia Press and the University of Washington Press, 1999. 304 pages. * Recipient of the American Book Award for excellence in multicultural literature, 2000. Honoured by The Association of American University Presses for excellence in book design and production, 2000. Recipient of an Alcuin Society Award for excellence in book design in Canada, 2000.

Book review, Looking North: Art from the University of Alaska Museum, edited by Aldona Jonaitis, University of Washington Press for the University of Alaska Museum, 1998. Canadian Journal of Native Studies 19:1, 1999. pp. 203-205.

Book review, Borrowed Power: Essays on Cultural Appropriation, edited by Bruce Ziff and Pratima V. Rao, Rutgers University Press, 1997. In “Letters in Canada 1997", University of Toronto Quarterly, vol. 68: 1 (Winter 1998/9). pp. 388-89.

Biographical entries on Bob Haozous (pp. 210-211); George Littlechild (pp. 310-312); and Bill Powless (pp. 469-470) in The St. James Guide to Native North American Artists, Detroit: St. James Press, 1997.

“Celestial Connections: Sacred Space, Cyberspace, Exhibition Space.” Catalogue essay for House Made of Stars, an exhibition by Lakota artist Colleen Cutschall, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, September - December 1996. pp. 8-17.

Review article on Indi'n Humor: Bicultural Play in Native America by Kenneth Lincoln, Oxford University Press, 1993. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 9:2, 1996. pp. 215-220.

“In profile: Jim Logan,” Native Peoples Magazine, Fall/Winter, 1995. p. 96.

“I Enjoy Being a Mohawk Girl: The Cool and Comic Character of Shelley Niro's Photography.” American Indian Art Magazine 20:1, 1994. pp. 44-53.

“The Pun in Painting: Jim Logan's Comic Vision.” Aboriginal Voices 1:4, 1994. pp. 7-8.

“Classical Aboriginal Reflections.” Catalogue essay, Jim Logan: The Classical Aboriginal Series, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, Yukon, May 1994. pp. 1-17.

“Get It?” (Original title: “At the Heart of Identity: Humour and Irony in Contemporary Canadian Native Art”). Crosswinds 5:9, 1993, Santa Fe, New Mexico. pp. 20-21, broadsheet centrespread.

“Postmodern Parody: A Political Strategy in Contemporary Canadian Native Art.” Art Journal 51:3, 1992. pp. 59-65.

“Gerald McMaster -- Maintaining the Balance.” Catalogue essay, The cowboy/Indian Show: Recent Work by Gerald McMaster, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario, February - April, 1991. pp. 8-18, plus excerpts from interview with the artist, pp. 22-53.

Exhibition review, “Beyond History,” Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, B.C., Parachute 57, 1990. pp. 48-49.

Book review, The Ojibway Dream by Arthur Shilling, Canadian Journal of Native Studies 6:2, 1986. pp. 356-359.

Exhibition review, “Norval Morrisseau and the Emergence of the Image Makers,” Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canadian Journal of Native Studies 4:1, 1984. pp. 157-164.

Exhibition review, “From Our Hands,” Contemporary Art Gallery at Harbourfront, Toronto, Ontario, Canadian Journal of Native Studies 2:2, 1983. pp. 373-376.

Book review, Kwakiutl Art by Audrey Hawthorn, Canadian Journal of Native Studies 1:1, 1981. pp. 227-230.

Member, Editorial Board, Trickster’s Way, on-line journal of trickster research. www.trinity.edu/org/tricksters/TrixWay

“Something Else Again: The New Sun Conference on Aboriginal Arts.” 16th Biennial Meeting of the Native American Art Studies Association, Norman, Oklahoma, October, 2009.

Discussant’s remarks, Contribution to the session, “Alaska Native Visual Arts in the 20th Century.” 107th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, November, 2008.

Presentations on the film series, Visual Voices, to three conferences on the theme, "Géopolitiques des altérités." Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil; Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiania, Brazil; Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlandia, Brazil, September, 2008.

“Cinematic Diplomacy: Tracing the Travels of a Canadian Aboriginal Film Festival.” Contribution to the session, First Nations Diasporas: An Emerging Form of Transnational Citizenship, Canadian Anthropology Association Conference, Ottawa, May, 2008.

“Riel Benn’s ‘Best Man’: An Unlikely Inheritor of Iktomi’s Trickster Legacy.” Contribution to the session, Contemporary Art Practices. 15th Biennial Meeting of the Native American Art Studies Association, Fairbanks, Alaska, September, 2007.

“Subtitled in Mandarin: How NFB Films by Canadian Aboriginal Directors Find a Global
Audience – the Visual Voices Project”, Indigenous Film and Media in an International Context,
Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, May, 2007.

“Cultural Preservation through Personal Reflection: the Powerful Self-Portraits of Canadian Aboriginal Artists.” Also, discussant on Aboriginal cinema in Canada. Canada-China Forums on Aboriginal (Ethnic) Identity: Cultural Preservation; Northwest University for Nationalities, Lanzhou, Gansu Province; Qinghai Nationalities University, Xining, Qinghai Province, China. March, 2007. Sponsored by DFAIT Canada.

“Aboriginal Interface: Up Close and Personal.” Opening plenary presentation. Colloquium on Violence and Religion: “Mimesis, Creativity and Reconciliation.” St. Paul’s University, Ottawa, May, 2006.

“About Face: Interweaving Communities in Native American, First Nations and Inuit Self-Portraits,” 5th Annual New Sun Conference on Aboriginal Arts, Carleton University, March, 2006.

“The Trickster Shift: Remembering Carl Beam (1942-2005).” Contribution to the session, Trickster as Social Practice in Native American Art. Biennial Meeting of the Native American Art Studies Association, Tempe, Arizona, October, 2005.

“Coyote Was Walking Along: Trickster Mischief in Canadian First Nations Art.” Institute for Canadian Studies, University of Upper Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland, April, 2005.

“About Face: An Exhibition of Native American Self-Portraits,” Keynote address for the 25th Conference of the American Indian Workshop, Leuven, Belgium, May, 2004.

“Beach Blanket Brave: Aboriginal Self-Representation in a Changing World,” Contribution to the session, At the Cutting Edge: Indian Humor and the Politics of Survival, American Anthropological Association, Chicago, November, 2003.

“Talking Pictures: Visualizing Voice in Canadian First Nations Art,” Contribution to the session, Read Me: Text and Image in Contemporary Native Art, Biennial Meeting, Native American Art Studies Association, Salem, Massachusetts, November, 2003.

“Beyond the Pale: Post-Colonial Parallels in Contemporary Canadian and Australian Aboriginal Art.” 12th Biennial Conference of the Native American Art Studies Association, Portland, Oregon, October 24-27, 2001.

“Trickster Mischief: Subversive Humour in Contemporary Native American Art.” Centennial Lecture, Department of Psychology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, April, 2000.

“Saving Face/Changing Face: The Many Self-Portraits of Carl Beam.” 12th Biennial Conference
of the Native American Art Studies Association, Victoria, British Columbia, October, 1999.

“A Tricky Mix: Creating a Book on Humorous Native American Art,” 1999 ISHS International Humor Conference, Oakland, California, June-July, 1999.

“A Comic Perspective: The Critical Insights of Native American Cartoonists,” Native American Journalists Association Conference, Tempe, Arizona, June, 1998.

“A Comic Perspective: Visual Self-Representation in Aboriginal Print Media,” 11th Biennial Conference of the Native American Art Studies Association, Berkeley, California, October, 1997.

“Colleen Cutschall’s House Made of Stars: Exploring Celestial Connections,” 1997 Plains Indian Seminar, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming, September, 1997.

“Canadian Aboriginal Artists and the Church.” Biennial Conference of Christians in the Visual Arts, Montreal, Quebec, June, 1997.

“The Comic Vision in Canadian Native Art: More than Meets the Eye.” First Nations Art Forum: First Visions/Re-Visions, Brandon, Manitoba, April-May, 1994.

“I Enjoy Being a Mohawk Girl: The Cool and Comic Character of Shelley Niro's Photography.” 9th Biennial Meeting of the Native American Art Studies Association, Santa Fe, New Mexico, November, 1993.

“Humour/Irony and the Construction of Canadian Native Indian Identity.” College Art

Association Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington, February, 1993.

“Trickster Discourse and Contemporary Canadian Native Art.” Annual Meeting, Native Art Studies Association of Canada, Victoria, British Columbia, November, 1992.

“Postmodern Parody: A Political Strategy in Contemporary Canadian Native Art.” Tenth International Humor Congress, Paris, France, July, 1992.

“Humour Irony Politics Praxis: Contemporary Canadian Native Art.” Second International Conference on Humor in Art, Missillac, Brittany, France, July, 1992.

“Gerald McMaster and the Evolution of a Playful Perspective.” 8th Biennial Meeting of the Native American Art Studies Association, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, September, 1991.

“As Sharp as a Feather: The Critical Edge of Contemporary Canadian Native Art.” Ninth International Conference on Humour and Laughter, St. Catharines, Ontario, June, 1991.

“Uneasy Laughter: An Exploration of the Critical Use of Humour by Contemporary Canadian Native Artists.” Annual Conference of The Native Art Studies Association of Canada, Montreal, Québec, October, 1990.

“Irony in the Work of Contemporary Canadian Native Artists.” 12th International Summer Institute for Semiotic and Structural Studies, Toronto, Ontario, June, 1990.

“Contemporary Native American Art -- The Irony of It All!” 7th Biennial Meeting of the Native American Art Studies Association, Vancouver, B.C., August, 1989.

“Indian Art, How Ironic?” 16th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Anthropology Society, Ottawa, Ontario, May, 1989.

Invited non-Conference Presentations

“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Recovery: the Healing Power of Humor in First Nations and Native American Art.” St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, New York, November, 2008

Untitled presentation on Canadian Aboriginal films and culture to faculty and students of Guangxi University for Nationalities, Nanning, Guangxi Province, China, March, 2007.

“Contemporary Canadian Aboriginal Aesthetics.” Visiting Speakers Series, Department of Visual Arts, University of Western Ontario, London, February, 2007.

“Jim Logan: The Classical Aboriginal Series.” Contribution to the session, Fine Arts in Canada. International Council of Canadian Studies (ICCS) Summer Seminar, Carleton University/ University of Ottawa, 2005-07.

“Providing a context.” Canadian Studies Alumni Association tour of the exhibition, Norval Morrisseau – Shaman Artist, National Gallery of Canada, April, 2006.

“The Inter-play of Verbal/Visual Narratives in Contemporary Aboriginal Art,” Queen’s/Carleton Art History Faculty Colloquium, Queen’s University: January, 2006.

“Tracing Raven/Chasing Coyote: Trickster Play in Contemporary Indigenous Art.” Museum of Art and Design, New York, December, 2005.

Remembering Carl Beam. Opening of memorial exhibition of work by Ojibwe artist, Carl Beam, from the permanent collection, National Gallery of Canada, November, 2005.

“Cross-Currents in Aboriginal Art and Literature”, Institut für Anglslistik/Amerikanistik, University of Greiswald, Germany, May, 2005.

“Contemporary Aboriginal Arts in Canada,” University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands, May, 2004.

“Contemporary Canadian Native Arts.” University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, May, 2004.

Organizer of Annual New Sun Conference on Aboriginal Arts at Carleton University, 2002-2009. Continuing. 200 in attendance in 2009. Sold out four years running. See www.trickstershift.com.

Organizer, facilitator/co-facilitator of three First Nations, Inuit Health Branch Aboriginal Film Festivals: “Identity, community and health” (January-February, 2009); “Health and Healing in the Aboriginal Community” (June, 2007); “The Promise of Spring: A hopeful season for health and wellness.” (March, 2008). Health Canada, Ottawa.

