Current Research

For my research work on memory, see tab “historical memory”

  • A repertoire of Memory Initiatives in Colombia. 2012-2016. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The aim of this research is to develop a place-based exploration of the workings and forms of memory in conflict zones. It further aims to document the socio-political significance of local-historical memory practices; the roles ascribed by individuals and social groups (including men and women) to the tasks of historical clarification (i.e. to document past atrocities; to bear witness; to educate; to denounce; to heal; to achieve local reconciliation); and the ways memory initiatives may or may not become integral components of the national justice landscape and the construction of authoritative narratives of the past. It will advance an ethnographic documentation of ten memory initiatives in Colombia.
  • Living through Violence: Transitional justice considers everyday memory practices and performances of social repair. 2011-2012 Co-investigators: Erin Baines, Paulette Reagan. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies.
  • The Possibilities and Challenges of a Place-based Approach to Strengthening Urban Communities: A Case Study of Neighborhood Houses in Vancouver” is a four-year project funded by SSHRC Insight Grant program. Miu C. Yan is the Principal Investigator and I am one of the co investigators. It is a university-community collaboration to examine neighbourhood houses, a long-standing form of place-based third sector non-profit organizations, which is historically connected to the Settlement House movement in the Progressive Era. The Project Advisory Committee, which comprises of researchers from the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and University of Victoria, and members from neighbourhood houses in Metro Vancouver, will use this online platform to regularly update information of the progress and findings of the project for individuals who are interested in this project as well as the development of NHs. The project website: http://nhvproject.ca/
  • Against mass atrocities: community based strategies to document Human Rights abuses (Colombia and Uganda). 2009-2013. Co-directed with Erin Baines. Funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the UBC-Martha Piper Research Fund. Project website, click here
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See also: Research, Previous Research