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As an oral historian, artist, and teacher, I dedicate my practice to creating meaningful collaborations and interventions between individuals, communities, and students with history and historiography. Above all, I don’t see the work I do as an historian, or artist, or teacher as existing in separate spheres. In turn, I encourage my students to also approach history in a creative and self-reflexive way.

I prioritize respect, responsibility, trust, and transparency so that students can take on an active role in the classroom and their education, in general. I believe that it is part of my responsibility, as a college teacher, to help students figure out the methods that work best for them in managing their time and organizing their schedules. With a focus on mental health and accessibility, my classroom - both online and in person - is a flexible space where I hope to help students build confidence in and respect themselves.

I am always learning more about anti-capitalist, anti-oppressive, and anti-racist pedagogy and am inspired by the work of the many academics, teachers, and thinkers who have been approaching / decolonizing their classrooms and teaching in radical, open, and collaborative ways, such as Dr. Max Liboiron, Samantha Cutrara, Suzanne Snider, bell hooks, as well as many of my colleagues.

As empathetic and active participants in their learning, students approach history critically, ready to ask meaningful questions and have deep discussions, and knowing that:

  • History is also about the future

  • History isn't objective

  • History is imaginative

  • History is always histories

  • As historians, students, people living in the present, we must strive to do no harm with our work, make positive change, challenge oppression and colonial narratives, question assumptions, think and act intersectionally and critically

  • As historians, we must be humble, self-reflective, and vulnerable

  • Our work must be transparent, rigorous, and ethical

courses

courses

Currently, I am a contract instructor in the Department of History and Classics at Dawson College, teaching day and continuing education courses. I have taught courses in General Education, U.S. History, Canadian History, and Advanced History, including:

  • Western Civilization, with a focus on deconstructing narratives of progress through an exploration of environmental and food history

  • Introduction to Public History

  • Im/Migration in Canada

  • The Black American Experience, with a focus on the changing definition of freedom, up to the present

  • Research Methods, Quantitative Methods, and Integrative Project (mentoring students as they complete their final Social Science project)

In May 2019, I participated in the Enrichment Mini-Course Program at Carleton University. My course, "All Over the Map: Imaginary Places, Phantom Islands, and Unknown Lands," was an exploration of the social and imaginary construction of borders through the history of mapping and cartography. Maps help us find our way; they show us where we are and how to get where we're going. They represent the world around us. Or so it seems. Maps order a world that is in constant movement, create borders people cross every day, and show us places we have never been. And maybe places we can only dream of. In this course, we explored imaginary places, phantom islands, and unknown lands on and off the map. From Hogsmeade, to Sandy Island, to Medieval maps, we examined the social and political roles mapping has played throughout history, and what it means to map unknown and imaginary worlds. Visit the class blog.

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workshops & talks

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workshops & talks

I am available for presentations, workshops, and lectures on public history, oral history, or my research on Italian-Canadian immigrants post-WWII in elementary, secondary, CEGEP, and university classrooms, both online and in-person. I have previously presented for classes at Villa Maria High School in Montreal, University of Toronto, and Université de Montréal. Over the last decade, I have taught and led tutoring sessions, activities, or workshops with children, teens, and adults in both academic and non-academic settings.

If you are interested in booking me for a talk or workshop, please see my offerings.

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