Lisa Doolittle presents the third and final lecture in the 2010 University Scholars Public Presentations series Tuesday, Mar. 23.
Dr. Claudia Malacrida, Dr. Brian Titley and Doolittle are the featured speakers in this year's edition of the University Scholars Public Presentations. Covering topics from the treatment of people with intellectual disabilities to the attempted reformation of female public sinners by the Catholic Church to an examination of the role that dancing and spectacle helped define the identity of the Blackfoot people of southern Alberta, the three University of Lethbridge professors cover a wide range of topics.
On Tuesday, Doolittle presents Performing Negotiations: Blackfoot Dance/Spectacle, the Colony, and Multicultural Canada 1870-2010. The lecture is open to everyone and takes place at 4 p.m. in AH100. Admission is free.
– Performing Negotiations: Blackfoot Dance/Spectacle, the Colony, and Multicultural Canada 1870-2010, Mar. 23
The Blackfoot people of southern Alberta use dancing/spectacle to express identity and their ongoing negotiations with settler populations. In the late 19th Century, dancing among aboriginal peoples was banned. Beginning in the early 20th Century, aboriginal dance was showcased in corporate sponsored 'white' events like the Calgary Stampede and Banff 'Indian Days'. Near the end of the 20th Century, the Canadian government passed the Multiculturalism Act, "to recognize all Canadians as full and equal participants in Canadian society."
Promoting culture-specific dance was fundamental to the multicultural agenda. Doolittle (theatre and dramatic arts) describes how representations of culture as performed in dance uncover the shifting policies concerning national identity and destabilize notions about the role of dance performances in Canadian multiculturalism.
The Board of Governors established the University Scholars Program in 2007 to recognize the excellence of faculty members in the areas of research, scholarship and creative performance. Each University Scholar must give a public lecture or performance as part of the University Scholars Series at the University of Lethbridge during the two-year term of their designation as a University Scholar.
The presentations will highlight the ongoing research interests of U of L faculty and how they contribute to their course teachings.