bio and cv

Trudi Lynn Smith brings anthropology, art and curatorial practice to bear on her studies of place. She holds degrees from Dalhousie University, Emily Carr University and the University of Victoria, Canada. She obtained an interdisciplinary PhD in the Departments of Anthropology and Visual Arts at the University of Victoria and has recently taken up a SSHRC Post-Doctoral position at York University. She has conducted image-based research in Jasper, Banff and Waterton Lakes National Parks since 2002, investigating the relationship between photography and national park landscapes in Canada – how the two co-constitute each other.

In 2007, Trudi participated in the Artist Residency “Walking and Art” at the Banff Centre for the Arts where she furthered her exploration of the photograph as event, that is, how photographs are not only something to look at, or objects we can hold, but also acts grounded in place. She is particularly interested in bringing together the methods of art practice and social research and published Repeat Photography as Method in Visual Anthropology in Visual Anthropology (2007). Recent and upcoming exhibitions include Finding Aid at The Southern Alberta Art Gallery (2010), Portable Camera Obscura at the Crane Arts as a part of Ethnographic Terminalia (2009) Fieldnotes at the Nanaimo Art Gallery (2008), and onsite works in Waterton Lakes National Park (2008-2010) including Portable Camera Obscura, and Conduit (with Jamie Drouin) at Open Space Gallery (2011). At present she is engaged in producing academic publications on the subject of the photograph as event, and installations and bookworks that play with the truth of photography and the always fleeting present. In pursuit of the fleeting moment, she guides invited participants on quests to relocate historical photographs and to install the work Portable Camera Obscura in remote locations of the Canadian wilderness.

contact info:
Trudi Lynn Smith
SSHRC Post Doctoral Fellow
Department of Humanities
RM 208, Vanier College, York University
4700 Keele St., Toronto, Ont. M3J 1P3 Canada

MAILING ADDRESS
142 Linden Avenue
Victoria BC V8V 4E1

trudis{at}uvic.ca
http://trudilynnsmith.com
http://trudilynnsmith.blogspot.com

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Anthropology and Visual Art (Interdisciplinary),
University of Victoria, Victoria, BC. 2010
Dissertation Title: Visual Narratives in Waterton Lakes National Park 1874-2010
Exhibitions: Finding Aid; Portable Camera Obscura

MA Interdisciplinary Studies, Anthropology and Environmental Studies,
University of Victoria, Victoria, BC. 2004
Thesis title: Vantage Points: Scientific Photography in Jasper National Park
Curated Exhibition: Vantage Points

BFA Photography, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, BC. 1999

Winchester School of Art, Winchester, England. 1998

BA Social Anthropology, Dalhousie University Halifax, NS. 1995

RESIDENCIES
Visual Art Thematic Residency: Walking and Art. The Banff Centre, Banff AB. 2007

RESEARCH INTERESTS
Visual anthropology; visual art; interdisciplinary methods; photography; history of photography in Canada; Canadian National Parks; protected areas; environmental anthropology; art practice as social research; relational aesthetics; archives; space and place.

SELECTED AWARDS
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Post Doctoral Fellowship 2011-2013

University of Victoria Interdisciplinary Fellowships 2008-2010

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship 2005-2008

Banff Centre Scholarship 2007

University of Victoria President’s Research Scholarship 2005

Museums Alberta Grant 2003

University of Victoria Fellowship (Dean’s Interdisciplinary MA Fellowship) 2002-2003

PUBLICATIONS
Elinor Whidden. Catalogue essay. Stride Gallery, Calgary AB (forthcoming 2011).

Sensible History: Lynda Gammon’s Interval. Catalogue essay for Stride Gallery, Calgary AB (2008)

Repeat Photography as Method in Visual Anthropology. In Visual Anthropology. Vol 20(2):179-200 (2007)

Bewildering National Parks: Photography, Representation and Performance. In Cultural Reflections. Volume 8:13-29 (2006)

Main Office, Anthropology. Overnight. Visual Work. In Cultural Reflections. Volume 8:57. (2006)

Vantage Points, Scientific Photography in Jasper National Park. The Bridgland and Repeat Photography Projects.
Interdisciplinary MA thesis. University of Victoria (ProQuest). (2004)

Sun Coast New Paintings by Pat Service. Catalogue essay for Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art. (2001)

PUBLICATIONS – ART WORKS
6 Views. Artist Book. Flask publishing. Victoria BC (forthcoming 2011).

