Engaging legacies
May 23 to 26, 2017
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Theme and location
The Canadian Congress on Leisure Research (CCLR) is a triennial conference of the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies (CALS) hosted alternately by various leisure schools across Canada. The fifteenth congress was hosted by University of Waterloo, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies on May 23-26, 2017 in Kitchener, Ontario at the Crowne Plaza.
The conference theme was Engaging Legacies, looking at co-creating histories of inclusive communities through research, excellence, knowledge translation, innovation, and action, as well as creating legacies that are engaging and not soon forgotten.
For more information on CCLR15, contact the Chair of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies.
Keynote speakers
Dave Zirin - Sport and resistance in the era of Trump
Wednesday, May 24 at 9:30-10:30 am
Crowne Plaza hotel (ballroom)
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick's decision to kneel during the American national anthem last August opened up one of the latest chapters in the history of sport and resistance. His actions follow a robust history of sport and struggle. Will they inspire further resistance? What sort of political acts, if any, can we expect from the sporting realm in this era of Trump? This talk will interrogate the business of sport and celebrate the inspired people who play them by offering a provocative and engaging look at how sport reflects the political conflicts of our time and shapes contemporary society.
About Dave
Dave Zirin is an American political sportswriter and radio host. He has also authored eight books. His current regular contributions include:
- host of the weekly radio show Edge of Sports Radio on Sirius XM satellite
- co-host with Etan Thomas, former NBA player, of The Collision: Where Sports and Politics Collide on Pacifica Radio
- sports editor contributor to The Nation, a weekly progressive magazine dedicated to politics and culture
- blog writer of Edge of Sports: the weekly sports column by Dave Zirin
Lenore Skenazy - How come an old-fashioned childhood sounds so radical?
Friday, May 26 at 9:15-10:15 am
Crowne Plaza hotel (Kitchener suite)
Lenore Skenazy founded Free-Range Kids, the book, blog, and movement dedicated to the idea that our kids are SAFER and SMARTER than our culture gives them credit for. Lenore will discuss how today's parents became so afraid of everything from predators to non-organic grapes (even if cut into quarters!), and how we can regain the confidence to send our kids out to play.
Lenore has appeared on The Today Show, Dr. Phil, The View, and The Daily Show. She has been profiled in The New Yorker and written for everyone from The Wall Street Journal to Mad Magazine. Yep. Mad! She has lectured at Microsoft, Disney, DreamWorks and oddly enough, the Bulgarian Happiness Festival. The holiday she invented, "Take Our Children to the Park ... And Leave Them There Day" is now celebrated around the world. She lives in New York City.
Thanks to a steady diet of fear dished up by the media and the marketplace, Skenazy says, society has come to believe kids are in constant danger. But the greatest risk may lie in trying to guarantee kids a childhood that is risk-free.
About Lenore
Lenore Skenazy is a New York City newspaper columnist (and all around funny person) who founded the book, blog and movement, “Free-Range Kids.” Her bedrock belief is, "Our children are not inconstant danger, so we don't have to parent, police or make policy as if they are." Her latest book is, "Has The World Gone Skenazy? Thoughts on Pop Culture, Pet Peeves and Sporks." She is a graduate of Yale and Columbia, and was host of the reality TV show "Bubble Wrap Kids," now seen once in a while, late at night, in reruns.
Canada 150 plenary sessions
The three Canada 150 plenary sessions are part of a SSHRC Connection Grant supporting the Canadian Congress on Leisure Research 15 (CCLR15). The plenary sessions develop knowledge mobilization activities which are woven throughout the conference and foster meaningful engagement with Canadian issues as they have been, and should be, explored through leisure scholarship and practice.
The three Canada 150 plenary sessions are:
National framework for recreation panel
Wednesday, May 24, 12:00 - 1:15 pm, Ballroom
This panel provides an opportunity for the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) to introduce Canadian leisure scholars to the National Framework for Recreation in Canada and to illustrate how the Framework is designed to shape leisure activity, practice and research for generations to come. Conference attendees will come to understand how the Framework was developed and how it is being utilised in communities around the country. It is also hoped that the discussion of the Framework will foster opportunities for Canadian leisure scholars to connect around the need for evaluation and impact research as discussions will be used to create a white paper outlining opportunities for future research, engaging the Framework in teaching, as well as practice and policy implications.
Panelist biographies
CJ Noble has been the Executive Director of the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association since 2011. CJ has provided key leadership as the Association has renewed its influence, profile and contribution to the parks and recreation sector. CJ played an essential role in the development and now the implementation of the Framework for Recreation in Canada. She served as the Co-Chair for the Framework National Development Working Group and now serves as the Co-Chair for the Framework National Implementation Working Group. Prior to this role, CJ was a Vice-President at an international consulting firm where she delivered integrated public affairs solutions. Previously, CJ worked as a political aide to federal cabinet ministers. CJ has an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. She also graduated from the AALP Executive Leadership Program at the University of Guelph.
