Faculty of Cross Cultural Studies
A new and forward thinking interdisciplinary Faculty whose guiding principles are based on sharing knowledge and creating spaces that acknowledge and include Indigenous worldviews from a global perspective, which underpins their research strengths.
Dr. Nairne Cameron
Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, Geology and Land Stewardship
Dr. Cameron is currently contributing to the launch of the Lake Superior Living Labs Network (LSLLN), funded by a Lakehead University-based SSHRC Partnership Development grant. Partners include research and community-based practitioners at Algoma University, Lakehead University, University of Minnesota at Duluth, and the recently added Michigan Technological University. The Algoma Hub of LSLLN has engaged with community organizations, including RAIN, Harvest Algoma, People’s Garden, and the Food Bank Farm.
In conjunction with LSLLN partners, Nairne co-led an Algoma University-based Climate Action Field School for the first time in August 2021 which was funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The participants engaged in a variety of activities related to the nexus of food, water, and climate justice, including visiting Whitefish Island, paddling a voyageur canoe, GIS mapping and geocaching, joining a virtual youth panel, and learning about soils and environmental monitoring.
Previously, her mixed-method research has investigated the local food system and barriers to healthy food access in urban areas. Dr. Cameron is a Geography, Geology, and Land Stewardship faculty member, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Queen's University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Geography from the University of Ottawa and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta. She is the former Chair of the American Association of Geographers’ Applied Geography Specialty Group. Her teaching and research interests include: spatial analysis and geographic information systems (GIS), urban and regional development, food access geography, and comparative cross-cultural studies.
Email: nairne.cameron@algomau.ca
Dr. Vivian Jimenez-Estrada
Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology
Dr. Jimenez-Estrada is Maya Achi (Guatemala) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology. She received her PhD from the University of Toronto and is dedicated to research, teaching, and learning while centering Indigenous knowledges and perspectives. She has worked with Indigenous organizations in Guatemala and Mexico. She works locally with the Indigenous Women’s Anti-Violence Task Force of Baawaating (Sault Ste. Marie) and internationally with the National Coordinator for Indigenous Women of Mexico (CONAMI) on a project called 'Indigenous Women Storying and Interweaving their Experiences of Gendered and Colonial Violence in Mexico and Canada" funded by SSHRC, which builds on a prior SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant that centers the voices and recommendations of Indigenous women and gender diverse individuals to address gendered and colonial violence. She is also the Principal Investigator (on behalf of the Indigenous Women’s Anti-Violence Task Force, in collaboration with NORDIK Institute), for the “Restorative Justice: Anti-Racism Youth Diversion Initiative” (2019-2022), funded by Heritage Canada's Anti-Racism Action Program (2019-22).
Her work has been published in the Canadian Journal of Native Education, the Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, the Canadian Journal of Native Studies, Dialogo: An interdisciplinary studies journal, Abya Yala and the Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. In addition, she has also co-authored a chapter in Routledge’s Handbook of Central American Governance, in addition to two chapters co-authored with IWAVTF colleagues: Red Dresses on Bare Trees and Feminicide and Global Accumulation: Frontline Struggles to Resist the Violence of Patriarchy and Capitalism.
SSHRC Individual Partnership Development Grand 2020 - $111,700 SSHRC Individual Partnership Engage Grant 2018 - $25,000
Dr. Paulette Steeves
Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology
I am an Indigenous (Cree- Metis) archaeologist, my research focus is on the Pleistocene history of the Western Hemisphere, reclaiming and rewriting Indigenous histories, and healing and reconciliation. My research has shown that Indigenous peoples were present in the Western Hemisphere as early as 100,000 years ago, and possibly much earlier, this supports a counter story to Western narratives of Indigenous histories and address issues that remain critical to Indigenous people; sovereignty, self-determination, healing and reconciliation. Re-writing Indigenous histories, framed through Indigenous knowledge, will create discussions that counter racism and discrimination. I currently have seven student research assistants working on a rock art of Canada database, and an archaeology sites database. These database with thousands of rock art and archaeological sites will be applied to the creation of educational websites. I currently have a research website, The Indigenous Paleolithic Database of the Americas, with information on hundreds of archaeological sites dating to earlier than 11,200 years ago TIPDBA.COM
Email: paulette.steeves@algomau.ca
Dr. Laura Wyper
Chair & Assistant Professor in Community Economic and Social Development
Dr. Laura Wyper is currently undertaking a community-based research project with David Thompson from the Rural Agri-Innovation Network (RAIN), and a fourth year student as Research Assistant from CESD, Lauren Moran. The purpose of this community-based research is to uncover emergent trends in rural/agricultural real estate and migration within the Algoma region since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and determine what types of impacts these will have on different facets of the local agri-food sector. It is hypothesized that a combination of factors such as labour shortages, heightened real estate prices, and a sudden increase in demand for local food is putting unforseen pressures on the agri-food sector which could create conditions less conducive to capital investment and business expansion. Perspectives from a variety of stakeholders, including those from the Anabaptist farming community, commodity growers, food processors, and small farms that provide for specialty/niche markets will be taken into consideration.
Dr. Wyper has also recently completed research on the prospect of developing a Teaching and Learning Centre here at Algoma University with internal stakeholders, and is currently working with students in the CESD 2406 Environment and Community Resilience class, supervising their primary and secondary research on food biodiversity (in partnership with Slow Food in Canada for their Ark of Taste project).Dr. Laura Wyper has a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Midwifery from Laurentian University, a Bachelor of Education from Trent University, a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Community Development from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Adult Education and Community Development with a specialization in Comparative, International and Development Education from OISE, at the University of Toronto.
Email: laura.wyper@algomau.ca