PUBLICATIONS – OTHER
Grady Semmens and Trudi Smith. These Boots Were Made For Walking on the Wild Side. Calgary Herald. Jan 10 2003. Pp. SS03.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Conduit (in collaboration with Jamie Drouin). Open Space Gallery, Victoria, BC (forthcoming 2011).

finding aid (Ethnographic Terminalia). DuMois Gallery, New Orleans. (2010)

(solo) Finding Aid. Southern Alberta Art Gallery. Lethbridge AB. (2010)

Portable Camera Obscura. Installation at the Crane Arts Centre, as part of the exhibition, Ethnographic Terminalia. Sponsored by the Society of Visual Anthropology (SVA) (2009)

Portable Camera Obscura: site specific installation in Waterton Lakes National Park, AB (2009)

fieldnotes Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo, BC. (2008)

fieldnotes (Panoram No. 1) site specific work, Waterton Lakes National Park, AB (2008)

Finding Aid: Waterton Lakes National Park, AB. Installation at Waterton Natural History Association, Waterton Lakes National Park, AB. (2007)

Finding Aid Main Gallery, Visual Arts Building, University of Victoria, BC. (2006)

Waterton Archive: Cameron Falls; Prince of Wales Hill; Limber Pine Sculpture Gallery, Visual Arts Building, University of Victoria, BC. (2006)

Wallpaper The Alibi Room, Vancouver, BC (invited submission) (2005)

Pacific Northwest Photography Now Whatcom Museum of Art (2003)

Gallery Artists: selected group shows at State Gallery, Vancouver, BC (invited submission) Images of Britannia Heritage Shipyard, State Gallery, Vancouver, BC. (2001-2002)

CURATED EXHIBITIONS
Ethnographic Terminalia 2011: Montreal (with Fiona McDonald and Kate Hennessy). American Anthropology Association Meetings, Montreal. (forthcoming 2011)

Ethnographic Terminalia 2010: New Orleans (with Craig Campbell, Fiona McDonald, Maria Brodine and Kate Hennessy). Du Mois Gallery, New Orleans. In conjunction with the American Anthropology Association Meetings, New Orleans (2010).

Rockies Through the Lens of Time. Library and Archives Canada. Ottawa, ON. (collaboration with LAC based on the exhibition Vantage Points). 2004-2005.

Vantage Points: Scientific Photography in Jasper National Park. Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Archives, Jasper, AB. Winner of the Jasper Heritage Tourism Award. (2003)

CATALOGUE ESSAYS AND SELECTED REVIEWS

Boyer, Dominic, Ethnographic Terminalia 2010 New Orleans. Exhibition Review. In Visual Anthropology Review. Vol 27:1 (forthcoming Spring 2011).

McDonald, Fiona P. Visual Iterability. Catalogue essay In Field Guide Catalogue: Southern Alberta Art Gallery. (2010)

Gomoll, Lucian. Ethnographic Terminalia Exhibition Review. In Visual Anthropology Review Vol 26:1 32-35. (2010)

Brown, Lorna Collect Call Philadelphia Weekly Dec 2-8 2009.

Fryer, Melissa Fieldnotes Nanaimo News Bulletin July 17 2008. P. 28.

Bellaart, Darrell Natural Art: Artists connect humans with their environment. Nanaimo Daily News July 19, 2008.

CONFERENCES and PRESENTATIONS
The photograph as Event: 563 Fisgard. Paper Presentation at the International Visual Sociology Association Conference. Vancouver (forthcoming July).

The Archive as Practice. Session Chair at the International Visual Sociology Association Conference. Vancouver (forthcoming July).

The photograph as event: Uncertainty and impermanence in a Canadian National Park. International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF 2011 People make places, ways of feeling the world). Lisbon (forthcoming April).

Grounding Acts: A multisensory photography for Canadian National Parks. Paper presentation at the American Anthropological Association meetings, New Orleans, LA (Refereed conference). (2010)

From the North Shore: Art, anthropology and the re-enactment of photographic moments in a Canadian National Park. Science and History Conference. Public presentation, Lake McDonald Lodge, Glacier National Park, MT USA (Invited presentation) (2009).

Art, Anthropology and the making of a Canadian National Park. Paper presentation at the annual Conference of the Canadian Anthropology Society, CASCA 2009. Hosted by CASCA at University of British Columbia (Refereed conference). (2009).

Session co-organizer Art Practices and Visual Anthropology. Annual Conference of the Canadian Anthropology Society CASCA 2009. Hosted by CASCA at University of British Columbia (Refereed conference) (2009).

Mask-Making in Medical School: the Importance of Participatory Learning and Reflection poster presentation Jane Gair, John Anderson and Trudi Smith. Medical Education Research Half Day, UBC, Vancouver, BC, June 2009 (Invited presentation).

Mask-Making in Medical School: the Importance of Participatory Learning and Reflection Poster presentation Jane Gair, John Anderson and Trudi Smith. STLHE conference (Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education) in Fredericton, NB, June 2009 (Invited presentation).

Faculty Development session – designed and delivered: Mask-Making as a Teaching Tool In Doctor Patient and Society (DPAS) – Arts and Humanities in Medical Education to DPAS 410 and 420 tutors in the Island Medical Program (IMP) at UVic, a distributed site of UBC’s medical program. Trudi Smith and Jane Gair. (2009).

Faculty Development session – delivered: Mask-Making as a Teaching Tool In Doctor Patient and Society (DPAS) – Arts and Humanities in Medical Education to DPAS 410 and 420 tutors in the Northern Medical Program (NMP) at UNBC, a distributed site of UBC’s medical program. Jane Gair and Trudi Smith. (2009).

Shared ethnographic space: Art, ethnography and the re-enactment of photographic moments in a Canadian National Park. Paper presented at the American Anthropological Association meetings, San Francisco, California (November 2008) (Refereed conference). (2008).

Finding Aid: Exhibition as Method in Visual Anthropology. Paper presented at the Northwest Anthropology Conference, Victoria, BC (April 2008) (Refereed conference).

Panel Member, Recognizing Differences/Building Community: Academic Women’s Conference. University of Victoria, BC (March 2008) (Invited presentation).

Visual Narratives in Waterton: Bringing Historical photographs into focus. Public presentation for the Waterton Natural History Association (August 2007) (Invited presentation).

Presentation on PhD. research, Visual Narratives in Waterton Lakes National Park for the President of SSHRC. Victoria (March 2007) (Invited presentation)

Poster Presentation (installation) at the Science and History Conference, Waterton Glacier International Peace Park, Waterton Lakes National Park (August 2006). (Refereed conference).

Repeat Photography as Method in Visual Anthropology. Paper presentation at “Frontiers of Visual Anthropology” European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) Oxford, UK (September 2005). (Refereed conference).

The Rockies Through the Lens of Time: Repeat Photography and the Challenge of Ecological Restoration. Higgs, E., Levesque, L., Smith, T., Watt-Gremm, G. Paper presentation at the world conference on Ecological Restoration: Society for Ecological Restoration (SER 2005: September 2005) Zaragoza, Spain. (Refereed conference).

A Photographic Measure: Understanding Landscape Change in Waterton Lakes National Park. Higgs, E., Levesque, L., Smith, T., Watt-Gremm, G. Presentation at the Science and History Conference, Waterton Glacier International Peace Park, Lake McDonald Lodge (August 2005). (Refereed conference).

Visual Narratives in Waterton Lakes National Park Poster presentation at the annual conference for the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER 2004). Victoria, BC. (Refereed conference).

Session Organizer, Laying out the Scene/Seen: Visual Anthropology in Personal and Public Spaces I & II. Annual Conference of the Canadian Anthropology Society CASCA 2004. Hosted by CASCA at University of Western Ontario (Refereed conference).

Vantage Points: Scientific Photography in Jasper National Park – the Bridgland and Repeat Photography Projects. Paper presentation at Annual Conference of the Canadian Anthropology Society CASCA 2004. Hosted by CASCA at University of Western Ontario (Refereed conference).

Vantage Points: Scientific Photography in Jasper National Park. Paper presentation at the annual Workshop of the Rocky Mountain Repeat Photography Project. November 28-30, 2003. Hosted by the RMRPP at the Dunsmuir Lodge, Victoria, BC. (Invited presentation).

Repeating Images: A new life for the Dominion Phototopographical Surveys. Higgs, E., Smith T., Rhemtulla, J. Paper delivered by E. Higgs at the Canadian Association of Geographers conference Victoria, BC (May 2003).

TEACHING POSITIONS
Instructor, Art 141: Introduction to Contemporary Art Photography. Department of Visual Art, University of Victoria, BC (2010)

Instructor, Anthropology 393: Anthropology and the Environment. Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, BC. (2009)

Clinical Teaching Faculty, Doctor Patient and Society (DPAS 410 & DPAS 420). Island Medical Program, University of Victoria, BC. (2009)

Instructor, Anthropology 409: Applied Ethnographic Film. Department of Anthropology University of Victoria, BC.
Clinical Teaching Faculty, Doctor Patient and Society (DPAS 410 & DPAS 420). Island Medical Program, University of Victoria, BC. (2008)

Facilitator, Presentation Skills Workshop. Learning and Teaching Centre, University of Victoria, BC. (2008)

OTHER TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Committee member. Art 480. Department of Visual Art, University of Victoria. (2007)

Teaching Assistant – Anthropology of the Arts (ANTH 305, Dr. Andrea Walsh). University of Victoria, Victoria, BC. (2002)

Photography Instructor. Northmount Pleasant Arts Centre, City of Calgary, AB. (2001)

Photography Workshop Instructor. Calgary Horticulture Society, Calgary, AB. (2000)

Polaroid Techniques Workshop Instructor. Beau Photo. Vancouver, BC. (2000)

LECTURES, ARTIST TALKS and WORKSHOPS
Repeat photography workshop, Southern Alberta Art Gallery. (2010)

Guest Lecturer. Shared Ethnographic Space: Art, Ethnography and the Re-enactment of photographic moments in a Canadian National Park: for Anth 200, Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria. (2010)

Moderator for Symposium Assume Nothing: New Social Practice. Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) and University of Victoria Visual Arts Department. University of Victoria, BC. (2009)

Guest Lecturer. The archive in Art and Anthropology: for Art 305, Department of Visual Art, University of Victoria. (2009).

Guest Lecturer. Visual Narratives in Waterton Lakes National Park for Anthropology 100, Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria. (2009).

Artist Talk. Fieldnotes: finding aid at Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo, BC. (2008).

Guest Lecturer. Visual Narratives in Waterton Lakes National Park for Anthropology 100, Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria. (2008).

Guest Instructor, Drawing 100, Department of Visual Art, University of Victoria. (2007)

Guest Lecturer. “Let’s Talk Anthropology: Environmental Anthropology” Central Middle School, Victoria, BC. (2007)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Photographer. Parks Canada contract to produce scanned repeat photographs of historical photographs for Waterton Lakes National Park. (2009)

Education Consultant, Art in Medical Education: Mask making project. Island Medical Program, University of Victoria, BC. (2008)

Research Assistant. Art in Medical education: assistance with paper preparation on empathy and communication skills in medical students for Dr. Jane Gair. Island Medical Program, University of Victoria. (2007)

Research Associate, Rocky Mountain Repeat Photography Project, Waterton Lakes National Parks, Waterton, AB/ University of Victoria, BC. (2005)

Research Assistant, Rocky Mountain Repeat Photography Project. Waterton, AB/ University of Victoria, BC. (2004)

Research Assistant for Rocky Mountain Repeat Photography Project. Waterton, AB/ University of Victoria, BC & Library and Archives Canada, Gatineau Preservation Centre, Gatineau QC. (2003)

Research Assistant, Ethnobotany database. Centre for Earth and Ocean Sciences & School of Environmental Studies (Dr. Nancy Turner). (2003)

Freelance Photographer and Designer. Clients include Avenue Magazine; The Calgary Herald; the School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria. (1999-date)

COURSES AND WORKSHOPS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Tutor Training, Island Medical Program, UBC. (2008)
Facilitator Development Workshop (training certification). Vancouver Island University. (2008)
Course Re-Design Workshop. Learning and Teaching Centre University of Victoria. (2008)
Instructional Skills Workshop. Learning and Teaching Centre University of Victoria. (2008)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
2007 – date Environmental Anthropology Section, AAA
2003 – date Society for Visual Anthropology, AAA
2003 – date American Anthropological Association (AAA)

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Ethnographic Terminalia Curatorial Collective in conjunction with American Anthropology Association meetings. (2010 – date)

Co-Editor and Designer. Cultural Reflections. A peer-reviewed journal organized by the Graduate Students in the Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria (2003, 2006, 2007).

Volunteer (gallery attendant). Presentation House Gallery. North Vancouver, B.C. (1997-1998)