S2E13 – National Parks and protected areas Pt. 1

When it comes to Canadian identity, the popular imagination summons forests, wildlife, and untouched nature that goes on forever. In some ways, our national parks reflect that idyllic picture; however, in other ways, they are complex, complicated, and contested. Join us for the first in a two-part look at how our national parks are created, who determines what we do with our natural spaces, and the impact that parks have on the people who live in and around them. We’ll chat with Dr. Phillip Vannini, Dr. Alistair Bath, Dr. John Calder and Colleen Kennedy.

Resources and links:

Dr. Phillip Vannini
Dr. Alistair Bath
Dr. John Calder
Gros Morne National Park
Gros Morne Cooperators
Joggins Fosile Site
Mistaken Point 
The National Park of Abruzzo

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

CHMR Campus Radio

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

S2E9 – Fantasy Farming

While the numbers of farms in North America are decreasing every year, virtual farms are thriving. What does the bounty of farming related computer, video and mobile games say about the urban-rural divide? Are they just dumb time wasters, or could they actually be used to help create both knowledge and understanding? Join us for a (slightly goofy) chat about virtual pigs and cows, and the millions of people playing them. Our guests include video game researcher and film and media studies professor Dr. Alenda Chang of University of California, Santa Barbara and gamer Andrew Cohoe. We’ll also ask Jane Tucker, originally of Southern Ontario, but now living in St. Philips, Newfoundland and Labrador, what puts her town on the map.

Resources

Wireframe lab

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

CHMR Campus Radio

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

 

EPISODE 7: Mining legacy in the North

This week’s episode takes us to Canada’s Northwest Territories. Arn Keeling and John Sandlos, a geographer and an historian at Memorial University of Newfoundland study the mining legacy in Canada’s North. They will walk us through complex issues facing Aboriginal and Indigenous communities and settler communities alike who find themselves in close proximity to mining sites. Arn and John will introduce us to Giant Mine near Yellowknife on the shores of Great Slave Lake and tell us a story that, while disturbing given the magnitude of the issues surrounding Giant Mine, offers a hope of reconciliation and healing.

Resources:
Dr. Arn Keeling faculty profile
Dr. John Sandlos faculty profile
Toxic Legacies project
Abandoned Mines In Northern Canada
Mining and Communities in Northern Canada: History, Politics and Memory – free book
Guardians of Eternity
ArcticNet

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

Episode 2: The Rural Soul of Canada

Dr. Ivan Emke says it’s time to take care of the rural soul of Canada. Ivan is a rural scholar at Memorial University of Newfoundland based at the university’s Corner Brook campus on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland. We talked about agriculture, rural stereotypes, the unsustainable nature of urban environments and the fact that neither of us could tell how long a group of academics could survive on their own.

Enjoy the show.

 

Resources:

Dr. Ivan Emke’s official faculty profile

Is Rural Life Worth Saving

The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN

Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation

Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership