What brought you to UPEI?

In this chapter of life at UPEI (of which I’ve had many!), I balance teaching in the university’s Inquiry Studies program with my own research at UNB and a balanced diet of gig work near and far: music performance, visual and installation arts, and learning design. I signed my first teaching contract shortly after stints in the province’s private (K-6) and public (7-9) school systems. The switch-up was daunting, but it’s clear now that the decision to accept was the right one!

The question of what brought me here is tricky. Perhaps I have a unique vantage point of this university, swapping one hat for another over the years: undergraduate student, program manager (Shad), graduate student, academic support staff, and currently sessional faculty whose work is highly interdisciplinary and cross-departmental. A better question might be, “Why do I keep returning?” UPEI is a bustling community of scholarship and extraordinary teaching. I am constantly inspired by the lengths my faculty/staff friends go to support students’ learning and well-being.

What else? Last week, my Inquiry Studies cohort hosted The Curiosity Fair, sharing their research into algorithmic curation of K-pop stardom, plague-era doomscrolling, AI predictive beer flavour profiling, and so much more. How cool is that?
 

Why did you choose to teach here?

Trust and support. Seriously, I get to do some really neat work with top-notch mentors: Curiosity Fairs, faculty recitals, vanguard AI experiments, multi-institution conference organizing, and recent escapades in France, Aruba, and the Faroe Islands. On top of this, I get to bring my experiences as a doctoral student (UNB) and in industry (Canada’s National Arts Centre) to the classroom. I know each student by name and stay connected to their weekly progress. This hands-on involvement keeps my work exciting and is only sustainable given the privilege of small student-to-instructor ratios.

(What else? I’m partial to The Fox & Crow’s breakfast sandwiches, though I usually swap the bread for a bagel and the bacon for an extra egg.)
 

What courses are you teaching currently?

I’ve just concluded my seventh section of UPEI-1020 Inquiry Studies, an “inquiry-intensive” curriculum focused on asking great questions, developing practical research methods, and cultivating intentional curiosity.

Next up, I join UPEI’s music faculty as sessional instructor for MUS-1240 Perspectives, Music and Culture I.

"I see a Faculty of Arts composed of lifelong learners doing brilliant work. But what’s even more inspiring is seeing this rigour upheld and cultivated in classrooms, where students can engage directly with their instructors. Since graduating from UPEI, I’ve not only maintained connections but also built lasting friendships with those who shaped my thinking and musicianship."

What kinds of research are you involved in, and what are your areas of expertise?

I’m an interdisciplinarian at heart and on paper. As researcher, I navigate communications and sociological theory—labour, ideology, and phenomenology—with a musician’s/practitioner’s brain. With UNB, my doctoral research (supervised by Dr. Dann Downes) centres on communities of creative practice and emergent folk theories and imaginaries that form amidst technological transformations. Zooming in, I’m fascinated by algorithmic media and the precarity of artist identities and work in a world increasingly human-made (artificially generated) rather than natural. At UPEI, I research AI in the context of teaching and learning. Drawing from pre-university work in Montessori pedagogy, I leverage inquiry and play as a foundation for AI literacy, which involves education toward systems thinking and social responsibility. Concurrently, I belong to UPEI’s Curiosity & Inquiry Research Collaboration Lab (CIRCL) and serve on the Vice-President, Academic and Research’s Generative AI Taskforce (which, yes, is as cool as it sounds).
 

What do you find unique and interesting about UPEI’s Faculty of Arts?

First, to dispel any presumed impartiality: I am quite biased! I see a Faculty of Arts composed of lifelong learners doing brilliant work. But what’s even more inspiring is seeing this rigour upheld and cultivated in classrooms, where students can engage directly with their instructors. Since graduating from UPEI, I’ve not only maintained connections but also built lasting friendships with those who shaped my thinking and musicianship.

As for uniqueness? I think, perhaps, there’s a growing focus on civic, cultural, and other beyond-the-discipline dimensions of our campus’s island context. This is a connected faculty, inward and outward.

Have I forgotten anything essential prospective students should know about UPEI?

I’ll end with a splash of Inquiry Studies lingo: University is a complex set of problems in its own right, meaning that its “solutions”—i.e., your learning journey and eventual degree—will look different than that of your friends, family, and even your instructors. Growth is not linear. The learning that happens at UPEI is yours, and the best education occurs when you’re in control. Leverage your supports, ask questions (!), and enjoy the process.

(I hesitate to give shoutouts, knowing I’ll surely miss someone important, but prospective students should know how awesome the UPEI Student Affairs staff are, from the basement of Dalton Hall to its 5th floor!)