French-English plenary: Two solitudes? English- and French-speaking research communities in leisure studies
Wednesday, May 24, 2:40 - 3:50 pm, Ballroom
Leisure studies in Canada is characterized, among other things, by what some see as an English-French divide. From an epistemological perspective, this language barrier has forced our research communities to evolve differently.
This special themed plenary explores those differences, their implications and what can be done to facilitate a better “English-French connection”. This panel discussion, to include established and emerging French- and English-speaking leisure scholars, is the first of its kind in our field. It aims to be wide-ranging and to provide an opportunity for conference attendees to begin to engage critically with the legacy of English-French connections as it has, and as it will, shape our field, both professionally and academically.
Panelist biographies
Marc-André Lavigne is an Associate Professor at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières’ Département d’études en loisir, culture et tourisme. He holds a Ph.D. in public administration (École nationale d’administration publique) and an M.A degree in leisure, culture and tourism (UQTR). He specializes in local governance and urban policy analysis. He is currently the director of the Observatoire québécois du loisir – a research group dedicated to disseminating and popularizing knowledge on leisure to the general public, leisure professionals and the media. He is also a member of the Laboratoire en loisir et vie communautaire, a research group working with Québec’s leisure and recreation main partners (including the provincial Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sport) to provide applied research to leisure organizations across the province. He holds a particular interest in understanding the relationship between civil society actors, public administration and elected officials, and their role in the formulation and implementation of policies and programs specific to our field. In his teaching, he shows a particular interest in the strategic management of public, non-profit and private leisure organizations and in the role of leisure professionals in our society. He received the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) Award of Merit in 2016.
Gilles Pronovost is an emeritus professor from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) where he taught from 1970 to 2004. His academic background includes a PhD in sociology from Université Laval. He was the director and founding member of the bilingual (and first French-speaking) journal Loisir et société/Society and Leisure in 1978 and also founded the journal Enfances, familles, générations in 2004. He was the president of the Sociology of leisure chapter at the International Sociology Association from 1994 to 1998. He also became a member of the Royal Society of Canada in 2000. He published a few months ago the third edition of his book Loisir et société. Traité de sociologie empirique [Leisure and society : a treatise on empirical sociology] and in 2015, Que faisons-nous de notre temps? [What are we doing with our time?]
Marc LeBlanc is a Professor at the École de kinésiologie et de loisir at Université de Moncton. He holds a PhD in tourism and leisure economy (Centre des Hautes Études Touristiques de l’Université d’Aix-Marseille). His research focuses primarily on tourism, with a special interest on hospitality and events. He regularly acts as an advisor and has carried out several mandates with private companies and non-profit organizations in the fields of culture, tourism, market studies, planning, evaluation and communications.
Shannon Hebblethwaite is Associate Professor in Concordia University’s Department of Applied Human Sciences. Her research and teaching focuses on social inclusion and the impact of leisure on well-being in a variety of contexts, including older adults, three-generation families, first-time mothers, and individuals with disabilities. Emphasizing participatory approaches in her work, Shannon’s applied research has resulted in interdisciplinary collaborations with scholars in family relations, political science, and communication studies and she has engaged therapeutic recreation practitioners as co-researchers on a number of research projects. She integrates her research with her teaching in the areas of qualitative research methods, leisure and aging, and therapeutic recreation practice. Shannon is a researcher with the Centre de recherche et d'expertise en gérontologie sociale (CREGÉS), an interdisciplinary, applied, community-based research centre where she leads the Seniors as Social Actors research axis and serves on the executive committee. She is Associate Editor of the Therapeutic Recreation Journal.
Jocelyn Garneau is a graduate student at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). He is currently finishing his Master’s thesis about the different roles played by the actors involved in interlocal co-operation concerning leisure in rural areas in Quebec. He has obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Leisure, Culture and Tourism in 2015 (UQTR). Mr. Garneau also works for the Laboratoire en loisir et vie communautaire with André Thibault. His main research project aims at developing a method to support rural municipalities to reorganize their public leisure services at a territorial level using various forms of interlocal co-operation agreements. His research interests are centred on rurality as a living environment, community capacity building and public leisure management, from an interpretative point of view. He plans to further his studies at the doctorate level on a topic that would help the cause of rural areas and communities.
Indigeneity panel
Thursday, May 25, 9:00 - 10:15 am, Ballroom
2017 marks the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Across the country many celebrations have been planned to commemorate the accomplishments of individuals and those milestones that figure prominently in the collective narratives that define what it means to be Canadian. 2017 will also see the 10th edition of the North American Indigenous Games, which will be held across communities in the Greater Toronto Area, the region of Hamilton and the Six Nations of the Grand River.
Given the recent release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s report regarding the legacies of settler colonialism and the Canadian Residential School system, it seems appropriate to host a panel discussion regarding the findings of the report as well as the numerous calls to action that target government involvement and community engagement. While numerous Canadian scholars are exploring issues of indigeneity and settler colonialism both in terms of leisure scholarship (see, for example, Cooke, in press; Fox, 2006, 2007) and critical explorations of on-the-ground experiences of leisure and recreation for members of Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities (see, for example, Grimwood, 2015; Grimwood et al., 2015; Rose & Giles, 2007; Rousell & Giles, 2012), these explorations are still relatively limited and have yet to be explored collectively and on the national stage.
