My Career Information
I currently serve as Associate Chair of Graduate Studies and an Associate Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies (RLS), as well as Director of the Healthy Communities Research Network at the University of Waterloo (UW). I count myself as a proud alumnus of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at Brock University, where I completed my undergraduate degree in 1995, and the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta, where I completed my Master's degree in 1997. After graduating in 2000 with my Ph.D. from UW in RLS, I spent three years as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism where I was proud to begin my academic career.
My Program of Research
I have an active research program that aims to explore the civic, socio-cultural, and storied dimensions that contribute to livability, sociability, equity, resilience, and civic virtue in everyday, urban community life. These range of topics fit my research squarely within the healthy communities literature, a burgeoning field of inquiry aimed at advancing the collective well-being of a group of people beyond the individual unit of analysis. Health, under this agenda, represents a resource for everyday life and therefore encompasses a full range of quality of life issues, including, but not limited to: (1) the development, maintenance, and distribution of social capital within a given community; (2) healthy governance and the role of citizens in planning and contributing to their communities; and (3) ethno-cultural diversity and its associated challenges for maintaining social cohesion. In the studies I conduct on these topics, I address community, not merely geographically (e.g., neighbourhood), but also in terms of social networks (e.g., online social networks), associations (e.g., grassroots sport associations), organiizations (e.g., Gilda's Place), and groups (e.g., community gardeners, newcomers) that draw together people who share a common interest (e.g., leisure) or social identity (e.g., race, health condition). I am particularly interested in the transformative possibilities of community narratives or counter-stories that challenge dominant cultural narratives, stories that repress and devalue certain groups of people.
Outreach
Through my work as Director of the Healthy Communities Research Network, I work with a number of community groups and agencies to advance values of inclusion, empowerment, and social justice. Thus, I am proud to have worked closely with larger organizations such as the Tim Horton Children's Foundation, the Canadian Camping Association, the YMCA of Canada, the Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition, and the K-W and Cambridge YMCAs, as well as smaller groups such as the African Canadian Association of Waterloo Region, Gilda's Place of Greater Toronto, and the Festival of Neighbourhoods in Kitchener. All of these groups deserve recognition for their outstanding contributions toward the advancement of healthy communities, and so I am delighted to have played a role in assisting them in achieving their missions.
Personal Interests
As a father of two young girls, I actively involve myself in voluntary activities associated with my daughters' recreational (e.g., coaching soccer) and educational interests (e.g., as member of parent council, volunteer for a home-reading program). My family is the centre of my life. Even so, I do have a number of personal interests: I play competitive basketball, bike to work (weather permitting), exercise regularly (cardio and strength training), and enjoy reading for pleasure, particularly non-fiction. In addition, I am a huge fan of CBC Radio, the Boston Celtics (I hate the Lakers!), and American College Basketball. Within children's camping circles, I am best known for having co-written the popular camp song "The Moose Juice Song" (some people refer to it as "Fred the Moose").
Page last updated on 2012-01-30