New Sun Chair research funds (2001 - 2005)
New Sun Conference annual funding, Office of the Dean of Arts and Social Sciences (2001- present).
New Sun Fund conference support (2007 – present)
Canadian Heritage support for 5th Annual New Sun Conference (2006)
Centre for Initiatives in Education (Carleton) support for 5th Annual New Sun Conference (2006)
Irvine Multicultural Education Scholarship, Travel Grant (1999)
Canada Council, Writing and Publishing Section, Travel Grant (1998)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship (1997-1999)
University of Calgary Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship (1997-1998)
(declined to accept SSHRCC PDF)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Doctoral Fellowship (1988 - 1991)
University of British Columbia Graduate Fellowship (1988, 1990)
(declined to accept SSHRCC PDF)
John and Catherine Robbins Graduate Scholarship (1975)
University of Arizona Out-of-State Tuition Fee Waiver (1975, 1976)
Polish Gymnastic Sokol Association Scholarship for Anthropology (1974)

(CDNS 5101) Aboriginal and Northern Issues, Canadian Studies
(CDNS 5001) Concepts of Canada, MA core seminar, Canadian Studies.
(CDNS 6900) Interdisciplinarity in Canadian Studies, PhD core seminar, co-coordinator

(ARTH 5210) Topics in Aboriginal Art, MA seminar, Art History
(ARTH 5010) Art History MA core seminar, team taught

(CDNS 4901) Issues in Canadian Aboriginal Cinema (4th year seminar, Canadian Studies)
(ARTH 4005) Topics in Contemporary Aboriginal Art (4th year seminar, Art History, varying themes)
(ARTH 2005/06) Art of the First Peoples (2nd year survey, Art History, two sections)
(CDNS 2011) Framing Aboriginal Issues (2nd year, Canadian Studies)

Molly Blyth, Canadian Studies (Trent University), PhD dissertation, “Tricky Stories are the Cure: Contemporary Indigenous Writing in Canada.” (Spring, 2009)

Johanna Foot: “Eskimo Chicks and Word Warriors: Creative Cultural Space in the Work of Elisapie Isaac and Taqralik Partridge.” Research essay. Canadian Studies. (Summer, 2008)

Annie Turner: Delicious Resistance, Sweet Persistence: First Nations Culinary Arts in Canada. Thesis. Canadian Studies. (Spring, 2006)

David Promane: “Changing Technology and the Rise of the Canadian Rock Recording Industry.” Thesis. Canadian Studies. (Spring, 2006)

Lana Whiskeyjack: “Navigating by our Grandmothers: Reading Contemporary Native Women’s Art.” Research essay. Canadian Studies. (Spring, 2006.)

Maike Worringer: “Crossing the Divide: Indigenous Rights and Self-Determination for Canadian First Nations and Fenno-Scandinavian Sámi.” Research essay. Canadian Studies (Spring, 2006)

Larry McDermott, “Knowing the Past - Building the Future: Self-determination by Aboriginal peoples who are not formally recognized by Canadian legislation or treaties.” Research essay. Canadian Studies. (2005).

Margaret Imrie, “An Examination of the Evolution and Globalization of Aurora College and the Northwest Territories.” Research essay. Canadian Studies. (2005).

Sarah Hurford, “An Inter-disciplinary Examination of the Availability of Information Relating to residential School Attendance at the Library and Archives of Canada.” Research essay. Canadian Studies. ( 2005).

Carol Hodgson, “Stealing in by the window: Ojibway-Government Relations in the Quetico.” Thesis. Canadian Studies. (2003).

(With Clealls/John Medicine Horse Kelly, Journalism)
Barbara Halsig: “The Role and Challenges for Aboriginal Newspapers as Participants in Native Language Revival Strategies.” Research essay. Canadian Studies. (Spring, 2006)

(With Ming Tiampo, Art History)
Crystal Parsons: “The Museum, Gallery and Other Institutions in Contemporary Canadian First Nations Art.” Thesis. Art History. (Summer, 2006)

(With Ming Tiampo, Art History)
Carla Taunton: “Lori Blondeau: High-Tech Storytelling for Social Change.” Thesis. Art History. (Summer, 2006)

Other:
External Ph D committee member for Carolyn Butler Palmer. Thesis title: “I Won’t Play Primitive to Your Modern: The Art of David Neel,” Art History, University of Pittsburgh. (Spring, 2006.)

Curriculum Vitae