As part of CCLR’s theme of Engaging Legacies, we invite participants to actively engage in a critical dialogue around the notions of reconciliation, the legacies of settler colonialism and the calls to action that figure prominently in the future of leisure scholarship.
Panelist biographies
Bryan Grimwood is Assistant Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in tourism development, leisure spaces and places, and qualitative inquiry. Bryan’s research analyzes human-nature relationships and advocates social justice and sustainability in contexts of tourism, leisure, and livelihoods. Trained as a human geographer and engaged scholar, Bryan specializes in tourism and Indigenous Peoples, tourism ethics and responsibility, northern landscapes, and outdoor experiential education. His research is informed theoretically by relational perspectives of nature and morality, and draws on diverse qualitative methodologies and principles of community-based and participatory research. Since joining UWaterloo as a faculty member in 2011, Bryan’s research has been grounded in settings ranging from Arctic communities and protected areas to urban outdoor programs and green spaces. Recent and ongoing projects involve collaborations with Indigenous and tourist communities to document and dialogue culturally diverse knowledges, relationships, and responsibilities associated with a special and changing Canadian Arctic riverscape. As a parent and outdoor educator, Bryan is also interested in the ‘nature stories’ we tell ourselves and live; what these stories tell about our being human and the extent to which they foster resilient children, communities, and ecologies.
Janice Forsyth is a historian who uses sociological concepts to disentangle the ideological and structural constraints that limit the ability of Aboriginal people to use sport to enhance their lives. She does this by focusing on the way organized physical activities have been used as tools for colonization in Canada and how Aboriginal people have responded to those efforts by taking up those same activities for cultural regeneration and survival. Her current project explores the long-term effects of a policy orientation that linked sport and assimilation by documenting and analyzing the use of sports in the Indian residential school system and conducting interviews with residential school survivors to understand their perspectives on the relationship between sport, identity, culture, and health. Several of her publications are cited in The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, released in 2015. In terms of impact, her research has led to more informed policy-making and stronger collaborative partnerships in sport, physical activity, education, and health at the local, provincial, and national levels, where she has also demonstrated a clear commitment to service. Selected recent contributions include being appointed to national committees for sport policy evaluation; serving as an expert/key informant for federal and provincial governments; and volunteering as a board of director for the national Aboriginal Sport Circle. She is an Associate Professor at Western University in London, Ontario and is a member of the Fisher River Cree Nation (Manitoba).
Audrey Giles is a Full Professor in the School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of Ottawa. An applied cultural anthropologist, Audrey conducts primarily community-based research on the nexus of culture/ethnicity/gender/place with communities in the Provincial and Territorial North. Specifically, her current research examines sport for development programs for Indigenous youth that are funded by extractives companies (SSHRC), culturally safe approaches to injury prevention (Public Safety Canada), and the content and evaluation of on-the-land programs for residents of the Inuvialuit Settlement region (CIHR). She feels fortunate to have incredible graduate students, organizations, and community members as collaborators. With Janice Forsyth, she is the editor of the award winning text, Aboriginal Sport in Canada: Historical Foundations and Contemporary Issues (UBC Press). She is a member of Parachute Canada’s Expert Advisory Committee, a member of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport’s Board of Directors, secretary/treasurer for the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies, a founding and long-time member of the NWT Recreation and Parks Association’s Aquatics committee, and a member of the editorial boards for Leisure Sciences and Sociology of Sport Journal. Audrey is passionate about leisure that involves her dog, running, and quilting.
Dan Henhawk is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo. His research revolves around sport, recreation and leisure in the context of Indigenous communities. More specifically, he is interested in the issues that surround colonization, decolonization, Indigenization, self-determination and sovereignty. His research interests also broadly include narrative inquiry and the use of stories and storytelling as a means to examine the tensions between historical and contemporary understandings of leisure, sport and recreation in relation to Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
References
Cooke, L. (in press). Carving ‘turns’ and unsettling the ground under our feet (and skis): A reading of Sun Peaks Resort as a settler colonial moral terrain. Tourist Studies.
Fox, K. (2006). Leisure and indigenous peoples. Leisure Studies, 25(4), 403-409.
Fox, K. M. (2007). Aboriginal peoples in North American and euro‐north American leisure. Leisure/loisir, 31(1), 217-243.
Grimwood, B. S. R. (2015). Advancing tourism’s moral morphology: Relational metaphors for just and sustainable Arctic tourism. Tourist Studies, 15(1), 3-26.
Grimwood, B. S. R., *Yudina, O., *Muldoon, M., & *Qiu, J. (2015). Responsibility in tourism: A discursive analysis. Annals of Tourism Research, 50, 22-38.
Rose, A., & Giles, A. R. (2007). Alberta's future leaders program: A case study of Aboriginal youth and community development. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, 27(2), 425.
Rousell, D. D., & Giles, A. R. (2012). Leadership, power and racism: Lifeguards’ influences on
Aboriginal people’s experiences at a Northern Canadian aquatic facility. Leisure Studies, 31(4), 409-428.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action.