Academic Background

PhD, York University; MA, University of Toronto; BSc, University of Guelph

Biography

Sara’s work is interdisciplinary and explores the cultural studies of conflict and social reparation. She is interested in how individuals and communities learn from traumatic historical events and imagine forms of social justice and reconciliation. Her past research explored pedagogical strategies at Apartheid Museums in South Africa, specifically the difficulties of witnessing testimonial accounts of racialized violence. Her current research considers how contemporary Canadian War Artists are responding to Canada's mission in Afghanistan. In addition to her academic work, Sara curates aesthetic projects that archive visual encounters with legacies of war and social trauma.

Current Research Interests 

Aesthetic responses to war and conflict; theories of affect and memory
Visual culture, literature and digital narrative as memory work
Ethical encounters between military and civilian cultures
Teaching and learning from traumatic historical events; psychoanalysis and culture

Current teaching interests 

GS201 "Theories of Global Studies", GS231 "Introduction to War and Conflict", GS431 "Narratives of Violence", GS305e "War, Memory and Popular Culture"

Publications 

2011. Re-thinking the "Good" in Good Global Citizenship: The Ethics of Cosmopolitan Pluralism. In: Benham-Rennick, J. and Desjardins, M. (Eds.). Good Global Citizenship in Higher Education: Canadian Models and Reflections (in review).

2010. Traces of the Human: Memory and the Visual Frame in The Hero Book. Public (42): 47-55.

2009. Hitler’s Car as Curriculum Text: Reading Adolescents Reading History. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies 7(2):49-85

2008. The Apartheid Museum as Difficult Return: Self-implication in the Construction of Research Narratives. In: Landry, Anik (ed). La recherche en éducation muséale: actions et perspectives / Research in Museum Education: Actions and Perspectives. Éditions MultiMondes, Universitie Quebec a Montreal. (2008)

2007. Some Notes on Hate in Teaching. Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society Volume 12 Issue 2:185-192. (2007)

Additional Information

2012/13 Executive of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies

Book Review Editor Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies